Friday 16th July

Ok I have been terrible at keeping you up to date so I will try and be brief and catch up before I head off to Jaipur, I will keep the days in order (though no fun names for now, sorry!!)

As per usual we got up early, but today we had meetings galore. First V had an interview. So I decided that I would go spend time in the mall opposite the office block. I thought it would be a good adventure and a way to start cutting the umbilical chord I had started to grow towards her. I mean she would not always be around for the ride that is my Indian adventure. It was a mistake!! I felt so self-concious, I only went into one shop and then decided I’d be best off sitting in the food court reading my book, until I became aware that it was only men in the food court. So I did whole other entire lap of the 5 floors of the mall and decided I would be strong and take a seat in the food court, if anyone bothered me I would tell them to get lost. Needless to say I didn’t have to resort to that which was cool and actually I enjoyed just reading and chilling for a bit.

We were so hungry by then we decided to go to the Golden Dragon at the Taj Hotel, it was amazing!!! The best Chinese food I have eaten, ever!!! It was so luxurious and in a way I wish we had had more than 45 minutes to enjoy and absorb the atmosphere, seriously I could have stayed there all day. But Professor K was waiting.

After getting totally lost trying to find his office – it was in a room on the 4th floor but in one of those buildings where you can only access the higher floors from certain areas, we waited for ten minutes in the stifling heat, wondering what lay ahead in his office. A load of rubbish to be honest, he didn’t listen to any of my questions; he answered phone calls and even dealt with untoward issues whilst we were in the same room. He did however like the biscuits I gave him and said I could mail him any questions I had in the future. I left feeling my whole project would be a failure and I was very very confused.

We jumped in the car with K and met up with DDC, went to Leopaulds and it was amazing. I never knew they had beer towers. It was so chilled out. I thought I saw F from back home but was too chicken to go see properly. After falling asleep, once again on the ride home I had to pack. The we went to Vs uncles for dinner, it was great. We had chicken and fish and lentils - it was a proper feast! To finish off the evening the rain really kicked in and we got soaked walking to the car. I love Mumbai, I don’t want to leave.

Party like a Rock Star!! Or should I say a TV presenter? - Wednesday 14th July

I am so sorry that I have not been updating the blog, time just keeps speeding by.

Wednesday we woke up early to go to the tailors for a fitting. It is looking amazing, although they seem to be having a bit of trouble working out the draping and belt. Then we met up with L to catch the bus.

The bus station was intense. So many people, it was also rather warm, poor V had dressed for the bus rather than the weather. On the bus I did wish I had worn trousers though. We originally intended on getting an air-conditioned bus but that turned out to be rather difficult from the bus station. So we hopped on a tuc-tuc and got dropped off at a bus stop, from here we could get a regular bus or one with A/C so it was in the hands of fate. Fate made us get on the normal bus – so we slummed it to South Mumbai. Poor V ended up standing for most of the journey, I tried to get as close to “fresh air” as I could by leaning near to the window (hole as the window was open) but the behind the window made it rather difficult to catch a full breeze.

Mixing with celebs!

We arrived at the TV studio and immediately saw Nikhil and Ayushmann filming a link for India’s Got Talent. Inside the lovely air-conditioned theatre we watched about four acts. The first was a female singer aged about 40 I think, with her husband and son as musicians. I thought she was ok but I am no expert on Hindi music and the judges thought otherwise, her music was rather dated V tells me!! The next act was an awesome dance group, at least I thought they were awesome. They were “cartoon” dancers and the costumes were amazing. Basically the group was made up of a kids dance group and guys. The guy had their hands above their heads and black netting over their arms and heads, so they could just about see us but we could not see them. Then they painted faces on their torsos and looked like short cartoon people with black hair. I liked Vs comment of “They are all men you know, even the women”. L and I laughed because they had to be men, breasts would just have gotten in the way of the make up/faces. The next act was a man who could play three instruments at once, the tambourine we placed under his foot and he played a guitar in each hand/arm. I thought it was rather impressive and like his melody – I was even composing possible songs in my head, to accompany it. But for the third time that day the judges said NO – they even buzzed this poor guy out. The last act was a male and female dance/acrobatics act and they were magical, truly breathtaking some of the moves they did, so many lifts – they deserved to get through ☺

After the shoot we hung around drinking red bull and talking to Vs friend, who then suggested we meet Nikhil and Ayushmann (perhaps with some major prompting from us). We went into their trailer and after a few awkward moments were soon chatting away – V always helps make these situations work, it was fantabulous. We laughed and joked – the banter was flowing and then we realised we were taking up their valuable lunch break time so bid them farewell. Outside we met up with L and K and as we were waiting for the car we realised we didn’t have a photo for us with the guys. So we went back and got one, this time round we got tips as to where the best places to go out in Mumbai were and what not. What a great way to end the shoot. Two of the most awesome presenters ever, actually maybe the most awesome because to be fair I never actually spoke to Dermot O’Leary so how can he be the best?

That night we got ready for our crazy night out on the town. We met up with the group and headed for Paradis ( I hope that’s spelt right). It was a great night with awesome company just the nightclub was not what I expected really. Firstly I must say I liked it, being in a nightclub that is. It was on of the first times since getting to India that people couldn’t immediately tell I was European. I loved that fact. It was actually like any club and could have been anywhere in the world, there was nothing about it that made it stand out, apart from a small section by the bar, where about five ‘waiters’ stood. I am not sure what that bit was for or what they were doing there. The staff here were definitely much better dressed than in jesters. They were also way too attentive. I remember when one of them came and took our half finished drinks away, V got so angry with them!! She did persevere however and ended up getting two new ones given to us. The only downer for me was that it was an R n B club (kind of) and we all know what I think about that type of music, but I make scarifies for nights out with V ☺ A very successful day and night I would have to conclude!

I think I have road rage - Monday12th

Monday we could have done with sleeping in, but once again we were off, up and ready by half nine to catch a ride into town. Vs uncle works for the government and the day couldn’t have gone better.

Firstly there is a quick road, for government workers, it cuts the journey into Mumbai by an hour (I guess its there to make sure they get to meetings on time). We discovered there were other perks too, like those associated with the car don’t pay parking. That does seem reasonable too. I mean, what’s the point of getting a pay check if you just give it straight back to you employers through parking?

Really touristic photos!

It was great, the driver knew all the places, so after dropping us at the Gateway of India, where we also visited the world famous Taj hotel, he then brought us on a little tour around South Mumbai, starting at Colaba Market. Here V showed off her haggling skills and managed to bag me some really cute harem pants for Rs100 – amazing!! Then we got driven to Nariman point. Which was lovely, it is so breezy there and there were lots of people just chilling by the waters edge.

Then we stopped at the beach, Girgaugan Chowpapty. After visiting it I completely understood why no one sunbathes there. It was rather dirty, between the sea and the main beach was a layer of debris (I think I have a picture). It was so strange. It felt like being at the seaside, that’s probably because it was, yet at the same time it was not like being at the seaside at all. To the left, starting from the road there were small drinks shacks and places to buy things. I’m not quite sure they were typical ‘beach’ things. One guy was selling sand mats to lie on, but no one was lying at all. They were all sitting on the sand, just up from the pile of debris eating, sitting and chatting. On the beach there were also small rides for kids and a corn vendor, selling grilled corn. Further to the left were shanties, which had probably been set up by the fishermen. I really felt for them, the sea was so choppy I would not have wanted to go out at all. The rains really affect their catch, so this is the hardest time of year of fishermen.

The shoe.

The Hanging gardens were out next stop. This was pretty cool, despite the huge downpour and the fact that the paths were like mud-pits. Actually we decided to be rebellious and walk on the grass, as it looked particularily less muddy than the actual path. Later when we saw a snake in the shrubbery we were glad to no longer be in the grass. These gardens were famous for their shrubs in the shape of animals. It was really pretty, although most of the sculptures had a lot of growing to do. V found her inner flower photographer in these gardens.

We crossed the road to Kamlanehru Park, here they had more flowers, the path was a little more permanent and they had a HUGE boot, it was like the one from the nursery rhyme, ‘The Little Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe”. There were no plaques to read about why it was there but it was not for over 12s.

Our last stop was the Trident hotel as we had to wait for Vs uncle to finish his meeting and we did not want to be in the car. An air-conditioned hotel seemed like a much better idea. In the same building at the hotel was the only Gucci store in Mumbai.

Although we left before one of Vs friends we actually arrived back in New Mumbai an hour after them, it seemed that on the way back the quick road was not so quick after all. V and I jumped into her car, on return, and bombed it to the tailors. On the way V said "I think I have road rage". I thought to myself, 'In India it's not road rage, it's considered normal driving, with all the honking. If you drove in England perhaps.' (As we are in India I think it's ok :-) )

Tailors, travelling and turkish delight (actually it was Indian ice-cream but that doesn't start with a 'T')

This is my friend and I a few years later, I'm
wearing the dress which was made in India

After the late night/early morning we were reluctant to get up. However it was a necessity we had lots planned for today. We had a breakfast of India crackers and tea, jumped in the shower and washed away the cobwebs. Piling into the car with my laptop we zoomed off to the tailors. After showing him my designs and discussing practicalities and material length we raced back to Vs.

Lunch was a quick mix of humus sandwiches and leftovers, with some dates for desert and we were off. My first Indian train journey. Actually today was another day of my firsts, as even before the train ride we got on a rickshaw. It was rather scary, all three of us crammed in the back, the man in front taking up pretty much the whole front seat, so get an idea od the interior size of this small, three-wheeled vehicle. Each bump felt like a bounce on a trampampoline, exciting all the same.

At the train station the usual no queue means you have to queue rule was applied, lucky for us as V just went right on up to the front to get out tickets. The trains are kind of what I expected and kind of not. There are special compartments for women, the good thing is these are signposted on the platform, making it easy to find. I cannot imagine having to walk up and down a platform to try find out which carriage women had decided to monopolise that day. The seats were basic and although there were windows I felt sorry for the woman across the aisle who could not pull the window down when the monsoon really started to pelt – needless to say she got soaked. Like with many trains in large cities there were people trying to make money, boys with earrings and bracelets, women selling handkerchiefs and hair clips. It was rather different however when V found herself holding the boys earrings for a fair few minutes whilst he did whatever further up the carriage. In Britain I cannot imagine leaving your ‘wares’ with a potential ‘customer’ and walking away.

The main city of Mumbai is so busy and noisy and I am so happy not to be staying there, four hours or so was enough. First we met up with the glasses man, who led us through the labyrinth of streets, part by cab and part on foot to the shop. The streets were so dirty, I think the rain really didn’t help. The smell was also pretty bad, V and I were already dreaming of a shower.

After spending a while choosing a pair of glasses and trying yet another kind of juice – sweet lime juice (scrumptious!!) we headed to Mangaldas market to look for cloth. Each vendor has a small section in the market, every inch of wall is used to house cloth, the floor of each section is raised and covered in cloth (some more elegant shops had marble flooring). You were allowed to enter the section/shop but had to first remove your shoes and clean your feet on a provided off-cut rug as the cloth was light and the mud would have really spoilt the ambiance. It was like an Aladdin’s cave, so many colours and textures all in such a small space. The first guy was really helpful but unfortunately we were offered a better deal at a stall further into the market and so got the cloth there.

Next we tried to find a Kurti, either material to get one stitched, one needing to be stitched or one which was ready made, it just depended on price and design. After looking here and trying there I finally found a lovely sleeveless green and pink design. So now I have something smart to wear to all my very important meetings (once I set them up with the professors out here).

By that time we were all exhausted and I even ended up falling asleep on the train ride home, after a nice snack of dry bhel puri which was a mixture of puffed rice, nuts, spices, lemon, onion, tomato, and various other Indian snacks.

After tea and biscuits (I was honored to be given the last M&S chocolate spritz) we had leisurely showers and enjoyed the fact we were out of the pouring rain. Dinner was dahl and rice, one of my favourite dishes so far, probably because of its simplicity and if you want to make it more adventurous the addition of lemon juice does just that. For desert Mr C brought V and I to Natural Icecreams. They had so many flavors it was hard to choose but I had Almond and it was spectacular. All of the flavours were exquisite; custard apple, anjeer (fig), etc. The coffee and walnut was really a testament to the greatness of the ice-cream, I have never tasted a better coffee ice-cream and I used to eat it all the time. On the drive home we saw yet more dogs, one was even standing to attention watching the traffic pass by, this really is a place of many faces, and hopefully I will keep exploring more and more.

Absorbing India

The Flight

So I left my family at security and immediately started to break down. I had to force myself to take one step followed by another. I needed to get on that plane, especially as I had promised the flight attendant I would! Also not getting on the flight would jeopardise my whole dissertation project. How to do it though, that was the thing, there was no one to hold my hand or to tell me it was a ‘boat’ trip. I was so consumed with worry and anticipation; I started shivering and crying with worry. I'm sure people thought I was going crazy.

Waiting at the gate I got a text from L and A they were so lovely, unfortunately it made me realise how much I am going to miss everyone (all over again). I still wonder how L does the emoticons on her iPhone texts - my technological understanding has not improved at all since the emergence if the iPhone in my life.

That was when I decided to bite the bullet. I would make the BA staff aware I was petrified! Unfortunately I could only manage a whisper before getting overly upset. That was when they took charge and made me feel very looked after. The fact I am in India right now means I made it, and once again I am aware how silly it is to be scared of flying. Maybe one day I will overcome it, who knows?

First Impressions

Upon arriving at the airport, actually, even before getting to the building - just walking through the connecting tunnel - I was hit by the humidity and then a smell. I later realised this was the smell of humidity. I never realised it was so distinct, it was a bit like musty clothes but heavy at the same time, it felt hard to breathe.

After immigration and all the other bureaucraticness I had to go find somewhere to get INR. My first faux pas was to just get the deed done and dusted (I really just wanted to get to Vs) by going to the first exchange kiosk. To be fair I also chose it because it was two women and I thought perhaps they would be nicer to me. I was wrong. This misjudgement led me to pay 300 INR in commission and to change £200 when I only wanted to have £100!! I have now learnt, next time I need to change my travellers cheques I will ask all four kiosks and play them off each other until I get the lowest commission (or I can find somewhere that doesn't charge). Secondly I definitely need to find out if there are banks that change travelers cheques, I do not like having to rely on other people’s myths (meningitis cannot be passed on through swimming pool water you know!). I owe it to myself to check, otherwise I will have to a lot of money changing in Delhi airport too.

Next I needed to find the pre-paid taxi counter. This proved harder than expected as I was still wearing my glasses (which I later found out were about -2 out in both eyes) no wonder I could not see the signs! It was pretty straightforward once I found the desk. I remembered what I had read about Indians not queing and so when I saw someone push in further down the queue I made sure I was in the right place and then pushed myself behind the first family, indicating I was next in line! I don’t think I was particularly ripped off for the taxi price. I did however forget to ask where to get the taxis from, this meant that I after leaving the counter I started to panic, again.

Outside it was even muggier, there were so many people and they were all descending on me, one man tried to take the pay slip with the taxi number on it from me. Despite his yellow jacket I was adamant to hold onto the piece of paper which entitled me to my cab journey. Avoiding eye contact with all the other taxi drivers I pushed my trolley determinedly and a man came up to me signalling for me to follow him. I started to, but also kept an eye out for the taxi number, turns out he was the right guy. At first I was relieved to see he at least had a taxi with doors ( I had opted for non-air-conditioned) I soon realised that really it was superficial safety, starting with the seatbelts not having anywhere to put them.

I positioned myself in the middle of the backseat with my bags on my lap. This was definitely the best move for, when the taxi drivers stopped to get my slip stamped (to prove he'd picked me up), a little boy of perhaps 6 or 7 came along and asked me for some money - "Just a pound he said". I told him I had no money, nothing. He then asked for "food" and I suddenly remembered the Tiffin slices A had given me for the trip. Although it was not really nutritional I thought A might like to know someone in India sampled her food. He took the package and looked at it, then kind of shrugged and went off. The driver got back in and off we went again.

As I had an hour journey to Vs house and I was also starting to feel rather overwhelmed I tried looking for As letter - not a good move!! Firstly as it turned out to be right at the bottom of my bag and secondly because the next time the taxi stopped it meant that once again I was bombarded with kids asking for something...anything...My head buried in my bag I obviously I was oblivious to them at first and to them it probably looked like I was going to give them something but I stood my ground and said "No money, no food, nothing" then an older girl of maybe eleven said "Pen". I realised I still had a pen in my hand from writing down the instructions to Vs house. I felt I could hardly say no seeing as it was neither my favourite calligraphy pen, nor my ‘Love Malta’ pen, and I did have a stash of about 20 other pens in my suitcase so I gave it to her and she ran off. The others stayed. I said "All gone, nothing else" The youngest girl, of maybe 6 just held out her hand so I shook it and she left. Then the four remaining kids proceeded to do the same, the eldest boy, of about fifteen, was the last to get to 'shake my hand' and the taxi driver actually started driving again whilst his arm was still through the window. I felt bad for him and hope he didn't get hurt! I found the letter, read it, making me smile and I turned my attention to my surroundings.

Part of me wished that taxi journey would speed up so that I would get to Vs quicker; I just wanted to feel safe and rest. The other part of me wanted it to slow down so that I could properly absorb everything I was seeing. It was truly like being in a movie. There were however a few more distinct things which don't come across so well in the movies. For example it was rather grey, yes it did feel a bit like I had left a relatively sunny England for an India, which should be sunny but was actually rather dull and dreary. The rains can be blamed for the lack of sunshine, as where there is rain there will be clouds. The smells were also rather hard to fathom. I did try to imagine what they would be like before arriving, but there is no way you can imagine it. I mean, most of the time it's ok, but when the taxi stopped at an intersection, which was actually by an open sewer, I really had to control myself. I wondered how angry the driver would get if you were sick out of the window, would they make you clean it, or perhaps they’d try make you pay more?

I saw dogs, cats, adults, kids, the elderly, horses living under make-shift corrugated iron apartments, cows in the middle of the road…and so much more, on this one journey. There was also the incessant noise of honking horns.

What the trucks looked like from behind.

I noticed that the vans all had "STOP HONK OK PLEASE" written on the back of them.
This and the fact that they also were often brightly painted and decorated with garlands made me think of the personalised busses in Malta. I knew just as there was a story behind the Yellow Maltese Busses; there too must be one behind the painted instructions. Later I was to find that they were just that, instructions. People drive so closely to each other constant horns are needed to keep other drivers aware of your presence on the road. A novel reminder and mostly it seems to work, some of the cars do have rather a few dents though.

As we were nearing Vs place I noticed a girl coming her mothers’ hair by the roadside. I must have glanced a little too long at the unusual site, for the mother looked up and caught my eye. Then she started to smile and held her hand up to send me a kiss. I reciprocated with the biggest smile ever and a little wave. It was at that moment I realised that my adventure was really underway and whatever happened this summer would be amazing.

My adventure with V begins!!

It was a relief to get to Vs. She was out so I caught up with her mum and when she got back we ate a quick lunch of roti (Indian bread) and aloo dahl (potato curry). Then we chilled out for a while. I spent about an hour debating whether or not to take a nap, I chose not too and am really paying the price now...so tired!!

This turned out to be the right choice as it turned out that Vs mum was able to make an appointment at the opticians for this afternoon so off we went. V is a wonderful driver and managed to park in the smallest space ever. Finding the opticians in the labyrinth of apartments was a challenge but we got there. It was a great experience, just the same if not better than Specsavers, actually it was better. The only thing I disliked was the liquid they put in to dilate my pupils which was sticky and kind of hurt. The strange feeling soon wore off and I then had a second test with the eye doctor. Who checked the new recommended prescription by his assistant. They concluded that I needed new glasses, by a lot, surprise, surprise!! On our way back to the car we saw an elephant in the middle of the road. I was so annoyed that I was wearing my old glasses, as I could not see it clearly at all. We went a bit closer and I realised elephants seem to have individual toes, then again I might have miss-seen as the glasses were still on!! A lady gave an offering to the elephant and was saluted.

After the eventful day we went home and relaxed in the day room, catching up and drinking tea - yummy!! I also met Vs brother who was so nice and will try and help me get in touch with people for my dissertation. Everyone has been so great it's really helped me to feel at home. I'm so glad I have this 'transition' period before the project starts. Dinner was delicious; pita bread, humus, homemade falafel and vegetable salad. I was getting a bit worried that I would constantly be eating some type of spicy, curried food for the next two(ish) months. This worry started on the plane with a spicy vegetable dish and salad, then a spicy chickpea and tomato pastry for breakfast. It turns out I am lucky though; at Vs they eat traditional Indian food at lunchtime and then something different at dinnertime.

After dinner I had the opportunity to accompany Mrs C to the temple. It was a short drive away and at the same site there was actually two temples, for different Gods. To the side of the largest temple was accommodation for the people who look after the temple. The temple was smaller than I thought it would be, it was painted in a red-orange colour on the roof but had mainly white walls. Inside were about four statues, behind a glass facade. In front of the glass was a flat marble circle with feet carved in. On the feet people put offerings to the representative God behind the glass. Ants, huge ants were crawling over the offerings and also over the statues. I wondered if they were biting ants. Looking up there were two lizards clinging to the temple wall, I am not sure when I will stop being amazed at the amount of wildlife here.

Later we went to the Sheraton with C and V, where we just chilled out drinking and eating. I tried a Chi-chi cocktail, which was blue, tropical and very, very scrummy. After getting kicked out as last orders had been an hour earlier we went for a drive. The rains really started to poor. We opened up the sunroof and let the rains pour, it really brought another meaning to ‘weather beaten’. The rains were so strong, the droplets so big, definitely an alternative rain to the British cats and dogs. On the rush inside from the car we got soaked through, will I have the right kind of clothes for this adventure…only time will tell.

Sorry it’s so long, I hope it’s interesting. Please feel free to comment and ask questions ☺