On India's south-west coast lies Mumbai, the city I had dreaded the though before even landing in the country. With a population of 16 million and 55% of which live in slums despite it being the financial capital India, Mumbai in my mind was going to be a challenge. I had envisaged it to be rather like Delhi: a heaving mass of people, insane traffic, cows, dust, beggars, decrepid buildings and a lot of hassle multiplied by 100 times...even as we were pulling up into Central station at 4am I felt a sense of anxiety as I looked out into the monsoon rain and saw nothing but darkness, rubbish and rats. Turning up and relying on sleeping in the rest rooms was not very realistic and of course as soon as we asked where we could find them we were lead to two taxi's and the promise of a cheap room for the remaining 6 of us. Well two additional mattresses on the floor later, our first few hours were somewhat hazy. When I awoke absolutely ravenous I stepped out to see the road lined with dirt and street kids alongside many sweet shops, interesting.
It took some time for us to work out where we were in the city, Dongri – not on the map to be exact. Colaba was the place to be, where the main hub for tourists is situated and of course the location which the famous 'Shantaram' is based. I grew excited by the thought that we may heading out of the Muslim area and into a livelier environment. What a pleasant surprise it was once we picked our hostel down a pretty quiet street next to the coast, I started to take in all of the impressive architecture, nice cafes/restaurants and a general travellers-vibe. Everyone seemed to be friendly and there was not even much hassle as we walked through Colaba market! I had a good feeling about the next few days here, with so much to see and many avenues for entertainment and/or chilling it was turning out to be the respite we needed. A quick browse in the Lonely Planet steered our minds to visiting Baganga Tank, a hidden traffic-free sacred place at the southern tip of Mumbai. We explored the precinct of temples, tiny streets and pilgrim's rest-houses, what a tranquil place perfect for sitting and dreaming.
The following day we took a trip to Elephanta Island, a one hour boat journey which was a rather rocky ride at times but upon arrival I could see why it was worth the wet. The sculpted cave-temples were beautifully scattered and the first one containing a huge Sadhashiva depicting Shiva as the destroyer, creator and preserver of the universe was impressive.
Another sight worth seeing was Haji Ali's Mosque I had read about in Shantaram and decided one early morning to catch the bus there. When I heard it described as a floating shrine, I realised the extent to which it reached out into the Arabian Sea. Along the causeway filled with pilgrims, the waves crashed and were followed by excited shrieks.
After sitting peacefully and watching the devotions in the women's only section, I headed back to go on to Mahalaxmi Temple which I had spotted. Little did I know that the boy shouting out on the causeway was a warning...too late the wave hit and I lost balance slipping to the side and almost finding myself along with several Indians out to sea. Oh my goodness, the second we stabilised ourselves everyone ran as fast as possible to avoid the next wave phew! Walking around utterly drenched but smiling I made a friend along the way to the colourful, busy temple. The nice young man bought me a flower to offer Laxmi the goddess of money and we had a little chat/photo exchange. Sometimes you can tell when someone is going to bother you or not and my instincts told me that he was a genuine person interested in learning about my culture.
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