We had a tourist packed day. Following Balaji's advice, we made our way to the cities biggest hot spots: Gateway of India: Constructed to mark the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911 on the occasion of the Delhi Durbar, the Gateway of India also marked the end of British rule in India. The returning British troops marched under this arch while boarding their waiting ships.
Flora Fountain: This famous landmark in Mumbai has a statue of the Roman Goddess of vegetation at the center and was built in memory of the Governor, Henry Bartle Edward Frere.
Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus:Previously called Victoria Terminus, after Queen Victoria, the Empress of India, this grand structure was constructed in 1888. Designed by the architect Frederick William Stevenson, this railway station has been declared a heritage site, for its incredible gothic façade covered with sculptures.
Marine Drive:This landmark beachfront promenade curves along the coast of Mumbai from Malabar Hill to Nariman Point. The streetlights shining alongside the dark sea at night have led to its being called the Queen's Necklace. (you should probably go there in the evening and sit by the seaside)
Chowpatty Beach: At a short distance from the city center, Chowpatty Beach is a suburban beach, which is characterized by busy activity and a carnival atmosphere. Prince of Wales Museum: This famous museum is housed in a colonial building and has an extensive collection of coins, works of art and weapons. My favorite site was on elephant island. There's an image carved in stone of God's wife playing dice. In the image she gets frustrated because after a winning series, she loses. The God says to her "don't give up. To enjoy winning you must also lose." I think this is a great life lesson.
Mumbai analysis
Truly, and I'm not just comparing for comparison sake, Mumbai is similar to San Francisco. It's a Penninsula for one, and tourists migrate to certain areas. SF has polar fleeces for sale in every tourist trap, and Mumbai has enormous balloons. Locals cringe when tourists call SF "Frisco" and here locals cringe at "Bombay." There's the poor(er) area where peoples' eyes say they're in a different world just like the Tenderloin. And, when you're stopped in traffic, children and adults run up to sell you magazines and fans. In SF on South Van Ness men and women accost your car to sell you newspapers that they got from the free bin or show you their latest sign "Why lie - I want a beer. Can I have money?"
School dreams
Wherever you are in life, it's important to be realistically optimistic. I once saw a woman driving in San Jose with blue tinted windows. To me that's a literal depiction of how not to look at the world (unless she was dyslexic and blue film was the color that registered with her brain...for this analogy, I'll vear away from that possibility). At first glance walking around the non-touristy parts of Mumbai, my heart hurt. I want to wash and clothe each child, educate every adult, and give money, food, and shelter to everyone. I still do but looking at helping/fixing/changing the world so immensly is what leaves some people stuck just feeling pained. The truly amazing thing ("rosey colored") is it all just seems to work here. But how can it "work" more comfortably, cleaner, safer, healthier? When the Brittish came to India I bet they saw what they thought was turmoil so they worked to make people speak, drive, act, and dress a certain way. If a western power were to come in now I bet they'd try to get people to drive in the lines, get homeless off the street, and clean up the city fixing buildings, streets, and waterways.
To change something you can make people act or say something immediately with power. It may stick if you continue enforcing instructions or only part of the desired change will stick and when the power is gone, a new sort of mixed behavior will remain. To truly change or just illuminate, you need to educate. A personal example - I assign projects and work includes web projects. When I started I didn't know the difference between HTML and CSS. Until I truly knew the purpose of each (the why) I assigned as I was told to but not knowing why left tons of room for error. When I was teaching, I read a study that young adults in juvy had an 80% chance of not returning if they were educated properly. The education gap? Comprehension. I'm writing this rant because the other night I had a very vivid dream of setting up educational institutions (not necessarily full schools) accross India teaching children health (down to how to brush teeth) and history.
Off to Pune Leaving five stardom, it's time to head to Pune. Our driver has a serious addiction ... with his horn. Because driving is truly organized chaos here, instead of staying in the lines or following any kind of uniformity, people use their horns for everything. Our driver seems to just be resting his hand on the horn only picking it up to push harder. I keep catching myself holding my breath and sucking my stomach in as if that will make the car narrower to squeeze through all the other traffic which our driver is also quite fond of.
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