Can seem a little bit odd but I have had one of the best shopping experience so far in my life. Amy and I decided that we need to bring some music in to our life and went to where all the electronic shops are close to chain road station to buy some speakers. We went in to a small shop on a small street and found our brand new speakers. Since we wanted to make sure that the speakers worked we had to try them. The three young teenagers that owned the shop were all happy to have two young girls in the shop. Reckon we made their day. Their friends and people from nearby shops kept dropping in. At one moment in the beginning I thought that we were going to end up in a corner of the shop filled with men. But Amy and I waved to the people outside the shop and it seemed liked they got pretty embarrassed and walked off. We sat down and were offered a cup of coffee. We had a nice talk with the owners that were only 17 years old and were going to college. They told us that they gain around 10 000 dollars a year which I would say is pretty good concerning that people in average earn One hour after we walked out with a base, speakers and a free CD with Indian music. A smile on my lips and nice guided taxi ride back to my new home….
One reflection is that I need to stop caring about the mindset of the Indians on their way of looking at women. It makes me angry, laugh and amused. It seems like I am always ending up in a conflict with one or another man surely because of my opinion about men here. Yesterday it happened on the train when I was standing in the door together with my good friend Irja. A man asked to pass so I thought that he wanted to go stand in front of us on the steps but no, he just wanted to take my place and stand where I was standing. So I asked him if he was just going to stand there since I was standing there before, he only said yes and laughed a little bit. So walked over to stand in the other door for a while and laughed a little bit. But I could not let it go so I went over to him again and asked how come he wanted me to move, if I had missed out on any Indian norms or anything. After discussing with him for a while and him laughing a little bit on and of like he was uncomfortable talking to me he told me that he had asked me to move because of the it not being safe to stand in the door and because I am a women. I cannot more then help to think that this country is far from equity.
Traveling from Goa to Mumbai is quit of an experience. The landscape is not was fascinates me but the people traveling, the restaurant and the way of selling food on the train. I would recommend traveling in second class where you get your own “bed” at a coupe with 8 beds. During the twelve hours ride men are passing by all the time selling coffee, chai, kebab and all other different types of food. And since the kitchen was allowed to enter I had to check it out. Hugh pots, lots of spices and big frying pans full of oil. With the train swinging pretty much from one side to another I cannot help wondering how many accidents there are in those restaurants. The heat was almost unstandable and the pan with frying oil looked like it was going to fall in any second. Seeing this it did not seem very remarkable that the man were walking around with heavy boxes and buckets during the whole ride without falling apart. On the other hand it seems like people in general here in India are caring around their things. Another thing that amazes me in this world is their smoking rules. On the platform when waiting for the train you are not allowed to smoke even though it is outside. But you can smoke on the train if you open the doors, yes, you can open the doors while the train is driving. Another thing that is good to keep in mind if you have problems going to “Indian style” toilets (which means a hole in the ground), then you can find one or two “Western style” toilets. But on the other hand it is quite funny to try to squat while the train is swinging and suddenly breaking.
During our outpost here in Mumbai we have to answer some questions asked by external people. Our first question comes from Allan Webber and concerning the Indian economic growth and it’s relation the to the people.
How are Indias people handling the countries transition into a growing world economic people?
First thing to be said that I have learned from Kirschta a guide that took us around in one of the slums in Mumbai are that people in India are very aware about what is going on in the world in relation to India. The growing economy make it possible for people to for example get out of the slum because they earn more. I get the feeling that with the growth comes more global pressure. We visited Dr Savant (at Mumbai University) and talked to him about globalization and India. His answers about the system were or were to be handled by a national programme (includes homelessness, water cleaning system).
Do they feel any change in the status in the world?
Doctor Savant said that he thinks that India will be the next USA and leading country in the world. I have got the impression that some people do both feel and see the change. On this hand it should be mentioned the religious aspect of the people and the cast system. This means that if you are not Hindi then you are not a part of the system of being re-borned and therefore not really existing in real. Therefore the status will not be notified as changed or comperative to the rest of the world. And because of the cast system the people do not aim for getting a higher status.
Yesterday we went with a guided tour to Darvin, the biggest slum of Mumbai. The productivity and their work was fascinating to see. One of the main business in Darvin is plastic recycling which is owned by one family. Plastic is to be found all over the city so it collected and brought to Darvin to wash and redone to small corns of plastic that is sold to different business. There are 1200 families in the pottery business and there are a lot of other small stores and craftsmen. On the other hand the watter that is running in the canal between the hinduistic part and the islamic part is totally black and smells very bad. The garbage was found on the roof at some places, on the ground beside the “houses” and at the school yard. The recycling and long-time sustainibility were not balanced at all. But on the other hand it also mean that they are going in the right direction.
There is so many things to understand and get a grip of in this city. Mumbai is pretty dirty, most of the days it is impossible to see the sun because of the polution and it smells bad. The smell of garbage and poo reaches you when travelling through the city, at some places worse then others. There are a lot of rats to be seen and half-dying cats and dogs are all over the ctiy. The appreciative numbers of people are 17 million during the night and a little bit more then 20 million during the day. The traffic is crazy and they are beeping the horn 24 seven. But I can still say that I like the city a little bit. There is something that makes me feel good about the city, maybe it is the low criminality.
At the moment I am living in Colaba which is the tourist area at the Cowie’s hotel in a room with Amy and Lisen from my team. We are living on the top floor with Peder, Borgar and Finnur as our next dooor neighbour and with a lounge just outside the room. It is a really nice hang out space and the only thing that is missing is Internet connection. But there is a nice caffé just five minutes walk from here which can be compared to starbucks and the Internet connection is good there and it costs less then 30 SKR for two hours. It is not cheap to live in this city, especially not if you compare to what things cost here. I pay almost 800 rupis per night which is around 130 sek a night. It is not that bad but the standard here is low. On the other hand half of Mumbai’s inhabitans are homeless so no wonder the living prices are pretty high. At least there are no rats to be seen on this hotel yet.
Finally I have arrived to Mumbai… the smell is awfull, the buildings are in pretty bad shape and people are sleeping everywhere. But it is nice, I like it. I have never lived anywhere like it and the only thing I can compare to is Tanger in Marroco, which was even more crazy and dirty. Anyway the people here seems nice and I like the athmosphere. Going to look at another part of town.
At the moment I just feel like going to Mumbai, do some work there and go back home. I will try to find some interesting work during the summer, gain some money and aim for Australia. In fall I have world wide practice at the Kaospilot and at the moment I feel like going to Australia during that time. It depends on how everything will proceed with my business during the summer. But I am longing to see Australia…
Trying to imagine my self with people all around me for three months. After what I have heard the men in Mumbai are crazy about the women. They follow them, scream at them and touch them. That scares me off a little bit because that can drive me crazy. People that I have talked with that have been there give as a recomendation to always as a woman to walk together with a guy. I am so curious to find out what it is like, NOW!
