On Saturday night we went to a free live Hindustani classical music concert. The man on the left was playing the tabla, the woman is playing the Hawiian guitar, and the man on the far right is playing the sitar.
Not only was the music beautiful and moving, but the entire experience was quite different than any other performance I'd been to. The audience was so involved and enthusiastic. It was clear that the performers were playing well and with each exceptionally moving moment you could hear the response from the audience. I noticed people motioning with their hands, letting their fingers flow with the rhythms. The air was full of appreciation. We stayed for about 3 hours and, as Esha explained to me,we left just as they were about to start into another hour long raga.
That night we had dinner at her house and they served traditional Gujarati cuisine. Bombay is actually in the state of Maharashtra, but Esha's family is originally from the state of Gujarat.
On Sunday we woke up early, ate a delicious homemade breakfast, and headed out for a day in south Mumbai. We took the local train to get from Esha's house in north Mumbai to the south. It took about half an hour on the train but would have taken an hour to an hour and a half in a car.
It came out in the morning paper that day that the first person had died in Mumbai due to the H1N1 virus. Esha's dad was especially concerned and insisted we take the first class train ticket so that we weren't so close to the other passengers...as you can see, we had the coach to ourselves.
Mumbai is infamous for it's sprawling slums. Often they are situated near major landmarks like train tracks and water pipes for convenience. Here are a few pictures I snapped on the train ride.
The following is a picture of the train depot (Chhatrapati Sivaji Terminus), where we arrived from the local train, and also one of the site of the terrorist attacks that occurred in November 2008. It was powerful and eery to be at the exact sites that were targeted less than a year before.
This following picture is one that I took on Sunday of the Taj hotel. The Taj is a notable location in the book I just finished reading, Shantaram, but also one of the 8 sites of the attack. I found the other picture on the internet. From the same angle too, it really is disturbing.
It was built in 1911 to commemorate the visit of Kind George V and Queen Mary to Bombay. It's the first landmark you see as you sail into the city, and probably the cities most famous landmarks.
This guy in the next picture was diving off the pier...I just happened to be looking at another picture on my camera when Esha said "hey, what's that guy doing?". I turned around and clicked. Couldn't have been more perfect timing, right?
Mumbai is full of these Fiat taxis. All the taxis and auto rickshaws have meters (and actually use them!) so using them for transport is much easier, efficient, convenient, less stressful, etc, than anywhere else I've seen in India.
We took a stroll through the famous area of Colaba. It lies on the southernmost tip of the city and is well known for it's touristy restaurants and street vendors. Here are a few pictures I took at Leopold's Cafe, another popular reference in Shantaram.
We stopped for lunch at a shore-side italian restaurant. It was so beautiful and relxing being right next to the water.
The restaurant was on Marine Drive and overlooked the tip of the city, called the Queen's Necklace.
After lunch we went to the National Gallery of Modern Art to see the SOAK exhibit. While the monsoons are an integral part of Indian culture, the location and history of Mumbai make the monsoon particularly meaningful. On July 26, 2005 the monsoon rains started in Mumbai around 3pm and lasted for numerous days. They recorded almost 40 inches of rain in 24 hours and over 1000 deaths. The art exhibit started with a collection of newspaper headlines, photographs, and videos from that day. The most stark are the hoards of people walking along the train tracks after the trains were forced to stop running. Esha actually was at school that day, on the train, and remembers walking home the many miles through thigh-level waters.
One reason why the floods were particularly devastating in Mumbai is because much of the city is actually reclaimed land from the sea. The art exhibit actually showed the topographical maps of the city (which used to be an island) throughout time, showing how the land had been slowly reclaimed. Of course, when you start changing the shape of the coastline and the natural path of the rivers, when the city becomes full of water, there is no where for it to drain naturally.
Night time view of the train station.
That night we went to a local play house and saw a production of "The Alchemist", adapted from the book by Paulo Coelho. I have to say it was an interesting experience because even though it wasn't a musical, the narration was done in song. Indians just can't resist the urge to sing and dance! But overall it was very entertaining.
And that's it. Yesterday I came back to Bhubaneswar, for my last 3 days in Orissa. I leave on Friday to meet Matt in Delhi. We're spending a few days in the city, going to the Taj Mahal, etc., and then we're spending 4 days in Leh. Leh is one of the northernmost cities in the country located at the base of the Himalayas. It's also one of the world's highest in elevation inhabited cities at almost 11,500 feet. After a few days there, it's back to the States. No wrap up yet, I've still got too much exploring to do...
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