Welcome! the first, longest and very subjective

2009-09-11T00:31:00.015+05:30

It has been a month since I’m not in Russia. 1 MONTTTHHH. 9 days in Mumbai, 12 in Kualu Lumpur, 4 in Bangkok, 6 days in Mumbai again. I feel like just several days passed. So bright-different-stressful-emotional days!

Underground crossing near the Churchgate station. Stands with the food, water, newspapers, toys, different strange gadgets. Smells of aroma oils, sticks, of something frighten, spices, garbage, dogs, people. Shouts, pieces of conversations, laugh, calls and whistles of sellers, strange sounds made by strange gadgets they are actually successfully selling…
Crowd.
Women with the dark shining eyes and black hair, in the most of the cases really beautiful, dressed in sari, kurtas, not that often in trousers or jeans. Flowers. Shaking their heads, watching attentively.
Men. All the time discussing something, holding hands, hugging each other. The most often in the light-coloured clothes and bell-bottoms. Though at the Churchgate station there are almost no bell-bottoms - more bag-packs and phones. They are dark. Seem darker then the women are. Maybe because of the light-coloured clothes… Watching with the interest but look scared and shy. Like they can tell something only to each other but in the way you will hear them or they can make some comments about you being far away – from the train that is passing by for example :)
Old man. Very dark. Dressed in some white piece of material winded around his thin body, with the turban on the head. He was not begging – just going around without any interest in world around.
I had to really squeeze myself through the crowd. Push. Or would not move at all. In the middle of this crowd on the floor there is a pink blanket. And a small boy SLEEPING on the one half of this blanket, on another half there is a dog lying down rolled up into a ball. 9.30 AM, Monday morning. Everything is rumbling around, legs… And they are lying down with the closed eyes and not moving.

I haven’t made a photo of it. It feels somehow not fare. Making a tourists attraction from their lives. Don’t feel good making photos of the trains by mornings neither.

A train is driving up to the station (trains don’t have doors here). There are people that are already hanging out of it. On the station near every door there are around 15-20 more people ready to fight to get in. And the most of them are actually getting in. It is not difficult to imagine all the aggression, energy and pressure in the moment. Temperature around 30 degrees centigrade does not make the things easier, neither 1,5 h of travelling does. And this is a fast train that is not stopping on the half of the stations. Anyway. At least you have 3 hours per day to read/ listen the music/ think/ pray/ speak by mobile :). That is quite useful.
Men and Women of course are travelling separately.
Right after getting into a wagon women are starting to shake their heads, smile and help each other again even hanging between roof and floor – like everyone is a part of something one, big, whole – they feel each other. Everybody except Muslim. Women in black can get a seat only at the last moment when there is nobody else who doesn’t have a seat even in the opposite corner of the wagon. Sad. I don’t think these people understand any of these politic movements. Just its everyday life. Sad.

An empty train:

Rikshas is the best-ever transport for me so far. At first rikshas don’t have doors so you are travelling almost with the AC. At second “meter” shows the exact amount of money you have to pay. So its more difficult for them to cheat you. But unfortunately they do not allow rikshas to come closer than 10th station from the center of Mumbai. I mean South of Mumbai that is the historical center of the city. So. If you live closer than 10 stations away from the center you have to travel by taxi from your place to the train station. Because there are no buses. There some but really very few of them. It is difficult to imagine many buses on this crazy streets with almost no traffic lights. Even if there are some - nobody is paying attention. Everything is just moving with an average speed 30-40 km/h. But. I’ve not seen any crush so far. They really feel each other somehow.

Rikshas:Mumbai

Generally they know English much-much better than in Russia or LatAm. Out of 10 people only 2-3 won’t be able to understand you. And it is not only because India was English colony. They simply have dozens of languages inside the country. The only language all of them can speak – English. So English people came right in time. But I don’t see many of things coming from UK except English, trains, some nice buildings. Neither I don’t see those India that they show in Boliwood movies. For me Mumbai is everything I wrote above. As well as skyscrapers and slums. Just next to each other. People are coming to Mumbai to earn money. Hundreds of them are coming. And for sure nobody is waiting for them here. So. They just come. Create a house to sleep from everything they can find around. Way to the office Some of them just put out the shoes and sleep on the floor. And all these people that are everywhere and that I was so afraid of in the beginning – these people on every step are trying to help you. To tell you, random foreigner, where to go, what to do. They have a lot of Hinduism and Buddhism temples. Like in every 50 meters there is one. Actually not really temples – the most usually a room on the ground floor. Aroma things, sweets, colorful materials, flowers – holiday every day. Close to the mountains of rubbish. Yes they are eating with hands. But it is totally not bad – it doesn’t look dirty or disgusting. It is very natural. And you will feel very stupid eating with fork and knife. The most often with hands they take only a kind of bread and all the rest they take by this bread.

More Mumbai

Mona (my flatmate for 6 days)

And…

From the window of my office I can see the ocean. 15 min of walk in the morning looking to the Skyscrapers, fishers, boats, couples, homeless people… With ice-cream or coffee shake.

Way to the office

Definitely India is a different planet. All causes-effects connections learnt from childhood DO NOT WORK! It is like when you come to the place when everybody speaks another language and very few people speak yours. And you need to live, to communicate. In the beginning it’s a real disaster! Seems so difficult, strange, so huge deal! You do not understand anything! Every day is such a huge challenge, every small thing is challenge. But then it depends on the attitude. Or you are just complaining and getting angry with everything around. Or you are listening, learning, trying to understand grammar, basic words and rules. And then you are learning a new language! Different. And it’s a cool process – every single challenging day you understand more!!! And then – you can understand and then speak! It can be painful, take time and attention. But is so-so great! Language is becoming a language – not just weird words. You are becoming a city inhabitant – not just tourist. I mean . Of course you never will be like them – you will think on the foreign language only after years of not using yours. But. Its so great to understand and be A PART.

So I wish my attitude to be correct. I wish to have enough patience, be opened enough, independent enough, care about others enough. To experience this, to become A PART, to make the borders in my head that are limiting my mind to be broken with as few pain as possible.

India is a really great and very challenging cultural experience.

It is just what I feel right now. Be here in total 15 days.

A part

Welcome! the first, longest and very subjective