Life in Another Country - Long Version
Discussion
Following a request from another thread, here is a piece on what it's like to be plucked from a comfy existence in leafy South-East England, and dumped, alone, in a far off land for at least 6 months - in this case India. Mumbai specifically.
It's going to be a long read, so no shame if you CBA. It's as much a place to record my thinking as much as anything.
(Forgive any strange formatting or lack of structure, I've got a tendancy to ramble)
Background: I'm a civil engineer - a highway designer (I make no secret of it!), and I was asked by my company to come out and use local resources to build a team of designers, and lead them, help them find their feet and produce designs at a fraction of the cost of similar schemes in the UK.
When they first said "India", I was quite apprehensive. My knowledge of India was limited to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and of cows laying in the road. I took the opportunity because it meant a substantial tick on the CV, and a few months of much cheaper living, allowing me to save some much needed funds for a house. I thought of it as a destination for backpackers "finding" themselves, and extreme poverty. My mother was born there and lived there as a child, but that was 70-odd years ago, and she had no real memories of it to speak of.
So, in April, I found myself in possession of 20-odd injections, a visa, and a one-way air ticket to Mumbai International. This is what I've discovered since.
The country is big. Really big. Many people think of it as just the "V" shaped piece of land sticking out in to the ocean between the middle east and the Indonesian peninsula. The actual country stretches a long way north, into the main Asian continent - at least the same again as the piece bordered by the oceans, heading up to the Himalayas, over (and past) the chinese bordero on one side and the Pakistan border on the other. And it holds, currently, 1.25billion people. 1 in 5 people on the planet live in India. It really makes the UK feel tiny. And it's only 4.5 hours ahead. I had never realised there were "half" time zones until I came here. Although I've been able to tell the time for a few years now, it makes working out the exact time back home a little tricky and not very "off the cuff".
It's poor. A very poor country indeed. There are a lot of very rich people here, but comparitively the vast majority don't have a proverbial pot to pee in. The first thing you see from the window of the plane is the vast slums bordering the airport. Blue tarps on all the roofs. And an awful lot of satellite dishes. In a city of around 18 million people, the slums hold a good proportion of them. However, "slum" doesn't hold the same connotations as in the UK. It is merely an unofficial house. I know and work with many people who live in the slums, and they turn up for work every day in crisp shirts, clean shoes, and an inspirational "can do" attitude. You get one family per dwelling - which may be a single room about 10 feet by 12 feet. The family may be mother, father, brother and wife, grandparents and kids. They all live there, eat, sleep etc. But they've all got the Indian version of Sky (maybe a pound a month for all channels including live Premiership matches!), big flat screen TVs, smart phones. They don't need much space as they have a decent climate, and spend most of the down time outside, socialising, sitting together, playing cards etc. It's not unusual to see a row of brand new cars outside the slums. And millions of motorbikes - nothing bigger than 200cc, but that's plenty big enough to take a family of 5 across the city if needed. My best I've seen so far is 4 adults and 2 kids on one bike.
The slums don't have sanitation. They may have running water for cooking/washing, but no toilets. They are communal affairs, and you know when you go past them. They really do stink. Many slums outside the city (but still in the suburbs) have fields where they all head off to in the morning, it's quite normal to drive to work and see a few dozen heads popping up out of the bushes, watching the cars go by. There's no shame in it, you just don't look too hard.
Developers will pay the slum dwellers an awful lot of money if they want to build on slum land. My driver has been offered the equivalent of £40,000 for his slum. He knows it's worth more, so is holding out. He is very happy there, he says he lives in the most social place on the planet, and lives free. His kids have friends everywhere, can play out til midnight and be perfectly safe. There's no traffic in the slums, and very little crime - everyone is an aunty or an uncle, and everyone looks out for each other. The slums have their own industry too - little shops and stalls, and factories and the like - the big slum is rumoured to have an internal industry worth half a billion US$ a year. I believe it.
There are families who don't even live in the slums. It's common to see entire families, from babies to the elderly, all sleeping on the side of the main roads, under flyovers, some under tarps but many times just laid out on the pavement, sleeping where they can. If you stop at a junction near them, you get a "tap tap tap" on the window, kids begging, wanting a few rupees from the rich people commuting. It's hard, but you can't give to them all, so best not give to any - otherwise you would be swamped and never get anywhere. Sounds harsh, but it's just the way it is. There's no ill-feeling if you don't give, they just have an attitude of "well, you've got to try". But it's hard to see the big white eyes in the brown faces and not feel a twinge of unfairness about having been born in a rich western country.
There is construction EVERYWHERE. Half finished high-rises, stopped due to a lack of "black money" being paid, or the developer has gone bust, or the construction is just glacier-like. People still live in them, right up to the unfinished floors with the rebar still sticking out, going rusty.
The food is simply amazing. Beef is banned, but you can get buffalo, which is close enough. Chicken is fresh - you can find a butcher's stall where they kill and prepare the chicken/goat right there, quick and easy and as fresh as can be. The animals are well kept right up until slaughter, and it tastes like it too. In the UK, curries are simply over-chilli'd dishes, the hotter the better. Here, they are spiced to perfection, cooked well, served in decent portions, and are incredibly cheap. A streetfood chicken curry and bread and cokes for 2 people will set you back about £3. I have put on a stone since April, and I have no doubt the gain will continue as long as I'm out here.
Getting a decent cup of tea is impossible. They do a strange all-milk tea, in a tiny cup. Oh how I long for a mug of rosie from the vast tea plantations of Yorkshire. This is what I get:
The traffic. Well. That has to be seen to be believed. I'm not lying or exaggerating when I say that the lines painted on the road are seen as decoration. If there's space to put a car/bike/rickshaw there, then they will put one there. Car horns are everywhere. In the market areas, there are many shops dedicated to replacing work out car horns. You get armies of guys on the streets repairing, re-wiring and testing car horns, and they'll fit one to your car for a couple of hundred rupees (£2). On the roads - rules are slack. They generally drive on the left, but if that's blocked, then they'll drive on the right, on the footway, anywhere. Roundabouts - pick a direction. Clockwise, anticlockwise, forward, reverse, anything goes. Headlights optional. There is no checking of bulbs. Flashing your headlights means "I'm coming through, get out of the way!" - but saying that, I have only seen one small knock since I've been here, when a car rolled back at some traffic lights and cracked the front light of a rickshaw. It looks chaotic, but the drivers are properly skillful. There is zero road rage. If someone cuts you up, you get on with it. Flash your headlights to make someone move out of the way, they move (if they can) and everyone just carries on.
Cars are all Mahindras, Tatas, Hyundais and Suzukis. Theres a fair few VWs, Renaults and Mercedes too, but the vast majority are Indian-built models. They are basic (4x4s with leaf springs all round), and cheap, but they appear to be reliable. I've seen a handful of Porsche Cayennes, a single Boxster, and a few BMWs. My car here is a Toyota Innova, a Hilux-based people carrier, very comfy and robust. You can buy a brand new Royal Enfield 500cc bike for about £1300. Smaller bikes are under a grand, brand new. The Tata Nano is a crazy little car, I wouldn't want to have a prang in one. No airbags, keep-fit windows, but AC and a semi-auto paddle shift box. Strange priorities here.
My car and Mastan, my very cool driver.
Public transport is very chaotic, but at the same time extremely ordered. The trains leave exactly at the time on the timetable, and if you're not on, tough. The doors never shut, so you get a lot of people jumping off early, or jumping on while the train is still moving, and the people already on the train will grab you and make sure you're on safely. To cross the city can cost as little as 5p in second class, or a whole 100r (£1) if you want the padded seat luxury of first class.
The people are, by and large, mad and brilliant. There is very little cross-sex contact - you won't see many boyfriends/girlfriends holding hands. The guys hold hands with other guys, and it's just seen as a sign of friendship. It's a strange thing to see, but you soon get used to it. Even somewhere as metropolitan as Mumbai, a white face anywhere except the tourist areas is met with inquisitive glances, kids running alongside shouting "Hello sir! What is your name? Where are you from?". Older kids and more image conscious teens wearing skinny jeans and bright shirts will ask you for a photo - I've had hundreds of kids ask me for photos, they give their phone to a friend, grab your hand and say "smile please sir!" - I'm probably on hundreds of Facebook profiles. You get babies thrust at you to hold and have pictures with. My suspicious mind used to think that it was a ruse to get money out of me, but now I realise it's meant in a very innocent way. Their smiles are genuine, they are all (in my experience) honest, decent, and quite humble. I've got a lot of time for them.
The women mostly wear saris, which generally show a considerable amount of flesh - and the bright colours match their nail varnish, lipstick and their gold ear-rings, necklaces, toe-rings etc. They look extremely attractive, maybe not so much in the face but the overall package is such that you have to make sure you're not caught staring. And they have very wiggly hips. (That's a bit sexist maybe, but it's definitely something you notice!)
The markets (Chor Bazaar - the Thieves Market) is amazing. You can get and see anything. From a vintage ships signalling lamp, to a handmade suit, to a car door, to a kilogram of cinnamon. Everything and anything. Food, drinks, furniture, tools, anything. Oh, and bananas. I've never seen so many bananas as here. Carts and carts full.
Because the population is so large, the thinking is "Why embrace technology when you can get people to do the labour?" Trimming the bushed on the central reservation of motorways is done by armies of women with scissors. The roads are swept manually, daily. Deliveries are all taken from the trucks to the shops by hand, construction materials (steel, concrete etc) delivered on hand carts, everyone has found a means of earning a few pennies to get by every day.
There is rubbish everywhere, it's not a clean city, but after a few weeks you get used to it. So many people in a developing country means that it will never be as clean as a European city, but the piles are out of the way and people muddle their way through.
I've been up to Delhi and Agra (to see the Taj) and they really are tourist traps. I didn't enjoy the constant calls to see this shop, that shop, "rickshaw sir", "Tour guide?", but I guess they make their living off people going to see the various sights. The Taj Mahal is stunning though. As a non-Indian you pay 40times that of an Indian to get in, but once in you get a reserved route and special photo platforms etc that the locals can't use. Check out the price differences...
As a white face, every restaurant you go in to you are served by the manager, and more than once the manager has kicked out Indians to free up a table for us - I feel awful when it happens, but the locals seem to accept it with good grace, and give you a smile as they take their plates to the benches outside. It's very humbling.
The wildlife is interesting. Mumbai has a high population of black eagles - they fly around the city, circling all day, and are quite impressive. There are rumoured to be crocodiles in the lake near me, and in the national park there are wild monkeys and big cats.
So, overall, life is good. There's no denying that life as a westerner here is one of privelege. My UK salary is probably 6 times what the equivalent level employee here earns, so it's always on your mind when you go for drinks that it;s much easier for me to get a round in than it is for them, or to shout them all lunch twice a week, or to not complain when my allowance cheque comes through late.
My preconceptions were all wrong. I blame the media - they, of course, want to show the massive differences between the cultures, but to be honest, I've slotted in to day-to-day living very easily, people are people, and if you treat them with respect, they will return it a hundred times over. I will miss the place when I go home, hugely. In fact, I've started calling here, "home". It's great. Frustrating, noisy, chaotic, busy, but a great adventure nonetheless.
I'll try and add some more parts as I think of them/discover the photos on my phone and camera. I'm off to the Andaman Islands on Sunday, it's a £50 flight from here, and hotels there are the equivalent of £10/night - such a hardship!
If anyone has any questions, or would like any more info, please feel free to ask - I've got lots of boring photos and stuff I can post up if anyone wants anything more specific.
Thanks for reading
ETA I've got more to add but that will probably be tomorrow now.
(Reminder to self: Expats, work, language, procedure, corruption, attitudes towards marriage etc)
It's going to be a long read, so no shame if you CBA. It's as much a place to record my thinking as much as anything.
(Forgive any strange formatting or lack of structure, I've got a tendancy to ramble)
Background: I'm a civil engineer - a highway designer (I make no secret of it!), and I was asked by my company to come out and use local resources to build a team of designers, and lead them, help them find their feet and produce designs at a fraction of the cost of similar schemes in the UK.
When they first said "India", I was quite apprehensive. My knowledge of India was limited to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and of cows laying in the road. I took the opportunity because it meant a substantial tick on the CV, and a few months of much cheaper living, allowing me to save some much needed funds for a house. I thought of it as a destination for backpackers "finding" themselves, and extreme poverty. My mother was born there and lived there as a child, but that was 70-odd years ago, and she had no real memories of it to speak of.
So, in April, I found myself in possession of 20-odd injections, a visa, and a one-way air ticket to Mumbai International. This is what I've discovered since.
The country is big. Really big. Many people think of it as just the "V" shaped piece of land sticking out in to the ocean between the middle east and the Indonesian peninsula. The actual country stretches a long way north, into the main Asian continent - at least the same again as the piece bordered by the oceans, heading up to the Himalayas, over (and past) the chinese bordero on one side and the Pakistan border on the other. And it holds, currently, 1.25billion people. 1 in 5 people on the planet live in India. It really makes the UK feel tiny. And it's only 4.5 hours ahead. I had never realised there were "half" time zones until I came here. Although I've been able to tell the time for a few years now, it makes working out the exact time back home a little tricky and not very "off the cuff".
It's poor. A very poor country indeed. There are a lot of very rich people here, but comparitively the vast majority don't have a proverbial pot to pee in. The first thing you see from the window of the plane is the vast slums bordering the airport. Blue tarps on all the roofs. And an awful lot of satellite dishes. In a city of around 18 million people, the slums hold a good proportion of them. However, "slum" doesn't hold the same connotations as in the UK. It is merely an unofficial house. I know and work with many people who live in the slums, and they turn up for work every day in crisp shirts, clean shoes, and an inspirational "can do" attitude. You get one family per dwelling - which may be a single room about 10 feet by 12 feet. The family may be mother, father, brother and wife, grandparents and kids. They all live there, eat, sleep etc. But they've all got the Indian version of Sky (maybe a pound a month for all channels including live Premiership matches!), big flat screen TVs, smart phones. They don't need much space as they have a decent climate, and spend most of the down time outside, socialising, sitting together, playing cards etc. It's not unusual to see a row of brand new cars outside the slums. And millions of motorbikes - nothing bigger than 200cc, but that's plenty big enough to take a family of 5 across the city if needed. My best I've seen so far is 4 adults and 2 kids on one bike.
The slums don't have sanitation. They may have running water for cooking/washing, but no toilets. They are communal affairs, and you know when you go past them. They really do stink. Many slums outside the city (but still in the suburbs) have fields where they all head off to in the morning, it's quite normal to drive to work and see a few dozen heads popping up out of the bushes, watching the cars go by. There's no shame in it, you just don't look too hard.
Developers will pay the slum dwellers an awful lot of money if they want to build on slum land. My driver has been offered the equivalent of £40,000 for his slum. He knows it's worth more, so is holding out. He is very happy there, he says he lives in the most social place on the planet, and lives free. His kids have friends everywhere, can play out til midnight and be perfectly safe. There's no traffic in the slums, and very little crime - everyone is an aunty or an uncle, and everyone looks out for each other. The slums have their own industry too - little shops and stalls, and factories and the like - the big slum is rumoured to have an internal industry worth half a billion US$ a year. I believe it.
There are families who don't even live in the slums. It's common to see entire families, from babies to the elderly, all sleeping on the side of the main roads, under flyovers, some under tarps but many times just laid out on the pavement, sleeping where they can. If you stop at a junction near them, you get a "tap tap tap" on the window, kids begging, wanting a few rupees from the rich people commuting. It's hard, but you can't give to them all, so best not give to any - otherwise you would be swamped and never get anywhere. Sounds harsh, but it's just the way it is. There's no ill-feeling if you don't give, they just have an attitude of "well, you've got to try". But it's hard to see the big white eyes in the brown faces and not feel a twinge of unfairness about having been born in a rich western country.
There is construction EVERYWHERE. Half finished high-rises, stopped due to a lack of "black money" being paid, or the developer has gone bust, or the construction is just glacier-like. People still live in them, right up to the unfinished floors with the rebar still sticking out, going rusty.
The food is simply amazing. Beef is banned, but you can get buffalo, which is close enough. Chicken is fresh - you can find a butcher's stall where they kill and prepare the chicken/goat right there, quick and easy and as fresh as can be. The animals are well kept right up until slaughter, and it tastes like it too. In the UK, curries are simply over-chilli'd dishes, the hotter the better. Here, they are spiced to perfection, cooked well, served in decent portions, and are incredibly cheap. A streetfood chicken curry and bread and cokes for 2 people will set you back about £3. I have put on a stone since April, and I have no doubt the gain will continue as long as I'm out here.
Getting a decent cup of tea is impossible. They do a strange all-milk tea, in a tiny cup. Oh how I long for a mug of rosie from the vast tea plantations of Yorkshire. This is what I get:
The traffic. Well. That has to be seen to be believed. I'm not lying or exaggerating when I say that the lines painted on the road are seen as decoration. If there's space to put a car/bike/rickshaw there, then they will put one there. Car horns are everywhere. In the market areas, there are many shops dedicated to replacing work out car horns. You get armies of guys on the streets repairing, re-wiring and testing car horns, and they'll fit one to your car for a couple of hundred rupees (£2). On the roads - rules are slack. They generally drive on the left, but if that's blocked, then they'll drive on the right, on the footway, anywhere. Roundabouts - pick a direction. Clockwise, anticlockwise, forward, reverse, anything goes. Headlights optional. There is no checking of bulbs. Flashing your headlights means "I'm coming through, get out of the way!" - but saying that, I have only seen one small knock since I've been here, when a car rolled back at some traffic lights and cracked the front light of a rickshaw. It looks chaotic, but the drivers are properly skillful. There is zero road rage. If someone cuts you up, you get on with it. Flash your headlights to make someone move out of the way, they move (if they can) and everyone just carries on.
Cars are all Mahindras, Tatas, Hyundais and Suzukis. Theres a fair few VWs, Renaults and Mercedes too, but the vast majority are Indian-built models. They are basic (4x4s with leaf springs all round), and cheap, but they appear to be reliable. I've seen a handful of Porsche Cayennes, a single Boxster, and a few BMWs. My car here is a Toyota Innova, a Hilux-based people carrier, very comfy and robust. You can buy a brand new Royal Enfield 500cc bike for about £1300. Smaller bikes are under a grand, brand new. The Tata Nano is a crazy little car, I wouldn't want to have a prang in one. No airbags, keep-fit windows, but AC and a semi-auto paddle shift box. Strange priorities here.
My car and Mastan, my very cool driver.
Public transport is very chaotic, but at the same time extremely ordered. The trains leave exactly at the time on the timetable, and if you're not on, tough. The doors never shut, so you get a lot of people jumping off early, or jumping on while the train is still moving, and the people already on the train will grab you and make sure you're on safely. To cross the city can cost as little as 5p in second class, or a whole 100r (£1) if you want the padded seat luxury of first class.
The people are, by and large, mad and brilliant. There is very little cross-sex contact - you won't see many boyfriends/girlfriends holding hands. The guys hold hands with other guys, and it's just seen as a sign of friendship. It's a strange thing to see, but you soon get used to it. Even somewhere as metropolitan as Mumbai, a white face anywhere except the tourist areas is met with inquisitive glances, kids running alongside shouting "Hello sir! What is your name? Where are you from?". Older kids and more image conscious teens wearing skinny jeans and bright shirts will ask you for a photo - I've had hundreds of kids ask me for photos, they give their phone to a friend, grab your hand and say "smile please sir!" - I'm probably on hundreds of Facebook profiles. You get babies thrust at you to hold and have pictures with. My suspicious mind used to think that it was a ruse to get money out of me, but now I realise it's meant in a very innocent way. Their smiles are genuine, they are all (in my experience) honest, decent, and quite humble. I've got a lot of time for them.
The women mostly wear saris, which generally show a considerable amount of flesh - and the bright colours match their nail varnish, lipstick and their gold ear-rings, necklaces, toe-rings etc. They look extremely attractive, maybe not so much in the face but the overall package is such that you have to make sure you're not caught staring. And they have very wiggly hips. (That's a bit sexist maybe, but it's definitely something you notice!)
The markets (Chor Bazaar - the Thieves Market) is amazing. You can get and see anything. From a vintage ships signalling lamp, to a handmade suit, to a car door, to a kilogram of cinnamon. Everything and anything. Food, drinks, furniture, tools, anything. Oh, and bananas. I've never seen so many bananas as here. Carts and carts full.
Because the population is so large, the thinking is "Why embrace technology when you can get people to do the labour?" Trimming the bushed on the central reservation of motorways is done by armies of women with scissors. The roads are swept manually, daily. Deliveries are all taken from the trucks to the shops by hand, construction materials (steel, concrete etc) delivered on hand carts, everyone has found a means of earning a few pennies to get by every day.
There is rubbish everywhere, it's not a clean city, but after a few weeks you get used to it. So many people in a developing country means that it will never be as clean as a European city, but the piles are out of the way and people muddle their way through.
I've been up to Delhi and Agra (to see the Taj) and they really are tourist traps. I didn't enjoy the constant calls to see this shop, that shop, "rickshaw sir", "Tour guide?", but I guess they make their living off people going to see the various sights. The Taj Mahal is stunning though. As a non-Indian you pay 40times that of an Indian to get in, but once in you get a reserved route and special photo platforms etc that the locals can't use. Check out the price differences...
As a white face, every restaurant you go in to you are served by the manager, and more than once the manager has kicked out Indians to free up a table for us - I feel awful when it happens, but the locals seem to accept it with good grace, and give you a smile as they take their plates to the benches outside. It's very humbling.
The wildlife is interesting. Mumbai has a high population of black eagles - they fly around the city, circling all day, and are quite impressive. There are rumoured to be crocodiles in the lake near me, and in the national park there are wild monkeys and big cats.
So, overall, life is good. There's no denying that life as a westerner here is one of privelege. My UK salary is probably 6 times what the equivalent level employee here earns, so it's always on your mind when you go for drinks that it;s much easier for me to get a round in than it is for them, or to shout them all lunch twice a week, or to not complain when my allowance cheque comes through late.
My preconceptions were all wrong. I blame the media - they, of course, want to show the massive differences between the cultures, but to be honest, I've slotted in to day-to-day living very easily, people are people, and if you treat them with respect, they will return it a hundred times over. I will miss the place when I go home, hugely. In fact, I've started calling here, "home". It's great. Frustrating, noisy, chaotic, busy, but a great adventure nonetheless.
I'll try and add some more parts as I think of them/discover the photos on my phone and camera. I'm off to the Andaman Islands on Sunday, it's a £50 flight from here, and hotels there are the equivalent of £10/night - such a hardship!
If anyone has any questions, or would like any more info, please feel free to ask - I've got lots of boring photos and stuff I can post up if anyone wants anything more specific.
Thanks for reading
ETA I've got more to add but that will probably be tomorrow now.
(Reminder to self: Expats, work, language, procedure, corruption, attitudes towards marriage etc)
Edited by OpulentBob on Wednesday 26th August 18:54
Great write-up, and as a regular visitor to Mumbai, everything you say resonates with me. Such a country of contrasts, Mumbai more so than anywhere else. In your second picture, the highest building is (I think) Antilia, which is supposed to be the most expensive private residence on Earth (owned by Mukesh Ambani) and worth $1bn or so - and yet not 1 mile from there are thousands living on the streets.
Whereabouts are you staying whilst over there? I'm typically in Powai (and there are crocodiles in that lake!)...
ETA, If you get the chance, go to the AER Lounge on the 34th floor at the Fourseasons - it's an outdoor balcony bar, and is great place to watch the sun go down over the ocean, the Indian 'beautiful people', and listen to some cool sounds.
Whereabouts are you staying whilst over there? I'm typically in Powai (and there are crocodiles in that lake!)...
ETA, If you get the chance, go to the AER Lounge on the 34th floor at the Fourseasons - it's an outdoor balcony bar, and is great place to watch the sun go down over the ocean, the Indian 'beautiful people', and listen to some cool sounds.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 26th August 18:22
had ham said:
Great write-up, and as a regular visitor to Mumbai, everything you say resonates with me. Such a country of contrasts, Mumbai more so than anywhere else. In your second picture, the highest building is (I think) Antilia, which is supposed to be the most expensive private residence on Earth (owned by Mukesh Ambani) and worth $1bn or so - and yet not 1 mile from there are thousands living on the streets.
Whereabouts are you staying whilst over there? I'm typically in Powai (and there are crocodiles in that lake!)...
ETA, If you get the chance, go to the AER Lounge on the 34th floor at the Fourseasons - it's an outdoor balcony bar, and is great place to watch the sun go down over the ocean, the Indian 'beautiful people', and listen to some cool sounds.
I'm staying in Powai - my work is over in Mahape, Navi Mumbai, so it's nice to be in the suburbs. I've tried to get the the AER lounge, but it's monsoon season and is always raining every time I plan it... May have to wait for September. Whereabouts are you staying whilst over there? I'm typically in Powai (and there are crocodiles in that lake!)...
ETA, If you get the chance, go to the AER Lounge on the 34th floor at the Fourseasons - it's an outdoor balcony bar, and is great place to watch the sun go down over the ocean, the Indian 'beautiful people', and listen to some cool sounds.
Edited by had ham on Wednesday 26th August 18:22
I've heard about the Powai crocs - it's a shame, the lake looks SO tempting for a dip! The locals don't believe there is one, but I've seen the photos...
OpulentBob said:
I'm staying in Powai - my work is over in Mahape, Navi Mumbai, so it's nice to be in the suburbs. I've tried to get the the AER lounge, but it's monsoon season and is always raining every time I plan it... May have to wait for September.
I've heard about the Powai crocs - it's a shame, the lake looks SO tempting for a dip! The locals don't believe there is one, but I've seen the photos...
You'll often see locals swimming/fishing from inner-tubes in there, wouldn't do that myself, I'm sure I saw a croc from the pool area at the Renaissance (my usual hotel) 4 or 5 years back!I've heard about the Powai crocs - it's a shame, the lake looks SO tempting for a dip! The locals don't believe there is one, but I've seen the photos...
Nice read Bob - my wife is from Bombay and I've been many a time to visit the in-laws. It's a real assault on the senses.
They now live in Bangalore. Still crazy compared to any Western city but positively sedentary compared to Bombay.
The day the Indians get their collective s
t together, then they would easily become the greatest country on Earth. However, as it stands, they have great people and a great country but seemingly at conflict. It's not helped by the caste/power system where it's very much in the best interest of the rich to keep the rest very much in their place.
But like any massive metropolis it's not fully representative of the country. It's wonderful to travel the country to see the other areas and provinces. Until the British unified the country with the language and infrastructure, each region was basically run as a separate Kingdom with very different personalities sometimes.
They now live in Bangalore. Still crazy compared to any Western city but positively sedentary compared to Bombay.
The day the Indians get their collective s
t together, then they would easily become the greatest country on Earth. However, as it stands, they have great people and a great country but seemingly at conflict. It's not helped by the caste/power system where it's very much in the best interest of the rich to keep the rest very much in their place.But like any massive metropolis it's not fully representative of the country. It's wonderful to travel the country to see the other areas and provinces. Until the British unified the country with the language and infrastructure, each region was basically run as a separate Kingdom with very different personalities sometimes.
Edited by Asterix on Wednesday 26th August 19:32
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