7 stops in Bombay!

I arrived in India late on Saturday evening and it’s been a brilliant whirlwind ever since! India’s humidity was the first thing that hit me as I stepped off the plane – it is thick and dense and within 30 seconds, I was sweating. Welcome! After trying to sleep off some jetlag, I woke early Sunday morning feeling excited and ready to experience Bombay. Here’s a recap of my first 7 stops:

Stop 1: the bank. After navigating my way from my hotel through the honking traffic and immediately learning that walk/stop signs are utterly obsolete, I arrived at the bank withdrew some rupees and was ready to go! The security guard at the bank clearly could tell I was new to town and enthusiastically welcomed me to India. Nice, right?

Stop 2: Worli. I hopped in a taxi heading south from Juhu Beach to meet a dear friend and Bombay resident. Now, I grew up in Boston and lived in Europe for several months, so I thought I had a pretty firm understanding of aggressive driving. Wrong. Driving in India is intense. Traffic lanes are non-existent and cars remain literally inches from one another. Honking the horn is as common as hitting the gas pedal. I quickly learned not to pay attention to the road because it is far too stressful and the drivers have established some sort of system that works, so I just let it happen. Arriving in Worli, it was a pleasant feeling to be greeted by a familiar face in this unfamiliar setting.

Stop 3: lunch! My friend brought me to a restaurant called Thackers and ordered us thali. I didn’t quite know what to expect and it was delicious. Truly. A vegetarian’s dream meal! Waiters arrived at our table with large silver platters filled with small silver bowls. Next, servers came by and filled the small bowls with all sorts of vegetarian Indian treats: okra with tomato, potato curry, lentils… lots of lentils and sauces of all sorts. Yet another person came by with all types of bread for dipping. I ate and ate and it seemed as though the more I ate, the more they refilled the bowls. We finished off the meal with some rice and raiti, a yogurt drink and it was magnificent! I’ve had lots of Indian food at home, but this was different in the best possible way!

Thali lunch!

A man and his boat at Chowpatty Beach.

Eating pistachio ice cream!

Monsoons.

Haji Ali and walkway (on the left).

Haji Ali up close.

Stop 4: ice cream and the beach. What’s lunch without a little dessert, right? Down the road from the restaurant, we stopped at a street vendor selling kulfi, which is like a dense ice cream. We opted for the pistachio and it was the ultimate refreshment on a humid day. While we stood enjoying the kulfi, a brief rainstorm came through; it is monsoon season after all. I took a minute to soak up some rain – they say it’s good for the soul. Then, we walked over to Chowpatty Beach, home to a gorgeous view of the southern Bombay coastline. People were walking around and enjoying the Sunday rays.

Stop 5: shopping! Later this month, I’ll be attending a wedding near Bangalore, and I wanted to get a sari so I can participate in style. We went to a great shop in Breach Candy where I selected my pattern (green with gold beads) and got measurements to have a sari made up! I will pick it up sometime in the next few weeks and I am pumped. I asked several questions while getting the sari made (what color? how much? what fabric? how long? how snug? you get the picture…). The man assisting us could sense my anxiousness of picking out the “right” thing to wear. So, he said something to me that I will likely recall frequently over the next few weeks: “Miss, this is India – anything is possible!” Love it. I also wanted to pick up a few articles of Indian clothing to wear while I’m here. We stopped by Fabindia and Cotton World in the Phoenix Mills mall. These stores are amazing! Fabindia is a chain store in India that sells garments and home furnishings predominately handmade by rural Indians. In establishing the store, which has now become infamous in the country, the purchases help to sustain rural employment. Plus, the clothes are fabulous! What could be better? The other store, Cotton World is precisely as you’d imagine – comfortable clothes for all! I got two kurtas (longer shirts) and a pair of linen pants and I am set!

Stop 6: Haji Ali. To add some history to an otherwise frivolous day, we went down to the Haji Ali. The Haji Ali is a popular religious landmark in Bombay situated in the middle of the Arabian Sea. It houses the tomb of the Muslim Saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari and people from all religions visit to offer their prayers and ask for their wishes to be fulfilled by the Saint. To get there, you walk out on a long causeway, similar to a jetty of rocks. There is a palace-looking structure at the end of the causeway and it is stunning. In order to enter the shrine area, you must remove your shoes and wash your feet. Since it is Ramadan, it was quite crowded so I opted not to participate in the foot-washing, but observed from afar as people participated in this spiritual experience. It was powerful.

Stop 7: home. This was about all my jet-lagged self could handle for the day, so we packed it up, stopped at the fruit stand to stalk up on bananas and apricots for breakfast, and went back for a home-cooked meal. In the morning I learned how to make Indian chai and yogurt from milk. I definitely plan to pick up some chai to bring home!

To help me sum up my initial impressions, I want to first tell a brief story. While I was preparing to board the metro in Washington, DC, to go to the airport to fly here, there was a small boy standing with his grandfather on the platform. As the metro train approach, his eyes widened and he began jumping up and down, singing and pointing at the train, “It’s here! It’s here!” At the time, I politely smiled and remembered how much fun it was as a child to experience simple things like riding a train for the first time. After my first day in India, a part of me feels that young boy’s excitement. Everything is new and adventurous. It’s rare to have such opportunities as an adult and I fully expect the coming month to be filled with both inspiring and terrifying moments, but I’m as prepared as I can be. After all, this is India where anything is possible!