Hound the House Guest

We played host recently to our good mate Hound. He dropped in on us on his way to a nice, relaxing holiday in Europe.. The evening arrival time of Qantas flight from Australia means we can make it out to pick visitors. We were hoping the Noddy the Ambassador would get us out there but its wheels were packed up in the boot while the front end received some much needed attention. It would have been great to have Noddy to avoid the normal adventure to the Airport in a rickshaw. Our driver gave us the head wobble of "sure I know where I'm going", and off we went in the wrong direction, poor bugger didn't have a clue. Our lengthy and frustrating trip ended when the clutch cable snapped and the rickshaw came to a halt on the 10 lane, western expressway, which was in completely the wrong direction. Luckily the rain stopped for a minute and we played frogger crossing the traffic. We made it finally and as usual the flight was delayed..
It was all worth it though when Hound arrived to give us a big grin after seeing see his personalized welcome card... Welcome to Mumbai...
The next day we headed off with Ash to an expat brunch in the Taj Lands End 5 star hotel to watch the Aussies and the Kiwis followed by some of the Aus v Japan soccer match. The food was plentiful and it was raining Kingfishers which set us up for the night ahead. The Taj is where we met Alifiya (Lif) from Sydney, up here to be the GM of a new business. It didn't take much to convince her to give us a lift home and join us at China House for a night on the town.
Noddy had his wheels back on by the evening so we rolled to the Grand Hyatt in style. Actually we we cracked up with laughter when we saw the faces of the onlookers in the line waiting to get in to the club as we climbed out of the Ambassador in what felt like slow motion. Noddy disappeared to be valet parked next to the Mercedes and plush cars of the other guests..

Sunday was a slow day, with big plans of heading to South Bombay lost to naps on the couch while Hound did battle with his body coming to terms to being in India..
Monday we gave Hound a quick debrief from the Lonely Planet and he was sent off to the local train for his First Class train ride to town. Actually we weren't good hosts, we were at traffic lights which were about to change and decided he needed some adventure, so we booted him out and yelled some rough instructions out the window as we drove off.. To our relief we caught up with Hound and Ash at Leopold's Cafe doing the Shantaram pilgrimage tucking into some Chicken Tikka and a cold Kingfisher.
Tuesday came and we bid farewell to Hound the house guest. We called for a rickshaw, made sure the driver knew the International Terminal (the leaving India Terminal), well.. he smiled and wobbled his head... and we waved goodbye...

Hope your feeling better mate, great to see you!!

Good Day Bad Day...

Earlier today I was cursing where we live. I’m missing the simple pleasures of an active life at home. Walking the dog in the open spaces of a park by the river, going for a bike ride along the beach then cooling off with a swim, playing sport to get that feeling of exhaustion from effort. These activities were part of my life and their loss was so very important at that moment. Tensed by my angst, I walked to the open window to shout down the beeping traffic for one minute’s silence. I reach the window and looked out to the street below, ready to add my voice of frustration to the sounds of the gridlocked traffic. As my eyes focused, I felt like I’d been smacked in the face, square on the nose.
My eyes were fixed on a woman, shuffling very slowly along the dusty, broken footpath on her hands and backside. My seemingly important issues vanished in an instant as my tears started to blur my vision of the street below. The woman was missing her lower right leg and was moving in the only way she could, shifting her body along between the tripod formed by her outstretched arms and her remaining leg, coming to rest on the hardened skin of her rear.
It was difficult to make out her features as her only dress matched the colour of her hair and skin which in turn blended with the pavement on which she struggled. Her camouflage must have made her invisible to the passers by, or at least, that’s the way it seemed. She is not the first nor unfortunately will she be the last person we see struggling in this city.
We responded with a gift of money, much more than the few rupees in coins she held in her hand. Her response was a smile of a few teeth. Slowly she continued forward pushing a small plastic bag of possessions, manoeuvreing between a tree stump and an open drainage channel to urinate. The edge of the drainage channel was too difficult to reach safely, so holding her tattered dress off the ground, she did what we all must do. The effort she made to be discrete by the channel was in vein as her physical limitations held her to the broken path, where she had to move as quickly as she could to shift her bag from the line of approaching urine. Just one of the many struggles she must endure, daily.
We made up a care package with a new canvas shoulder bag, some old clothes and food and walked up the street to hand it to her. She was quick to draw her dress over the stump of her leg and continued what seemed a mumbled monologue, a cry for help in a language we don’t understand.
This blog is not to judge those who passed by, nor is it self praise to our small actions.
It serves to remind that a scene like this is an abrupt and awful way to give consideration to the fact, that a bad day for some, may be the best day in the life of another.

A walk on the beach...

We took a walk on Juhu Beach yesterday at dusk, as do the locals, normally in their tens of thousands. We'd usually be sharing the beach with the many walkers, families at the water edge cooling off and people enjoying the ocean breeze. Yesterday was the first day we'd been to the beach for some time and it was not people filling the beach, it was the endless piles of plastic bags.
The poorest workers did their best to clean the drains before monsoon and I'm sure it made some small difference, but when you see all the rubbish washed out of the city through its choked rivers to the open sea where it is then thrown back to land by the turbulent monsoon waters, you can only feel disgust and a desire to do something, anything to prevent this from happening....

The Maharashtra government banned manufacture, sale and use of all plastic bags under 20 micron, saying they choked drainage systems during recent monsoon rains. This was the call to action after the terrible floods of 2005. This proclamation has not resulted in a cleaner Mumbai as the the lazy habit of littering and an ineffective garbage disposal which may prevent littering are the culprits.

What must the guests of the $300 a night 5 star JW Marriot think as they look out their windows to the scene?
The local committee has tractors attempting to clean up the rubbish. They load truck after truck with the debris and ship it off to a refuse area, we have to hope, otherwise in the next rains we will probably see it all again..
It would be really heartening to see this city of Mumbai and it's people, whose government wants to change to levels of Shanghai or Singapore, take action, long term action and education to prevent these scenes from repeating year after year.

Considering a Career Change?

I think it'd be a little tricky at first but if we ever need a little extra income I can always take up Auto Rickshaw driving and thank goodness there's driver training just down the road.

The rickshaws or "cockroaches" as they are affectionately named by drivers of the imported cars, are a major part of daily life here. They scurry through traffic as fast as their tiny wheels will travel to unload their cargo which are times can be quite surprising. We often see these little rickshaws with a maximum seating capacity of three, full of 8-10 school children, or a family of 4 with their goat, you name it and if it can fit the rickshaw will carry it.

The rains are not so much fun in a 'rick', they do their best to roll a piece of canvas down the side to protect the passengers, but invariably the wind lifts the canvas and at that moment, a car will splash through a puddle right next to you making sure you're aware you're in a rickshaw...

I think I'll leave to the professionals...

Fridge magnet wisdom

What you think, you create

What you feel, you attract

What you imagine, you become...

Mumbai 7/11

Yesterday the people of Mumbai remembered the 188 lives lost, the injured, over 800 in total and the families who have had their lives changed due to the seven-coordinated bomb blasts on the urban train network on the 11th July 2006. Commuters placed red and white flowers and burned incense sticks at suburban railway stations that were targeted in the, attacks at the peak of the evening rush hour. More than 6 million ride the crowded rail network into the city every day

This was not the first serious blast in Mumbai.
Mar 12, 1993: A series of 13 bomb explosions left more than 257 dead with 1,400 others injured.
Dec 2, 2002: Two persons were killed and 31 injured in a powerful explosion in a bus outside the crowded Ghatkopar railway station. The blast ripped through the bus damaging its rear portion. Banned SIMI was suspected to be behind the blasts with the police arresting more than six persons in this case.
Dec 6, 2002: 25 people were injured in a bomb blast at McDonalds fast food restaurant at Mumbai Central Railway Station. The bomb was planted in the air conditioner duct. It was suspected to be a crude bomb.
Jan 27, 2003: At least 30 people were injured when a bomb planted on a bicycle went off throwing splinters of sharp nails outside Vile Parle railway station (this is our rail stop). The explosion occurred near a shopping complex in the evening hours.
Mar 13, 2003: A powerful bomb blast shattered a bogie of a local train at Mulund railway station in the peak hours killing 11 people and injuring more than 65. This was the most powerful serial explosion. Aug 25, 2003: 46 dead in twin blasts suspected to be carried out by two terrorist groups.

The news of the moment is full of the stories of global warming and cooling, causes and impacts, religious and political unrest, worldwide poverty, social and economic hardship, armed conflicts, refugees, the ongoing people trade, and the simmering epidemic of HIV to name a few...

Grouping all the news together is the Internet with a staggering amount of facts and figures for those with the time and focus to select the article of worth to read and either read on or move on. The speed at which the news moves makes it difficult at times to have a full understanding on the story.
With the loss of life continuing daily around the world at the hand of man, I am drawn to a line in Eckhardt Tolle’s book “The New Earth”. He reminds us that “by the end of the 20th century the number of people who died a violent death at the hand of fellow humans would rise to more than 100 million.” This is a staggering figure but not staggering enough as conflict continues.

Significant Ongoing Armed Conflicts, 2006
Main warring parties and the year it begun
Middle East
U.S. and UK vs. Iraq: 2003
Israel vs. Palestinians: 1948
Asia
Afghanistan: U.S., UK, and Coalition Forces vs. al-Qaeda and Taliban: 2001
India vs. Kashmiri separatist groups/Pakistan: 1948
India vs. Assam insurgents (various) : 1979
Indonesia vs. Christians and Muslims in Molucca Islands: 1977
Indonesia vs. Papua (Irian Jaya) separatists: 1969
Nepal vs. Maoist rebels: 1995
Philippines vs. Mindanaoan separatists: 1971
Sri Lanka vs. Tamil Eelan: 1978
Africa
Algeria vs. Armed Islamic Group (GIA): 1991
Côte d'Ivoire vs. rebels: 2002
Democratic Republic of Congo and allies vs. Rwanda, Uganda, and indigenous rebels: 1997
Somalia vs. rival clans and Islamist groups: 1991
Sudan vs. Darfur rebel groups: 2003
Uganda vs. Lord's Resistance Army (LRA): 1986
Europe
Russia vs. Chechen separatists: 1994
Latin America
Colombia vs. National Liberation Army: 1978
Colombia vs. Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia: 1978
Colombia vs. Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia : 1990

It’s been said again and again, this planet is the only home we have. Although the above paints a dismal picture of humanity we must remember that there are people trying to make a difference in some way, either individually or collectively. The difference is made from an action as simple as choosing to turn off that electrical appliance which makes life so much easier, to being on the front line treating those, who, at times have lost everything, including hope. To this end we support charities and Aid groups of which there are many whose endeavors are amazing and go largely unrecognized. We know there is much more to do on a personal level.


Whether we are here as an act of a chosen God or higher being or a mystical Big Bang and evolution, the fact is that we are here. Each day, we, the people of the human race have to count ourselves so very lucky to be here for such a short time. The creation of life, aptly referred to as the Miracle of Life is not guaranteed. That we can look in the mirror and identify with the grown person looking back is amazing considering life starts at a microscopic size.

Imagine in this flattened world, if each person, each member of the human race gave thanks for each day and remembered no matter how diverse, we are we all brothers and sisters, on this Earth together.
Maybe we should rename the planet from Earth to Home and see what happens..?

Take a minute and ponder these facts…
Each day the sun doesn’t really rise, yes it’s beautiful imagery but it’s not a curtain call in a stage play, act 1, scene 1. The fact is that the earth is a rotating at 1669.8 km/h at the equator, revolving about the sun at 107278.87 km/h once every 365.24 days, and gravity keeps our feet on the ground, how amazing!. The maximum speed of a Boeing 747-100- is only 967km/h to put it in perspective.

Taking an even broader view of our species, we humans may be highly evolved (some would dispute it) but essentially we are one of approximately 5,400 of mammals.
We’re special because we make it so.

This earth... (home) on which we tread is an amazing place.
It’s up to us what we do with it and on it until such time Nature takes it back….
And it will… Remember the Dinosaurs

Welcome to the Mumbai-Madness Grandma

This is a shout out to welcome my Grandma, Heather and her friends to the world of Blogging.

We all love to get a postcard in the mail, it's nice to receive but with the blog at hand it was time to start a flurry of emails to those on the net to get the Mumbai-Madness to Grandma.

Kindly, Monty Walters at North Lakes has made the transition from postcard to blog an easy one, thanks very much Monty.

More blogs to come Grandma so stay tuned...

Music News

It's a rainy day in Mumbai with dark, low clouds encouraging us to stay in and enjoy a bottle of red and some tunes.
Our iTunes library of over 4000 songs is regularly put to the test but today Paul Weller and his album "Days of Speed" has risen to the top and is keeping us entertained as the streets fill with water and the bottle of red is slowly emptied.

We're a bit short on music news in Mumbai so if anyone has any tips for tunes past or present, throw in a comment to let us know your music news...

Driving Rules in Mumbai

* Might is Right: It's like the food chain, rickshaws give way to cars, who give way to trucks who give way to jeeps..
* When you approach an intersection, speed up, and drive right in....(blind spots are irrelevant)
* There are no lanes, feel free to make your own
* If traffic stops for more than five minutes, it is absolutely OK for you to get out of your running car, and walk a few kms to find out what the hold up is
* In narrow areas, it is fine for you to block the entire flow of traffic with your car, because you need to drop your mother/sister/daughter to the door step....after all why should they walk even two steps
on their own?
* Trucks love to venture everywhere, no matter how small the roads are
* Honking is your God given right, like breathing, it must be used constantly.. Horn OK Please
* The more you honk randomly and flash your lights excessively, the more likely traffic is to move....(or so you hope)
* If you get stuck somewhere, feel free to stick a leg out your rickshaw to help push the object blocking your way along.....whether it be a another rickshaw, car or even a person
* If you are a driver, you have every right to drive on a sidewalk and yell at random pedestrians who have the nerve to walk in your way!
* When you reverse it is absolutely essential that you have THE most Loudest, annoying music with which to do so....
* Making a U turn anywhere is A ok....
* Slowing down is never an option
* Waiting for someone to reverse is for pussies....instead feel free to drive around him as he painfully tries to make sure he doesn't hit you
* Rear view and side mirrors are optional, as are seatbelts
* Child seats? what are those
* It is perfectly safe for an entire family of four, a wife, dad and two kids to be on a bike in peak traffic, without helmets.....helmets are so over rated.....much like overcrowding
* You must at all times mutter badwords in Hindi under your breath....you only use the English word F*ck, when someone actually gets in your way
* Driving within cms of another car is the way to do it, gaps and spaces are just plain silly....Again being a pussy comes to mind
* Avoiding pot holes are of paramount importance, so much so that it is much better to swerve into a lane with pedestrians than drive into a pot hole
* As soon as you feel the road get smooth, it is absolutely essential to crank the speed up to 70km an hour, even though you can see everyone two minutes away from you come to a complete dead stop