when it rains, it monsoons

so in our coming to mumbai we've managed to hit the tail end of monsoon season. i was prepared for this, though, having been warned that 'it will be flooding' when i get to mumbai and hearing talk of trudging through streets with several feet of water. so when i arrived to find rather sporadic and light to medium rains i just shrugged off the warnings as the typically hyperbolic cautionary tales you so often hear as a westerner.

well i may have spoken too soon.

the rains make everything extra green

true, the first few days of our stay were only sporadically rainy (which was merciful, given all the other drudgery we had to go through.. tramping all around town looking at apartments and whatnot). but something must have snapped a few days ago. the skies opened up and the rain just poured down. it was exciting at first. after settling into our new place it was lovely to cozy up next to the window with a cup of tea and listen to the rain beating down on the tin awnings.


but pretty soon the cabin fever set in. having just arrived in a new (and massive) city, we were itching to explore. we had grandiose plans of visiting national parks, museum-hopping and market-wandering for the weekend. the one time i did venture out the walking tour i had hoped to join was canceled before i even got there. this seemed premature to me, but i guess these mumbaikars know a thing or two about the rains. sure enough, within the hour the downpour began. unfortunately this happened to be in the midst of my walk along marina drive and nariman point (meaning a bit of a walk from the train station). despite holding my umbrella (which i have dutifully carted around with me everywhere i've gone) i was soaked within minutes. (note to self: no white in monsoons.. luckily i hadn't made that particular mistake that morning) my friend and i stopped for some chai and vada pav to see if the rains would stop. but, alas, no end in sight. still, getting caught in a true monsoon downpour seemed like something of a rite of passage, like i had been cheating all those times before, just watching the rains from the comfort of my window.

last night my roommate and i were commiserating about the rains and the frustration at not being able to explore as we wanted to. but, faced with another day stuck inside, we resolved to go out anyway. when we did we realized that, naturally, life goes on, even during these crazy rains. sure, some shops shut down early and we heard some trains were flooded or running slowly. but, as my roommate pointed out, when it rains four months out of the year you just have to keep going.

i think i'm beginning to understand the romance of the rains. and while i still enjoy the unpredictability of virginia weather, i can certainly appreciate the anticipation of a massive rain that follows 8 months of heat and humidity.

well, the rain's really coming down now. if you'll excuse me i'm off to make some chai.

jackpot

a team of govindas greet their fans

so, as i mentioned, yesterday was krishna's birthday, a holiday known as janmashtani or locally as dahi handi. basically the story goes that as a boy krishna was very mischievous and was well-known for stealing butter. but since the pots were up on high shelves, he needed his friends' help to reach the delicious buttery goodness. so in his honor, teams of kids (boys and girls, respectively - called govindas) get together and make human pyramids to try to reach the clay pots strung up high (which now also come with a healthy monetary sum). so i guess the idea is to encourage friendship and teamwork (with the ultimate goal of doing something you're not supposed to do..)

the teammates themselves are known as 'govindas' and they seem to cruise around the city all day in their trucks and matching shirts, waving and gesticulating to any and all onlookers. these clay pots are strung up all over the city and it's not clear to me whether teams travel around to attempt more than one pot-break or if it's more of a one-and-done type of situation.

scrambling up the pyramid

in any case, the spectacle that we witnessed on our street all happened quite quickly. which perhaps was why people started gathering so early to grab a good spot. i mean, you wouldn't want to miss the action. the team assembles and before you even realize they've started, the boys (or girls) have already formed the base and are well on their way to the second tier. we watched them form a pyramid, determine it wasn't tall enough, and sort of collapse in on themselves. luckily, no injuries. though - side note - the smallest one does wear a helmet. though it looks like it's probably made of foam.

by the time they started their second attempt i was able to grab my video recorder, which (unfortunately) does a better job of explaining this than i do. i'm not sure whether they reconfigured or just grabbed another kid in a yellow shirt, but whatever they did, it must have worked. the pyramid rose up high enough, and as the smallest boy was lifted up on to his friend's shoulders the crowd started to cheer. this all reached its climax when the helmeted boy reached up to the clay pot and broke it (word to the wise: don't use your head, like john abraham, or you may injure your face. go figure), thus releasing some kind of muddy orangey liquid (not butter) which spilled down onto the group below.

said sea of yellow

this is followed by much jubilation as the team comes down, returns to the streets, and the cheering crowds part for the victors. they seem beside themselves. a sea of yellow drifts by, all smiles and waves to their adoring fans. i guess it's not often you have the undivided attention of your whole town at the age of 12.

i should add that i discovered that these events (or the cash prizes, anyway) are largely sponsored by political parties and/or celebrities. this would seems to tinge the event's otherwise innocent origins. what would krishna say..

180 kind of day

so when i said housing was difficult to find in mumbai, i wasn't exaggerating. and though we were technically only homeless for 5 or 6 days, it seemed like much more, and in the end we were probably extremely lucky.

we spent the first few days roaming all around bandra (a good, central area with lots to do) being taken from place to place in auto rickshaws. the broker, 'brendan' (who bore an uncanny resemblance to an indian nathan lane) was clearly playing a game with us - showing us several small dingy places in unsettlingly narrow alleyways, several that were way too fancy - one with beach views and a swimming pool, and of course one that was just right. i'm calling it the goldilocks effect. we asked a lot of questions which seemed to be annoyances to him. silly of us to ask such frivolous things like if it will be furnished, and the price.

every day was more of the same, looking at place after place out of our price range until they all started running together. the whole process was exhausting. then on top of the high prices were the security deposits. apparently in mumbai it's not uncommon to ask for '1 or 2 lakhs' (1 lakh =100,000 Rs. or about 2200 USD) upfront. we, of course, being scholars (seems to get a better reaction than 'students' around here) on a fixed monthly stipend, can in no way manage this - which we attempted painstakingly to explain to the various brokers we dealt with.

and then, today. something must have happened. the skies parted and the gods smiled down on us. (i'm crediting this one to krishna as today was his birthday celebration) somehow we went from being homeless and destitute at looking at getting kicked out of the ymca (where fulbright chose to put us up for a week. sidenote: if you're in mumbai, don't ever stay here. for the same money you could get a much nicer place in a better location and actual edible food) with nowhere to go... to having a fully furnished, affordable apartment in the nice part of town.

we met with a woman whose apartment we had seen the day before. it was a 1 BHK (apparently this means bedroom, hall, kitchen) that essentially had two bedroom areas and a spacious living room, plus a small kitchen full of windows and a bathroom with a small step for the shower area (not so common here, believe me). though there was furniture we would need to get we thought we would still be saving money in the long run, since it was so affordable.

the whole process worked like clockwork. we met in the morning, agreed on a very reasonable security deposit, got the rent down to the price we wanted. we went to the Y to check out (and never again return) and bring our bags across town and in the meantime had the lease read over by our other friend who happens to be a lawyer (handy, isn't it). by 2.45 we and our belongings were inside the apartment, by 3.30 we had signed and fingerprinted the lease, and by 4.30 we had somehow acquired all kinds of things from our extremely generously landlord - including a single bed, a double bed, two comfortable chairs, new sheets, pillows, a pan and some maggi.

as we explored our area that evening and saw our new neighbors gathering for the festivities (more on that later) we mused on how amazing it is the way things turn out sometime. all i can say is, jai shri krishna

bombay belly

i should start by saying that while i appreciated mumbai right away, for the first couple days i didn't experience much of it, really. the first few days were filled with the monotony of registering with the police, buying cell phones, and endlessly looking for apartments (in mumbai, easier said than done. much easier).

so i was particularly excited at the prospect of spending some time with arlene, a friend of a friend, who was born and raised in the city. i met her in a crowded bar but even so she was hard to miss - and not just because she's probably the only chinese girl in the room - she has a warm, friendly personality that's just infectious. so naturally she graciously invited me out with some of her friends afterward. and, luckily for me, it just to happened to be the night they had chosen to make their annual trek to mohammed ali road for ramadan (or ramzam) fare.

the madness at mohammed ali road

if you haven't heard of mohammed ali road (as i hadn't), it's referred to - at least during ramadan - as the street that never sleeps. as you approach the street by taxi you realize just how true this is. the streets are brighter than midday - with the blindingly white kurtas lit with giant fluorescent lights. in front of these people in white kurtas and taqiyahs bustle about looking through piles of shoes or rushing on to enjoy the feast that awaits. as you approach the looming green and white mosque, you can see the crowds thicken around the glow of dangling lights. the smoke and smells of delicious food frying waft up through the air and beckon the eaters forward.

brain food..

we began with a small meal in a rather dingy walkup, adorned with plastic tables and dangling chickens outside. walking up the stairs was treacherous not only because of their steepness but because of the layer of grease on the floor unlike any i have ever seen (and i worked at a cheap restaurant..) there we ordered an assortment of goodies.. tender chicken reshmi with chutney, mutton kebab (in this case just chunks of meat), and an eggy bread i didn't catch the name of. this we capped off with bheja masala (goat brains! very soft) which we washed down with some limca and thums up sodas.

tasty firni

from there it was back outside onto the craziness of the street. from here we skipped the salty snacks and moved straight to sweets. we had sandhal, a light puffy treat with a thin layer of malai (coconut) sort of paste on top. then it was on to the real sweet stuff.. we had some firni, a tasty thick rice pudding-like dish served in charming clay pots.

frying malpuwa

then it was on to malpuwa - which we first saw frying in giant vats of oil and surely later smothered with ghee and who knows what else. everyone jumps in and grabs a piece - deliciously greasy. all this just about filled us up, and by 2am it was about time to go - although each girl had to take a few of this or that home, as per moms' requests.

serving up late night snacks

so i think the lessons here are: if locals offer to take you to food, GO (obviously), muslims get really creative with food at ramadan (also obvious - when you sit and think about food all day you must get pretty good at it), and of course it's never too late for snacks!

welcome in india

well i've indeed arrived once again in india. despite a long, complicated series of flights and delays in getting here (suffice it to say that instead of one layover i had a three-leg flight, hours of waiting, and people tracking my progress over three continents). eventually i arrived, at 2.30 in the morning rather than 5.45 in the evening. it was nice to see a friendly face, although after waiting for me for five hours, jimmy's face was less than friendly. (which i hope was mostly remedied by the southern comfort i supplied from duty free.)

after the unpleasantness of the flight/s, i was able to sit back and enjoy being in india. and my first realization? rain! rain in india was something i had never experienced before. when we arrived in karnal (jimmy's village in haryana), we were surrounded by green grass, brooding skies and rolling clouds. (clouds!) it was lovely. karnal in general was nice - and it was so wonderful to stay with a family (particularly my good friend's) so far from home.

from there, despite much protesting from jimmy's mother, i had to go back to delhi for a fulbright orientation. another one. this one was at the taj, which has got to be one of the fanciest hotels in asia (and has won awards to this effect). they had hundreds of fresh roses in arrangements every day. they had actual museum-quality Shah Jahan (18th c.)-era pieces all over the lobby. the breakfast had three kinds of honey, include one that was collected from a honeycomb suspended a foot above the glass bowl. so between spending days in the hotel's rooftop conference room and being shuttled to the public affairs officer's (i'm sure) multi-million dollar home for a fancy dinner, it didn't feel much like india.

it wasn't until 3 days in to our trips, when we touched down in mumbai, that it started to feel like india. bombay is such a sprawling city.. things just fit wherever they can. comparisons with delhi seem impossible to avoid so i'll just say that in delhi things seem more orderly somehow. chaotic, but orderly. in bombay things are everywhere: beggars and businessmen, old crumbling buildings at the foot of (literally) one of the most expensive apartments in the world, trees growing up through fences and along roadsides between skyscrapers, and bustling (or halting) traffic next to a calming sea. outside bombay central, the black and yellow of the autos add to their bumblebee resemblance, buzzing through the streets, swarming around train stations and shopping centers. so far i'm really enjoying the city - and reveling in all its wonderful contradictions.

india-bound

well, it's official. i'll be heading to india in just a few days (hours now, really) for a 9-month stint in india, thanks to the state department and the good people at fulbright-nehru. i'll be based in mumbai and traveling to study folk art made for all kinds of festivals. (i know - can you believe they're paying me for this?)

while i'll make a blog for my official research-y type information, i'll keep this blog going for my more general, informal travel musings. so i guess for the next few months the g will stand for 'gori'.