Overwhelming, but Beautiful India

The past 3 or 4 days have been spent in the country of India.  We first were in Mumbai for 2 days, which was an incredibly humbling, shocking cultural and human experience.  We arrived to the port and were cleared and I headed off to go on tour to some of the markets in the city.  Mumbai is one of the most populated cities in the world, it has 54% of its people living in slums, and is home to Bollywood, India’s film industry capital.  It is a bustling, lively city unlike anywhere in the world I’ve ever been. 

I knew it was going to be a unique tour from the first moment of boarding the bus when our sweet guide said, “I want to let you know…EVERYONE will be staring at us all day long.  Just go on and expect that.  You are the first tourist group to ever go into these markets, so many of these people will have never seen a white person in this environment.”  She said that people may gawk and wave, and speak to us, but that they meant know harm and were just curious.  Boy- I could have never expected this.  I was first BLOWN AWAY on our ride just out from the port.  Our guide said, “Okay- today is just a typical, lazy Sunday afternoon.”  I laughed out loud because there were hundreds of people covering the streets and cars honking everywhere and people waving to our bus as if we were celebrities and taxis by the dozens lined up at intersections and shacks with small children playing in the street.  IT WAS A ZOO!!!  I had never seen so many people in my life living at such a low standard before.  Most people were barefoot or had thin sandals, they all looked quite dirty, but the women were wearing gorgeous, bright sari’s, a traditional Hindu wrap dress in all sorts of colors and jewels.  Among all the traffic there were also lots of men pulling large carts piled 20 feet high with milk crates, bags of peppers or cotton, etc. 

We made our first stop in a market where they were selling mostly spices like curry, cumin, pepper, and coconut.  Our guide showed us how the coconuts are tested for quality by hitting them with a mallet and listening for a certain tone that ensures a certain taste.  We also were shown some young women who were cleaning small, red chili peppers.  Our guide said that if we even touched one of these we would just die because they were so hot.  These girl were right in there, just working with them in their hands and we were standing a good 6 or 7 feet away, coughing up a storm just from the spice in the air!  It was unreal.  Next we continued by bus to the next area, but I was overcome with the reaction of the locals to us in the bus.  People were smiling, waving, trying to get our attention, wanting us to take their pictures, etc.  It was like they had never met people of our race or class or something.  I couldn’t believe it was like this in such a large city.

On our next stop we had to walk a little ways to a local Hindu temple, but on the way we stopped a few times.  When we would stop and our guide would explain something, at least 20 local Indians would gather right around us as well, just looking, listening, smiling, and saying hello to us.  No one was trying to sell anything, but they would ask us where we were from, how we liked India, etc.  They just were curious.  It was amazing.  One interesting stop along the way was to a local animal shelter that held cows and pigeons.  Both of these animals are thought of as being lucky, sacred creatures that the Hindus revere, so they are protected here.  (Which is why we saw cows wandering the streets free.)  While we were in this area, though, I was…blessed by a lovely pigeon…right on the forehead.  It was a nice little green surprise, but I was told it was a sign of VERY good luck.  Ha!  Whatever- can’t cry over spilled…pigeon poop…right? 

Soon after we headed back to the ship, but I just want to comment once more on the incredible poverty in this city.  These people are in quite good spirits, but they are sleeping right on the street, walking barefoot through the trash that is overtaking the city, and are surrounded by the most OVERWHELMING smells that I may have ever encountered.  Sometimes it smells of feces, lots of times of spices, many times of diesel fumes, and many times of a mixture of trash and any of the previously mentioned scents.  It is truly astonishing and literally takes your breath away.  (It’s blogs like these that I wish you could understand better through smell-o-blogging.) 

Upon arrival to the ship we had the pleasure of having a local group perform traditional Indian music and dancing.  It was a high-energy, interesting show with very colorful costumes and WONDERFUL dancing.  I realized that much of hip-hop dance must have come from these dances because it was really similar.  That night I also performed my one-man cabaret called “Boy with Dreams.”  I had worked on the show a lot, but was quite nervous because it was just me on stage for 45 minutes and that’s a lot of responsibility.  Think- if ANYTHING goes wrong there is no cast or band or anyone to blame it on…it is just my little self up there on the piano screwing it up!  Ha ha!  Thankfully it went off without a hitch (thanks to the lucky pigeon poop, I believe) and it was a really nice night.  I was really blown away by this city, but I did have a chance to get out for just a bit more the next day and then had a wonderful experience in our other port of call in India today, Cochin.  Those stories will be coming in the next post.  I will tell you, though, these people are some of the most interesting, beautiful, hospitable people I have ever encountered and I can’t WAIT to return to India, hopefully for a more extended visit.  I was sad to hear that many crew and passengers couldn’t see through the poverty and smells to the incredible color, personality, culture, and beauty of this land, but I hope to explore it even more.  Hope you have a wonderful day and hope to hear from each and every one of you out there in cyber world.  Love ya!

Tripp