More Notes on Mumbai

“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times!” Yes, it is the tale of two cities. Luckily we were treated to the best the city has to offer. Many are not so lucky. We were constantly reminded of how the poor live. You can see the slum cities from the airplane as you are flying in because they are just massive. Taxi rides are the worse; the adorable dirty faces children are begging for money so they can get something to eat. It breaks your heart to ignore them but if you give to one a hundred more will appear and then you are making the whole system (organized begging), profitable. Our friend Angus once gave a little girl an orange and she threw it down in disgust – she wanted money! The worst I saw was a mother with a baby over her shoulder begging for food for the baby. The skin on the baby looked similar to an eighty year old living on the beach in Florida!

The good news is Mumbai is on the ocean and there was always a fresh breeze blowing through the streets to keep the air liveable! I’m sure on very hot, still days it can be hell!

We met many wonderful people, mainly through GB. Eleanor was visiting (and working) from London. She is studying medicine and is planning to return and work with the poor. Annalisa is an architect from Italy who was hired by Mrs. Bulgari, of the watch fame, to build the Dali Lama a new monastery in Delhi. The paperwork has been held up for two years so she is starting a private home in Goa. I’m sure Nicole and her will meet up many more times! Anushka is the leggy singer we met at Aurus. She appeared a little shy, stiff and reserved out at dinner, but I was in for a surprise later on!
The final day we tried to finish the paperwork for Nicole’s registration but she is still missing one document from the employer who was out of town for Parsi New Year. There are 32 official holidays where schools, banks and government close down! We had to say goodbye to Chopstix. She flew to Vietnam to have a holiday with a friend.

Nicole received a call that Anushka and her band, Shkabang, were playing at the Blue Frog – so of course we were there! The girl is wild!!!!! She is thin and very angular! She danced and hopped all over the stage! She sang mad girl songs about all the men that had tried to use her, made promises to get her into showbiz, etc. She was great! She ended and a great DJ started mixing with many Michael Jackson songs – everyone was up and dancing till two or three am. I have stopped watching the time!

It was difficult saying goodbye to GB. How is it possible to thank someone who has been so kind and generous? He totally opened his house to us and made us feel so welcomed and spoiled! A girl could get used to this treatment… ☺