July 25th - Walking like a Real Indian

Lots of picture below! After reading about my adventures there are about three pages of uploaded photos!!

I started the day at 10 AM and had my driver for the day pick me up. In the United States this would be super expensive, but in India it was not so much. For an entire day of literally driving me and my friend around the entire city of Mumbai and stopping, waiting, pulling over, and getting lost it cost a total of $44 USD – with tip. That is pretty amazing and I was able to see everything I wanted to in such detail.

Once I was picked up from my apartment, I directed the driver over to Juhu to pick up Peggy, my new friend from HR who was going on the adventure with me! We had to wait a little while at Peggy’s home to wait until her servant finished cleaning.

Our first stop was the Iskcon Temple (Hindu). Once you walked inside there was an entryway where you had to leave you shoes because it is seen as unholy to wear soles. I was a little surprised and really happy to have Peggy there to show me what to do – goodness knows what would have happened if I walked in with my flip flops. Once inside, the security guards wouldn’t let me take photos, but it was beautiful. The ceiling was completed covered in molding that was painted with pastel covers, so cool. The gods that they pray to had shrines that you could leave offerings to. All of the offerings (mostly food or money) go towards the holy food that you are given one you leave the temple. The shrines were these HUGE statues that had so much detail and completely made out of gold.

To pray, or really meditate with the gods, you lay on the floor FLAT or in a ball and just chat. At first, it was a little freaky to see but I became used to it. Then for good luck and a good blessing, you touch the gods feet, hands, and head and kiss your hand and rub your head. The entire temple was made out of marble and was so beautiful.

Next, Peggy and I headed off to a Muslim Mosque that is in the middle of the sea – Haji Ali. It was high tide when we arrived so it was unsafe to walk the narrow pathway to get to the mosque, so Peggy and I turned to street food for entertainment! We had the Indian street corn. You have a pile of corn (like in a grocery store) and you must pick which one you want roasted. Then you have to peal it and give the vender 10 rupees. He then roasts it on charcoal and adds masala flavoring, salt, and butter. It was the best corn I have ever had and a really fun experience at that.

We then moved on to the Hanging gardens of Mumbai – ironically there was nothing hanging, but it was a beautiful local park with lots of flowers and bush sculptures. There was also an iconic symbol of the park which is a HUGE show sculpture that is actually a slide. It was created off of the “old woman who lived in a show” nursery rhyme.

For lunch (the biggest meal of the day) we went to a Rajdhani style restaurant. Here, you pay one fee and are served one LARGE plate with around 10-12 mini dishes. You start by having hot water poured over you r hands to clean them (I still used some hand sanitizer just to be safe) Servers consistently come around trying to give you food (like dim-sum). If you said no or you were too full the servers actually got upset and still put it on your plate anyway. There were curries, chutneys, breads, custards, pickles, potatoes, spinach...all so good! It is also tradition to eat with your hands, so of course I did! Even the traditional Indian rice I ate with my hands, it was definitely an adventure. The desert was so good, it was light custard with fresh papaya and sweet bread filled with tamarind syrup YUM

Because the restaurant was on Crawford Market, one of the oldest and most popular markets in Mumbai, we explored it. There were tons of street food (that I couldn’t even really look at because I was so full). I did, however, have some fresh coconut water from a coconut, so yummy and notorious! There were so many beautiful spices and dried fruits, bangles, clothes, and household items.

We then traveled back to Haji Ali to walk the path to the Mosque. Luckily, at this time it was low tide and we were able to walk out without getting hit by water. Around the area, you could buy so many different fruits and offerings to give to the Mosque. There were so many goats living around the area. Also, beggers flock here because they believe people will pity them after attending Mosque. The beggers were the worst I have seen yet, very haunting images. The walk to the Mosque was SO CROWDED and people kept staring at me and literally pointing (you think I would be used to it by now, but I am still shook up by it). The mosque was beautiful, but Hindus and Catholics are not allowed inside.

What a great day, it was so nice to see some real Indian things and not just the main tourist attractions. This is something that I have wanted to do since arriving here, and finally I found Peggy who understood that. I was able to do things that many Indians take for granted as common but it quite uncommon for Americans. Like my former employer Racahel Ray always say: ask the locals! I will now always travel with a local wherever go, you not only get a real feel for the city, but you also get to eat the best food!