India and the Snake Boat Races

Alrighty- the second day in Mumbai was also an embarkation day, so I had very limited time to get out and see anything, but Brett decided he would brave the streets with me to go see a few more places in the city before reporting for duty by noon.  We woke up early and headed out of the terminal to the line of taxis.  The taxi union here is VERY strong and will not allow the company to have shuttle buses into the city and insists on getting all control of people leaving the port.  We knew we were going to have to bargain with them, though, for a decent price.

We picked out one of the city’s signature black, yellow-roofed taxis and started going back and forth with the driver.  We told him that we just wanted to go around the city, stopping at various places, but having him stay with us for the whole morning, which he agreed to.  We talked him down to $30 for the 2.5 hours and started on our way.  One thing that was quite different on this drive was being so low to the ground.  The previous day, having been in a tour bus, we somewhat ruled the road, but today we were just another car in the shuffle…and boy what a shuffle it was!  The traffic is truly astonishing in this city because there are NO RULES.  There are people, bikes, taxis, cows, carriages, buses, people pulling carts, etc. and the most daring driver wins.  If you don’t like the sound of car horns…AVOID MUMBAI!!! 

We headed in to the most famous landmark in the city, the Gate of India.  It is a large monument right on the water and is the city symbol.  There were, of course, hundreds of people here, including lots of Indians trying to sell cheap souvenirs.  At one point a guy came up offering to sell us a map.  We said no and then he said, “How about the good map?” and showed us some drugs!  Ha ha!  We said, “No- but we may be back tomorrow!” and headed back to our cab.  Ha ha!  Welcome to India!  Our next stop, we decided, would be the Dhobi Gat, the outdoor laundry of Bombay.  There are a few of these, but our driver took us to the largest one.  We drove for FOREVER and I thought I would never recover from the diesel fumes I had taken in, but we finally arrived to an overpass sort of spot where here were stairs that led down to a maze of laundry lines, soaking stations, and people making laundry their living.  It was quite literally a city of laundry men and women.  Seeing hundreds of people living in this spot, slamming the laundry onto stones to make it dry, scrubbing away, and hanging the beautiful, colorful saris was one of the most enduring visions I think I will take from the trip.  It was unbelievable. 

On our way back to the taxi I saw a young boy with just a pair of shorts on sort of smiling and dancing around.  I snapped a picture of him really quickly and continues walking to our cab.  He followed me, though, and all of a sudden the happy boy turned into a little beggar, holding out his palm for money and then putting his hand up to his mouth as if to ask for food.  As much as I would have loved to give him something, I knew I shouldn’t because this was his game.  This was his family’s business; send out the kids to smile and get tourists to give them money.  I avoided it until his mother came over and started talking to our cab driver who eventually gave her a couple euro so she would head off.  It is a different world than what I have been seeing in Kentucky and even in Europe.  This is a way of life only familiar to me in stories and pictures until now.  Now it is part of my life experience. 

We got back to the ship and sailed away that night, but Mumbai made a huge imprint on my heart.  These are incredibly proud people, filled with a RICH, beautiful culture and kind hearts, ready to welcome any traveler.  I must return here later in life.  The next day we were at sea, but the following morning I was up early ready to go on one more tour in India.  We docked in Cochin, at the south of the country.  India is divided into a number of different states and regions that all have specific cultural aspects unique to their area.  On this day almost everyone on the ship was on tour to a boat race.  We boarded coaches for the hour- long ride to a beautiful lake area.  From there we got on boats that took us out to a large viewing platform.  It was like a big, floating amphitheatre, with the water being the stage.

Upon arrival to the stand we watched some local drummers and dancers performing ceremonial exorcism dances and learned some of the history and tradition of what we would be seeing.  We were watching the local snake boat races.  This is a very competitive event among the different villages in the area.  Each village is represented and comes to the race with one boat to compete.  The boats are only a few feet wide, just enough to hold two people, but are extremely long, with the backs rising up out of the water, giving the appearance of a rising snake.  The boats hold 100-120 men from each village who all wear the same colored shirts to be easily identifiable and they race in a number of heats. 

I was with Rose and we picked a team to cheer for from the beginning.  The pink team won their first heat, getting them to the final round.  The teams were competing for the “Seven Seas Trophy” that one of our guests would present to them!  It was so much fun!  We were cheering and enjoyed a fresh coconut milk right from the fruit itself, ate local oranges, cashews, and tapioca chips!  All of this was given to us by the people there who were SO SWEET, wanting to explain exactly what was going on and giving us all sorts of info about how competitive these races can get.  Anyway, between races some Indian men came up to me and asked if I was enjoying the races very much and if I had been to something like this before.  I of course told them how much fun we were having and they asked if they could interview me on camera and ask these questions for a local news station!  Ha ha!  I said sure and immediately I was being filmed and had a mic in my face.  They wanted to know where I was from, if I had fun, etc.  Suddenly the questions changed from, “What do you think of these boat races?” to “What is your opinion of the economic crisis?  Has it affected you much?” and “What about the swine flu?  Are you nervous about getting infected with H1N1?”  Oh my word!  I gave quick, polite answers and got out by insisting on watching the next race, but I laughed thinking about some special report that night on local Indian TV where the little blond American was commenting on the snake boat race demonstration…and H1N1.  Ha ha!  What a riot. 

The final race was terribly exciting and all the passengers were shouting and cheering for different teams and it was a photo finish, but our team came in second!  Immediately the captains of the winning teams jumped off their respective boats to come receive their trophies.  After getting them they got back in the water, holding the trophy on their heads until they reached the boats with the rest of their teams!  Ha!  We had a really fun day and it was a great little taste of local flavor meeting some of the athletes and watching this fun event!  With that, we sailed off from India, but this country has made a huge impact on me.  I cant wait to return to this colorful land, learn more about the people, and experience even more of the wonderful hospitality the people have to offer.  I really hope everyone is doing well back home!  Miss ya!

Tripp