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Dave spent a week in Mumbai (used to be Bombay), India for work. Five full days of case training, Harvard Business School style, with colleagues from around the world. He was happy to see his Indian buddies again, and fill his belly with curries and English tea.
We decided to extend his trip and celebrate an early 12 year anniversary. So I hopped on a plane, sans kids, and joined him for 2 days in Mumbai!
The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel was the perfect place to stay for such a trip - close to the sites we wanted to see and drop dead gorgeous.
The story goes that the Indian founder, Jamsedji Tata, was refused entry into a 'whites only' British owned hotel and so he decided to build this swanky place. Opened in 1903. The place is like an art gallery. And the pool was exactly what you'd expect from a colonial era English country club.
Security was ramped up after the 2008 terrorist bombings. There are barricades all around it, metal detectors to walk through, lots of security about.
The Who's Who of guests, including Oprah, the Beatles, Brad Pitt, Hillary Clinton even President Obama himself.
Big mustaches with stiff turbans greeted us at every door. And we were in heaven with the dosai breakfast.
But step out on the streets of Bombay and everything is different.
The name was changed to Mumbai in 1996. A taxi driver told us only young people call it Mumbai and that it will always be Bombay. The history of India is more well known that other places we've travelled to in South East Asia but it was good to get a quick refresher. Hindu dynasties, Muslim sultans, Portuguese colonists in 1534. The Portuguese gifted Mumbai to England as part of Catherine's wedding dowry to King Charles in 1661who then gave it to the East India Company. It became an amazing port and went from small fishing village to a huge booming trade city. But England had a strong colonial presence until Ghandi helped India gain their independence in 1942.
Since then there has been a lot of strife between Hindus and Muslims, government corruption, but also a lot of economic growth. The result is a huge disperity between the wealthy Bollywood lovers and the poor slum dwellers.
Mumbai has the most prolific film industry and the world's biggest slum both in the same city.
The streets were chaotic for sure. People, bikes, cars all weaving in and around each other. Horns blaring. But there was a definite rhythm to the chaos. It flowed.
But that doesn't mean one can relax. All my senses were at the height of attention as we walked the streets (which really is my favorite part). Don't step in the nasty trash, ooohh look at that pretty sari, don't get hit by that bus, wow what smells so good? oh my now it smells very very bad, uh oh avoid the beggar, look at those shiny bangles....
Mumbai is a beautiful mess.
fancy private hospital
neighborhood with kids headed to school
We didn't take any pictures of the world's largest slum. We didn't get that close. But the poverty, the desperation, the filth and grit was everywhere. The beggars with the babies, the child beggars, the beggars with physical handicaps, the beggars with big bloody wounds. Sometimes we really felt like we were reliving scenes from Slumdog Millionaire. It was all very heartbreaking. We wanted to scoop up every little child we saw and take them home with us.
My neighbor in Singapore grew up in Mumbai before she spent 10 years in the states. She told me how recently one of her best friends was hit by a bus and killed in her old neighborhood. There was a small sentence about it in the newspaper. In the states it would have been a much bigger deal. But that's the way India is, she says. Tragedies happen and everyone is used to it. They grieve and suffer for sure but then pick themselves up and keep going. There's a resilience about Indians, she says. A strength. She told me about how a muslim gas station was bombed across the street from her school one day, but they still sat for their exam. Her mother called the school to see if she was ok, 'alright, I'll pick her up later.'
People were friendly and everyone spoke amazing English (as well as 6 other langugages). We were stopped several times so people could take a picture of us, or more often - with us. When I asked to take their photo in return, they line up dutifully.
We loved the energy of the city and the amazing diversity in the culture. And the food! We wished we had more time to explore Mumbai and would someday love to tour the rest of Incredible India.
Colaba shopping street
stopped for some street henna
always with an audience
