Mumbai – wow!

March 23, 2015

“Don’t panic. Move when I move. Keep to my right.” So said our guide on the first day in Mumbai (3.19) as we prepared to cross four lanes of horn-blowing, non-stop traffic to get to the Victoria Station. We survived this and several other challenging street crossings that day. What an adventure!

Inside Victoria Station

Mumbai traffic. Yes, we crossed this street!

We loved Mumbai – chaos and all. Seeing the waves of people getting off the trains and moving in large groups through the city on their way to their respective workplaces was amazing. BTW, the station itself is beautiful and, surprise, the trains run on very precise schedules. Ticket checking is random and our guide – a 21-year-old recent university grad – managed to ride for free for two and a half years before getting caught. His father would give him money for his pass and he just found other things to spend it on.

The architecture is spectacular – Mumbai University, city hall, etc. – and well maintained. The city is not as dirty as we expected and many of our fellow cruisers who have visited before noted that it is vastly improved re cleanliness.

Mumbai City Hall

A highlight of our first day was our visit to the home of Gandhi. It is now a museum filled with Gandhi memorabilia, his preserved room and few material itemsM, photos and a series of dioramas depicting highlights of his life and assassination. We had not been aware that prior to WW II he wrote to Hitler urging that he reconsider his apparent war plans, and to Roosevelt noting that if necessary the Allies could base troops, at their own expense, in India. Both of those letters are on display.

Then we got to witness the amazing lunch delivery service that transports thousands of lunches daily from people’s homes to their offices. The process is so efficient they were recognized by Forbes as a “six sigma” organization.

Let's do lunch!

Breathing in Mumbai is a bit problematic the air pollution so bad it’s visible. Our guide noted that breathing in Mumbai is akin to smoking 2 ½ packs of cigarettes per day. Cough, cough, cough…

In the afternoon our city guide, Isree, left us and our driver, Narem, took over for the trip to Bollywood! After a short ride through the Portuguese neighborhood, where we saw the Mt. Carmel Church of Mumbai, and passing several Bollywood stars’ homes, we went to S & J Studio, one of over 30 producing studios in the area generally referred to as Bollywood. This part of the tour had not been of particular interest to us and we were prepared to cut it short, but we were pleasantly surprised at how much we enjoyed it, even the performance by four professional Bollywood dancers for an audience of two – us.  

Dancing with the Bollywood stars!

The second day – 3/20 – we started with a walking tour through the Heritage area of Mumbai, passing several of the buildings we had seen on day one and stopping in at the St. Mary Anglican Cathedral. This tour ended at the Gateway to India, across from the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, and we left the group and struck out on our own. At the hotel, which was the scene of the horrific terrorist attack a few years ago, we indulged in some up-scale shopping and a positively decadent 7-course Japanese lunch, complete with a bottle of wine and a view of the Gateway and all of the attendant activities there – boats coming and going, Hindu and Muslim families enjoying the day – the saris are so colorful and add to the flavor of the city. Our waiter was Ronald deMello – son of parents with ties to Portuguese Goa.

Gateway to India - the view from our table at the restaurant. Note the pigeon feeding area up front - it's an act of goodwill to assure long life for one's loved ones. Coo?

Then we left the hotel and strolled down a near-by shopping street where we found a little linen shop that had been there over 100 years. Now operated by a Mr. Mendes (who had visited Pittsburgh as a young man taking pilot training), the son of the founder who had operated the shop well into her nineties. She had been from Goa, hence the Portuguese name, and had spoken Portuguese. Of course we bought a hand-embroidered tablecloth.

So many ties to the US – our taxi driver back to the ship has four children, two of whom live in the greater Boston area!

Now we are arriving in Dubai. Our journey through the Straits of Hormuse included adding razor wire around the lower promenade deck of the ship, water canons on that same deck, and extra security to guard against potential pirates. Fortunately none has been needed so far but we will be sailing those same waters as we back track to stop in Oman and Jordan before entering the Suez Canal.

Small additional story about Colombo, Sri Lanka – we stopped at an ATM and John withdrew 1000 rupiah. Turns out that amounted to $7.52 USD, but was enough to cover tolls to and from the tea plantation and lunch for our guide. You never know!

Favorite Gandhi quote:

To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman…

If by strength is meant moral power then woman is immeasurably man’s superior… If non-violence is the law of our being, the future is with woman