SATURDAY July 7th, 2007
"What are these guys doing here?"
On Saturday we wandered all over the lower part of the city around Colaba and Fort. We went to see the Prince of Wales Museum, built at the same time as the Gate of India, and in the same Indo-Persian style. We got there with just enough time to look around at the wide variety of items (including unremarkable European oil paintings), with an insightful audio-guide about the treasures they do have- and an added bonus of learning about the Hindu religion and the history of the area. After that we roamed through the streets by the old fishing village- home to the original settlers of Bombai, (and the Goddess they used to worship Mumba). We got a little lost and wandered into some areas that were a little dicey, but it somehow Hardy and I – being so very white- are viewed more as a curiosity to the natives, who are always very respectful and non-threatening. More like “what are these guys doing here?” than “victims.” So we bumbled around through the backstreets (actually we did have a map!), and finally made it over the Colaba Market with its crazy jumble of building supplies, flowers, fruit and everything and dipped into the world’s smallest Baskin Robbins, like a tiny ice cream oasis, and got our bearings. Fortunately we were very close to our target, the i-café. Since it was too early in the states to call, we went back to Leopold’s, but this time sat upstairs in the very hip bar full of expatriots, and then I realized that this was the same bar that the writer of Shantaram, David Gregory, frequented in the book. Of course when Hardy and I decided to come to Mumbai, we went and bought lots of books; Hardy read some of Maximum City, a Wildlife guide to Sanjay Gandhi Park, and the Lonely Planet. Hardy’s mother, who has been to India many times, sent us a book (more like a tome at 900+ pages) called Shantaram, about an Australian convict who takes up Bombay as his home. And actually, reading this book did make me feel more comfortable with the city, like I knew it a little bit. Unfortunately, David Gregory, who I’m told still hangs out at Leopold’s, didn’t turn up by the time we finished our cold Budweiser in the very hot bar, having watched enough of Genesis at Wembley (for the Live Earth concert), to get us motivated to make some phone calls.
We finally found the CyberCafe-International Phone Booth -thank god we were on the wrong side of the street, and happened to look up to the second story to see the tiny “I-way” sign! Up an old Victorian staircase, the I-way had about 20 computer terminals and a couple of phone booth where you can make a call to the US for Rs 15 a minute. Hardy called his brother, and I called my numbers. We then had to head back to the hotel for my 10:30PM shot of Ovidrelle that was going to make the egg “bloom” and be ready for harvesting. After the shots we lay in bed and tried to imagine the egg blooming.
"What are these guys doing here?"
On Saturday we wandered all over the lower part of the city around Colaba and Fort. We went to see the Prince of Wales Museum, built at the same time as the Gate of India, and in the same Indo-Persian style. We got there with just enough time to look around at the wide variety of items (including unremarkable European oil paintings), with an insightful audio-guide about the treasures they do have- and an added bonus of learning about the Hindu religion and the history of the area. After that we roamed through the streets by the old fishing village- home to the original settlers of Bombai, (and the Goddess they used to worship Mumba). We got a little lost and wandered into some areas that were a little dicey, but it somehow Hardy and I – being so very white- are viewed more as a curiosity to the natives, who are always very respectful and non-threatening. More like “what are these guys doing here?” than “victims.” So we bumbled around through the backstreets (actually we did have a map!), and finally made it over the Colaba Market with its crazy jumble of building supplies, flowers, fruit and everything and dipped into the world’s smallest Baskin Robbins, like a tiny ice cream oasis, and got our bearings. Fortunately we were very close to our target, the i-café. Since it was too early in the states to call, we went back to Leopold’s, but this time sat upstairs in the very hip bar full of expatriots, and then I realized that this was the same bar that the writer of Shantaram, David Gregory, frequented in the book. Of course when Hardy and I decided to come to Mumbai, we went and bought lots of books; Hardy read some of Maximum City, a Wildlife guide to Sanjay Gandhi Park, and the Lonely Planet. Hardy’s mother, who has been to India many times, sent us a book (more like a tome at 900+ pages) called Shantaram, about an Australian convict who takes up Bombay as his home. And actually, reading this book did make me feel more comfortable with the city, like I knew it a little bit. Unfortunately, David Gregory, who I’m told still hangs out at Leopold’s, didn’t turn up by the time we finished our cold Budweiser in the very hot bar, having watched enough of Genesis at Wembley (for the Live Earth concert), to get us motivated to make some phone calls.
We finally found the CyberCafe-International Phone Booth -thank god we were on the wrong side of the street, and happened to look up to the second story to see the tiny “I-way” sign! Up an old Victorian staircase, the I-way had about 20 computer terminals and a couple of phone booth where you can make a call to the US for Rs 15 a minute. Hardy called his brother, and I called my numbers. We then had to head back to the hotel for my 10:30PM shot of Ovidrelle that was going to make the egg “bloom” and be ready for harvesting. After the shots we lay in bed and tried to imagine the egg blooming.
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