Monday Mumbai meet-up

Monday 19 February 2024

I had a morning to fill/kill before Caitlin and her friends arrived so went down to the harbour and installed myself in a wonderful roof top café for an hour or so.  Wonderful views, give or take the haze thing, and I could see a lighthouse.  A relaxing start to the day.

I then finished off a few buildings on the architectural walk I’d not yet seen.  I stuck my head into the Sassoon Library but only as far as non members can tread.

I revisited the university properly whose clock tower is modelled on Big Ben.

I passed the usual street stalls everywhere such as sugar cane sellers.

I spotted a church and decided to swing by.  As I did I found the zero marker for Mumbai which, of course, was hugely exciting.  The church itself is quite austere, I prefer simplicity to bling, and full of memorials to Englishmen and women who had died whilst serving in India in the 19th and 20th centuries.

I met up with Caitlin and her friends, Lucy and Tom, and we started off with coffee.

Then a short tour of the railway station.  Apparently it’s a ‘thing’ that white women are frequently stopped for photos.  Tom told me this whilst Lucy and Caitlin were stopped for a selfie with someone or other. “You must be used to this,” he said.  It occurred to me it had never happened!  When Riona and I were in India she was always asked for photos, never me.  And in China my older (male) colleagues were stopped but I was not the object of their photographic interests.  It’s not that I’m ugly, it’s just that I’m too old for them to be keen to have me on their phone and, due to the patriarchal viewpoint, older women are not venerated like older men.  It’s as if in society, men become more interesting as they age, and women diminish.  I didn’t have much patience for this, even though harmless. Just thought it a waste of time! 

Anyway, a quick photo shot - with me! - outside then off to visit the university again (my third time) and Caitlin, Lucy and Tom wanted to see.

I loved the motorbike cover with ears!  And I saw these semi static police points dotted around the city. Saves rental space I suppose.

I found a sign to have my photo taken in front of, even if it was the Indian Navy.  Its HQ is in Mumbai which made me very happy.  As an aside, I tracked down the Mumbai maritime museum but sadly it was a 90 minute taxi journey each way and I had no way of knowing if it was open until I pitched up.

More coffee and rest then shopping time.  Caitlin and Lucy bought earrings, Tom did other tourist shopping and I was happy watching.

We had a fabulous meal in a lovely Indian eatery and, at just before midnight, we waved Lucy and Tom off to travel back to the UK.  And then we were two.

Elephanta Island

Sunday 18 February 2024

My first poha for breakfast - I'm hooked!

I caught a cab down to the Gate of India first thing to go to Elephanta Island.  I thought I’d need to queue ~30 mins for a ticket then wait for a half hourly ferry.  As it turned out, I bought a ticket immediately from an official seller (not the main queue), was pushed to the front of the ferry queue and walked straight on.

On a Sunday the ferries run as soon as they fill, so there was a pretty constant stream of them chuntering across the bay.  The journey takes just under an hour.  The views across the harbour and bay were poor and I couldn’t decide if haze or smog was the contributing factor.  It is slightly disorientated, as if sailing in fog.

The passengers enjoyed themselves by throwing snacks to the gulls who swept in circles past the boat performing airborne manoeuvres to catch the treats.  It was sad to see how disgustingly dirty the water was.  It is obviously used as the local rubbish dump (we’re not that much better in the UK) and the surface had all sorts of debris drifting past: single shoes, fruit juice cartons, plastic bags and bottles in particular. 

To get to the caves at Elephanta - the object of my (and everyone’s) visit - you first walk 150 m to the village.  Or for a few rupees you can get the train.  This saves little effort as once you reach the village you still have to ascend 120 stone steps to reach the caves.  Unless you pay 1600R (~£16) to be carried aloft.

It was a hot and crowded walk up, jostling with sellers, browsers, walkers, dogs and monkeys.

At the top you pay your entrance fee and enter the caves area.  As expected, the caves were all busy with tourists (takes one to know one) so I joined the crowds and viewed the amazing stone carvings.

Most feature Shiva, one of the Hindi Gods, and various trials and tribulations he encountered.  They are in excellent condition despite the Portuguese, who “discovered” and named the island, fired shots into the caves to see how deep they were.  I can’t imagine that did the stone friezes much good.

Aside from the main cave there are a few others of by far inferior quality, especially with respect to carvings, but it was still worth seeing them.  They got less 'developed' the further from the main cave you walked and cave number 5 was certainly on the elementary scale.

Let’s talk about monkeys.  My initial “aaaw aren’t they cute?” thoughts soon turned to irritation at the way they have adapted.  Of course, only because pesky humans have mistreated them.  They (the monkeys, as well as people) have a taste for lollies.  I’m not sure if they start getting used to eating discarded ones, or were fed them, but now the monkeys not only expect but demand them.  They pretty much swipe them from the hands of their owner and run off to eat them.

I decided to walk up to Canon Hill for the view.  Littered along the route were hundreds of water bottles.  It turns out it’s not necessarily that Indians are prolific litterers (although I didn’t see much evidence to the contrary as, since there are few bins, discarding rubbish casually is the norm) but that they are being entertained by the monkeys.  So people get 3/4 down their water bottle, put the lid back on them throw it to the monkeys.  They then laugh as the monkeys flip the lid, tip over the bottle and lap up the water as it spills onto the ground.

Anyway Canon Hill has canon on top - sorry if you're surprised.  I think they were installed by the British and look pretty beefy versions.  They were two on this hill top.  And the views were shabby due to the aforementioned haze/smog.  I was very amused by what looked like a Hindu ascetic running around the canon trying to get good photos - you expect them to glide, not sprint.  

On the return journey I had a Ruthy treat.

Once back I explored more of Mumbai.  This time I walked up the west side of the peninsula up Marine Drive.  It must be a beautiful place to watch sunset and was full of young people chilling.  My work head noted the coastal protection here ;-)

This area of Mumbai is a UNESCO site containing numerous Victorian/Gothic buildings, many from the British colonial era, and a plethora of Art Deco buildings line this stretch of coastline.

Walking back through the city centre, I strolled through the financial district - sleepy on a Sunday.  In fact, it was so quiet that various cricket games were running in the empty streets.

I walked back to the hotel after an unsuccessful hunt for a restaurant.  1700 on a Sunday is not the ideal time.  I hadn’t eaten lunch, except for the sweetcorn and some nuts, so needed something.  As a last resort I fell into a local eatery in the shopping parade under the hotel.  It was nice enough: good food, attentive service and a cold beer.  It would have been ideal if they had banned smoking...