(in the state of Maharashtra)
Mumbai, until 1996 known as Bombay, is the financial, tech, and film capital of India all rolled into one. With a population of around 14 million and the busiest trains, sea ports, and airport in the country, I can honestly say that it is the craziest, busiest, loudest city I've ever seen.
What Andrea and I saw as we walked out of the international terminal of the airport minutes after arriving in India was a pretty good primer for the rest of our stay in Mumbai: hundreds of people tightly packed around the one exit screaming out names and holding up signs with names of passengers. Even at almost 2 in the morning the place was packed. Somehow we were able to run into Anshu after only about 20-30 minutes who was there to pick us up. Once we got to the car, we were quickly shown how unbelievable driving in India is.
It is absolute, total chaos. The only rule seems to be to honk your horn before doing anything. Lanes are not used, most intersections are negotiated by brute force (and honking of course), and absolutely no attempt is made at safety. There are no seatbelts in most vehicles, and even if there are they aren't worn. Entire families will be piled onto scooters, where the women will sit sideways with a child in her lap, one hand on her husband's waist, and no helmets. Buses are so packed that several people will be hanging out and off. Pedestrians by no means have the right of way, and all types of vehicles, from trucks to rickshaws to animal drawn carts 'share' the same roads, usually packing 7 or 8 lanes into space normally used for 3 or 4.
Friday, December 7th:
We woke up in our room at a guest house a few blocks from Anshu's family's apartment. The view out the window was a good example of the incredible contrasts to be found in Mumbai. About 50 yards from the building we were staying in was a large vacant, dirt lot filled with rubble and several shacks where breakfast was being cooked over fires and pigs and dogs were wandering freely. Another 50 yards away were several large and relatively new office buildings housing tech companies. One of the most amazing things about Mumbai was the frequency with which we saw scenes like that.
We walked to the Nadkarni's apartment (Anshu's parents) where we met his parents and sister, as well as a few relatives in town for the wedding the following day. The Nadkarni's were exceptional hosts and Anshu's mom would have had me weighing about 20 pounds more given another week by feeding me some of the best food I had during the entire trip, and lots of it.
Since it was the day before the wedding, there was a purification ritual that Anshu underwent where the married females in his family spread a yellow colored paste, tumeric, over most of his body.
Later in the day we took our first very scary taxi ride to meet up with the bride-to-be, Renuka, so Andrea could do some shopping and pick up a traditional Indian dress for the wedding. While doing the shopping, we quickly realized that for the next few weeks we'd be given way more attention than we'd like while walking around in public. Beggars and vendors instantly noticed our foreign skin and rushed to mob us with pleas and offers of merchandise, and were very very persistent. Despite the many differences in the shopping experience, Andrea was somehow still able to succeed in getting a dress--a salwar kameez for the wedding. Before going home, we stopped at Juhu Beach, the location of many scenes from many Bollywood (Bombay + Hollywood) movies. Here we shared fresh coconut water from a vendor and Andrea was freaked out by an old woman that kept chanting and wouldn't stop following us.
Indian brides get very extensive designs temporarily tatooed on their hands, arms and feet before their weddings called henna. Several of the family members also decorate themselves this way, and while I went with Anshu and Abhi to pick up Abhi's friend at the airport, Anshu's sister offered to do the same to one of Andrea's hands.
Saturday, December 8th - The Wedding
Indian weddings vary quite dramatically from region to region within the country. However, every one of those ceremonies varies even more from traditional American weddings. First of all, the Indian weddings are much more lengthy procedures. Secondly, they typically involve many more guests, in this case over 1000 at the reception. Thirdly, during the actual ceremony, which only about 70 or 80 people attended, due to its great length (around 5 hours or so) the guests actually pay very little attention. In fact, while the ceremony occurs within a platform in the center of the room, most of the guests seated around it are talking to each other or on their cell phones, eating, and coming and going. One of the most entertaining parts for us (since we couldn't really follow any of the ceremonial activities) was when Renuka and her parents were in the center going through a ritual, and her father received a call on his cell phone. He answered the phone, talked, and passed it onto Renuka who also talked for several minutes, all during the actual ceremony.
Sunday, December 9th
Since Anshu and Renuka had several more duties to attend to the day after their wedding, Andrea and I, along with Abhi and his friend Megha hired a driver and toured Mumbai. Our first stop was a building where Gandhi had lived for a while that had since been turned into a museum dedicated to him. That was a very neat place with lots of great things to see, including letters that he'd written to both Hitler and Roosevelt about involvement in WWII. Next we went to the Prince of Wales museum which was packed full of fascinating relics that were from a huge span of Indian history, although to some of the visitors Andrea and I seemed to be the most interesting exhibits. Here we experienced the huge mark up for visitor tickets. While Indian citizens paid 6 rupees for admittance (less than a dime), we paid about 30 times this price. From there we went to a Muslim temple that is out in the sea, connected by a narrow walkway that gets covered over during high tide at certain times of the year. The walkway was packed with vendors selling trinkets, as well as people that had terrible diseases, birth defects, or injuries, hoping for donations from the temple's visitors. After seeing the temple, we had an hour to kill so we walked a few blocks to a very modern shopping center that even had a McDonald's (with a much different menu than one in the U.S.), again showing how quickly and dramatically the scenery can change in Mumbai.
Monday, December 10th
Abhi and Megha having both left Mumbai on Sunday, Andrea and I spent our last day there doing a little more sightseeing and shopping with Anshu and Renuka.
Tuesday, December 11th
Along with the newlyweds, Andrea and I headed south to sunny Goa for some rest and relaxation on the beach.