Hello Bombay, Goodbye India

After a 22 hour train ride (the longest single mode of transport journey of our travels), we arrived at 10pm in Bombay [the official name of Mumbai was designated by the extreme right wing Hindu Shiv Sena party, so many people not in agreement with their ideas continue to call the city Bombay].

We took an auto rickshaw to Lucia's, the 91-year-old mother of Alfin, Rachel's parents' next door neighbor. She lives in Santa Cruz, a northern suburb. Lucia woke up to greet us when we arrived after 11pm--although she has a little trouble hearing, she's otherwise in terrific health, and was a wonderful host to us. It felt great to end our time in India staying with her, and we enjoyed hearing her life stories. Her servants Sunita and Laksmi were also really friendly, and Sunita had an adorable baby.

The next day, we took the train into what the British dubbed the "first city in India." Bombay commuter trains are often horribly overcrowded, but since we took them on a weekend and at off times, they were ok. A couple English women we met in Dharamsala said that Bombay felt like London to them, and while that may be an exaggeration, it certainly felt very, very different from any other place we'd been in India. These differences are more than superficial: Bombay produces a whopping 60% of India's GDP, and 40% of its manufacturing.

Our train arrived at the Victoria Terminal, a really crazy looking Gothic and Baroque building which looked like some buildings we'd seen in Australia. We walked around downtown, which felt much cleaner, more attractive, and calmer to walk than anywhere else in India. After a good afternoon at the Prince of Wales art museum, we sampled some of Bombay's street food: sugar cane juice, a grilled vegetable sandwich, mango juice, and pani puri (little shells of dough filled with a sweet or salty soup). Also better food here than elsewhere in India! Despite being more humid and still pretty hot, the temperatures were also considerable lower than other places we'd been, which was nice.

The next day we visited the house where Gandhi stayed in Bombay, and where he launched his nonviolent movement. We also walked along Chowpatty beach, which was mostly empty. We ate bhel puri (almost tasted a little Mexican, a mix of starches with cilantro and onions) and falooda, a delicious drink with pieces of kulfi ice cream. That evening we ate dinner with Lucia's extended family, all of whom are very well educated, successful and friendly.

Our last day in Bombay was relaxed- Rachel did some shopping with one of Lucia's relatives, and we went to a Bollywood movie called Bheja Fry (unfortunately not very good). Leaving that night for the airport, we were grateful to have been able to stay with Lucia. I read an anecdote somewhere about Gandhi's slogan to the British "Quit India," and how a British soldier had added under one of the posters "I wish I could." Despite feeling that way sometimes ourselves in India, we had some great experiences there, and enjoyed our time in Bombay.