Mumbai (Bombay)

In many ways Mumbai is a pretty typical metropolis- loud and filthy. With 17 million people is not small and being situated on an island (60% of which is reclaimed), it is very densely populated- something like 30,000 people per sq. km. Hundreds of refugees from the rural areas of the state come to Mumbai daily looking for a better life and it seems few find it. The level of poverty is mind-boggling. One third of the entire population lives on the streets and it is an incredible sight to behold. I, for one, have never seen so much poverty in one place. I saw some really sad things. It was jarring at first, but there is so much going on in the city as far as smells and noises and crazy traffic, that it is easy to divert your attention elsewhere and just keep walking. My second day I witnessed some unfortunate old guy get mowed over by a taxi in a busy street. People rushed in to help him, so I just turned around and tried not to let it affect me too much.

There isn’t much reason for a traveler to come here, but because this is where I entered the country, I hung out for a few days to get my bearings and arrange my train tickets before hitting the road again. There were a few fun things to see downtown, mostly stuff left over from the British Raj. The gothic architecture of the High Court and the University of Mumbai really stand out among the contemporary offices and apartments. And placed right in front of these two buildings is the Oval Maidan which is just a huge field where hundreds of Indians get together to play cricket everyday. It makes for a nice place to sit and hang out for a while.

Essentially what I took away from Mumbai was merely a set of general realizations about India- lots of people, lots of filth, and the fact that this was going to be a unique and really interesting experience.

From Mumbai I took the train east to the caves of Allora and then up to an isolated little town called Orchha. Since then I’ve been through Khajuraho and Varanasi. Before I leave on the 1^st of April, I’d like to get up to the Himalayan foothills and hopefully to a wildlife reserve to see a little Indian nature.

I was able to upload a few photos from India. Please feel free to check them out at: www.kodakgallery.com/douglegrand