Mumbai Magic!

The mass of humanity that exists in Mumbai is a frantic melange of India's extremes. It is the country's financial powerhouse, as is displayed in the sheer size of the banks buildings that loom like colossal giants in the Fort Area. It is the vogue centre of fashion, as can be seen in the cosmopolitan, modern and slick way that a large proportion of the women here dress. It is the glittering epicentre of film, with our experience of the Mumbai mainly focusing around this aspect, constituting for an entirely different and exciting viewpoint on the city, and thankfully separated from the standard tourist trappings of Colaba. Glistening sky scrapers and malls mushroom amid slums and grinding poverty, the air thick with the sounds of bumper to bumper traffic and the fumes that puff relentless from coughing exhausts. Love it or hate it, Mumbai is a smack in the face, especially compared to our beach sanctuary we had been living in. I loved it!

So, we arrived in Mumbai, dozey but excited...sand still in our hair, our clothes, our toes...our skin freshly simmered by the beach sun and our hearts ready for some city action. And here, the home of Shantaram! For those of you who haven't read Shantaram...read it! Having read the book a couple of months before arriving in Mumbai, but with the memories of the epic and encapsulating story still fresh in my mind, I daydreamed as we rode on our various modes of transport through the bustling city. Perhaps Linbaba walked this street...is that what Karla's apartment looked like...could this taxi driver be our own personal Prabu!? My love of the story transferred into the city and at once I felt more connected to it, more affection towards it, and more anticipation about walking the streets of Mumbai. The first impression of Mumbai this time (I came here extremely briefly 5 years ago) were the huge colonial buildings, similar to Kolkata, but unlike its' Bengali brother, Mumbai buildings seem well-maintained and pristine (well, as close to pristine as India can be!). There was impressive graffiti lining the walls of the city towards Colaba, the tourist area, animating the otherwise drab streets and showing Mumbai to be progressive with its' art and culture. This was also reflected when we were walking towards Gateway of India, as we stumbled across what we called "Art Street" - simply loads of independent artists displaying and selling their creations, set against the background of the University of Mumbai.

More than half the population of the city's whopping 16 million people live in slums. The largest slum in Mumbai and in all of Asia, Dharavi slum, incorporates 1.7 square km of space, and is sandwiched between Mumbai's two major railway lines. One piece of information that completely changed my interpretation and thoughts on the entity that is 'a slum', apart from Linbaba's accounts in Shantaram of course (my Mumbai bible!), was from something written in the trusty Lonely Planet (my India bible!). According to said text, within the Dharavi slum, there exists a multitude of traders and tiny factories. Potters from Saurasthra live in one area, Muslim tanners in another, embroidery workers from Uttar Pradesh work alongside metal-smiths, while other workers recycle plastics as women dry pappadums in the searing sun. Some of these thriving industries export their wares and the annual turnover of business from Dharavi is thought to top US$650 million. Unbelievable.

We spent one day doing the compulsory tourist tramp and headed to Colaba and to the Gateway of India. The Gateway is undoubtedly impressive - a bold basalt arch of colonial triumph facing out onto Mumbai harbour with the grand Taj Hotel peering over its' shoulder. From there we took a boat to Elephanta Island, which took, to our dismay, a suprisingly long time! After hiking up a considerably steep hill to get to the main event, we were met with a labyrinth of cave temple carved into the basalt rock of the island. The main Shiva-dedicated temple is an intriguing latticework of courtyards, halls, pillars and shrines, with the focal point a six metre tall statue of Sadhashiva - depicting a three-faced Shiva as the destroyer, creator and preserver of the universe. The caves are thought to have been created between AD450 and 750. It was a magical place to wander about for an hour or so, and the entertaining and sociable monkeys had us giggling our way round.

We had been kindly offered a place to stay by the generous Americans in their apartment in Bandra West, where all the film stars live in Mumbai (that is in the Bandra area, not in their apartment!). To give some details on these lovely Americans I keep speaking of... we had met them in Arambol on New Years Eve, under the full moon and with the sand between our toes. It was a recipe for success and we all got along famously. The Americans were in India for the purpose of shooting a film about Bollywood, which is based around an actor called Omi. Omi went to school with Tyler and has recently made it big in Bollywood (hence the name of the documentary) so the guys: Tyler, Matt, Kenny and Bill, decided to hop on over to Mother India and make a film about it. And why not? During the 4 nights we stayed with the Americans, seriously exciting events were occurring. Tyler, Kenny and Omi had made a film called Wrestling Mongolia three years previous, and while we were there it was being screened for film executives, buffs and fans across the board. There was a possibility of the film being sold for half a million dollars. It was obviously extremely important and nerve-racking time for the guys. And we were there to experience it with them and simply be there in such an energising and intense atmosphere. It was inspirational just witnessing the prospect of three guys who had followed their dream to be getting a colossal deal such as this. The journey on the way to the screening was a highlight for me actually. We had to take two rickshaws and our driver especially was soaking up the exciting novelty of having two Western guys with film cameras, and three Western girls dressed up to the nines (any excuse!) riding in their rickshaws. He zoomed and whizzed around the other rickshaw holding Sally, Laura and Bill, shouting "Jai-Ho!" every time we passed them and they overtook us! It was the most exciting rickshaw ride I'd ever experienced...it felt like we were in a film ourselves! There must be some kind of filmic analysis that could be applied to that scene surely...feeling like you're in a film, whilst filming the experience, on the way to a film screening. Post-modern! The actual screening was very successful and the film went down well with the fans and the pros. Perhaps the best bit about the evening was that they had roped in the lift operator from their apartment to come along and pull ticket stubs! It must have been the craziest night of his life!

The screening was the main event whilst we were staying in Bandra, but they were also filming a Bollywood music video just after we left (hilarious!) and so we got involved with dance practice and were just hanging about whilst they discussed, debated and decided how to go about filming, arranging and executing the project. Again, really inspirational to be in that environment. The music video is now finished and looks amazing. All the guys, with Omi centre stage, are shaking their groove thangs to a song that had been made for the occasion. The first line of the song sums it up I think: "Yes we're big in Bollywood, Chicken Tikka Masala!" Ridiculous!

Above all else my experience in Mumbai and those beautiful people I met has taught me the most important lesson since I've been here in India, and that I will endeavour to take home with me to England, and that is to never limit your own expectations of yourself. The only person to create restraints for you, is you, and all that needs to be done in life is to just try and follow your dreams, no matter how frightening or stressful the prospect is. The Americans all had dreams and they followed them, and they still are following them, their vitality and optimism exudes from them like energising nectar that you can gulp down greedily if you so wish. Important life lessons were learnt in those special days in Bandra, and I will remember it and refer back to it forever. If I find myself at home telling myself I can't possibly achieve what I want to achieve, I will think back to Mumbai and remember the magic.

Highlights since my last blog:
- Unexpectedly and gratefully learning some important life lessons in Mumbai.
- Seeing the vision of Laura B sauntering down Mumbai streets, donned in leopard print leggings, a spangly bum band and cowboy boots...her gorgeous blonde locks shimmering in the sun. Show stopper extreme!
- Bumbling about in the Bandra bubble apartment with the Americans. The act of making tea for the first time in 4 months was especially enjoyable!