Mumbai Madness...

Blue Steel....

2009-09-24T17:09:00.000+05:30

Mumbai Connection

2009-01-30T02:22:00.010+05:30

We were lucky over the past few months to see some of our friends from Mumbai. Wow, this is an old post!.. and yes the blog has been dormant for quite a while...
Actually it's a wonder the pics haven't faded they are so old... Bad bloggers are we..

Megan dropped in for a flying visit, 20 weeks pregnant and below is a pic of Lif and Sharon at Jesse's (Megan and Jason's son) christening a few months back. Don't mind Alex in the background... it was midstrength beer...

Ash blew through at christmas

Vidi, Darren and their beautiful daughter Taasha were in Adelaide for New Years and it was great to see them.

INTRODUCING OUR MADE IN INDIA BABY....

2008-06-10T17:06:00.008+05:30

He came almost 3 weeks early. I was in denial during labour, I still hadn’t finished reading the instruction books & I had a baby shower to have, the new section of the Mater Mothers hospital was to open in a few days, not to mention our shipment of 60 boxes from India was to arrive.

After a day and a half of contractions (which I still didn't believe were real contractions) we went to the hospital early in the morning of Wed 28 May. It was confirmed by a midwife I was in labour and 4cm dilated, so off to the Birth Suite we went. My waters hadn’t broken and the Doctor had told the midwife that they would break them asap, the midwife was quite happy for it to be left a little bit, knowing we wanted to keep the birth as natural as possible. We used the fact that Mark had to race home and get, (or finish packing..) my labour bag to delay the process.

By 7 cm dilated, the midwife did another cervix check, holding a big look crochet hook ready now to break my waters. She hesitated and said she thought she felt a foot or a hand instead of the head. I needed a scan quickly. The scan determined what we hoped wasn’t true, our baby was breech, an emergency Cesarean was needed.

Our midwife explained, although she understood our wishes for a natural birth, this was pretty serious. We were incredibly disappointed, the last scan in India showed a breech bub, but all the check up’s here confirmed – abdominally - that the head was in position. The scan showed one little leg ready to be pushed out first and the other over the shoulder, it could have meant he suffocated and I could have been torn to shreds, much better to come out bum first if delivering a breech baby.

A few tears, but it wasn’t long when the disappointed was overshadowed by pure joy.

Before I knew it, I was being wheeled away, brought into a room with bright lights and a lot of – young people – with one older man. Mark disappeared and came back looking as though he was on the set of Gray’s Anatomy (with the other young funky doctors). I had another contraction before receiving an epidural then another final one. I remember thinking this is the last one I’ll have for this little baby, how sad. Nick Cave & James were playing throughout which was lovely and now our baby has his own Ipod playlist.

In 20 minutes from the time we were told the need for a Caesar, I was being cut, and the baby was being lifted out. It felt as though someone was washing up in my stomach, no pain just lots of movement. The baby was lifted out, as the screen was lowered, Mark took photo’s as it was announced he was a boy. The whole process was totally surreal, a total out of body experience. He was snatched away and taken by the pediatrician and his team, Mark was taken in too and took more photo’s , but soon came out to enjoy our first few moments with our baby together.

It is so surreal, I can't believe how much love one can feel for this squirmy little being. This is our purpose - so hurry up everyone and give Alex some playmates.

2008-05-16T07:38:00.004+05:30

Farewell Juhu Beach

Our Veggie Sellers

Roadworks outside our door, won't miss that noise

Our Butcher

Our Chemist

& some of those who visited......

Farewell India

2008-05-16T07:27:00.001+05:30

I start by writing a thank you to my hubby, I’ve enjoyed Marks Mumbai Madness and only wish I made the time to add more entries.….I’ve been one slack bum on it, or rather put my energy into work and not into something personally meaningful, that will create everlasting memories.

One of many personal lessons learnt over here.

It’s our last day in Bombay. We came not knowing what adventure lay ahead and it’s hard to imagine the new road ahead. We may be moving back into the same house, the same street, the same suburb, the same city, but we bring with us a ‘made in India’ addition. Our lives will never be the same again and I’m so excited.

We went to Barister Coffee, for our morning coffee this morning and took our coffee’s with the papers to the beach. Such a familiar thing to do, but we’ve never done it here. We were soon surrounded by kids with babies begging, it never ceases to break your heart, but somehow we now are hardened in our response and the time it takes to forget them. (We did give them Rs55 and the dregs of our coffee cups – Mark even made the little fella put the cups in the bin – a sight I’ve NEVER seen in this filthy place, he deserved Rs100!).

It’s been an amazing adventure and it really does make you appreciate the country we come from. To all Aussie’s who expect they’re owed something from the government, from society, from family - you need to get on a plane & experience India. See what true hardship is, and see the incredible innate human instinct of survival and need to strive for betterment for the future for their offspring. I’m not in favour of the Indian government ignoring these poor souls, but it does show how welfare can dilute this human instinct.

It still astounds me to see the basket weavers or flower stringers, smiling as they work on the road and pavement. They actually live on the same pavement, some of them have made their homes in the massive pipes, sit across from the railway near Dada – a scene I will never forget. They cook, bring up their babies, work, sleep and shit in absolute mess & poverty – yet they converse, laugh, sing and have no trouble whatsoever at procreating.

Today, we successfully found Katherine, our lovely non stop talking maid, a new home of employment. She’s loving life at the moment with all the goodies she’s keeping from us, although she’s genuinely upset that we’re leaving. We even received a call from our other little girl, Renuka to say bye from Israel and may have found her husband Roshan a job driving for Kaisa & Apurv. I swear, you could make a successful business out of passing around good house staff. I wonder if this will sound strange to us soon, but it’s so normal at the moment.

So I say a sad farewell to the place that captured our hearts and souls. A happy farewell to the same place that drove us insanely mad with it’s hypocrisy, noise and traffic. We’ll miss you India, your heartbeat that now pulses in our veins and can’t wait to come back.

Pics from the Rick

2008-04-02T10:28:00.009+05:30

Last night was our last trip in a Mumbai rickshaw for some time... we had to take some self pics from the back just one last time...

Quote...

2008-04-01T06:57:00.005+05:30

"To accomplish great things, we must,
not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe."
- Anatole France

So long Shantaram

2008-03-31T10:04:00.003+05:30

Mumbai's favourite reformed Australian convict, Gregory David Roberts, is setting sail for Europe for a spell whilst the film of his book, starring Johnny Depp is under production. He will be returning in November for Diwali for his wedding to fiancee Princess Francoise Sturdza of Switzerland. So if you'd like your book signed, head to Leopolds later in the year...

Around Juhu...

2008-03-12T18:10:00.007+05:30

On a wander around Juhu you'll find quite a few regulars to greet on the street.
This family live on the pavement behind a bus stop on the banks of the dirty drain pictured below. Now these kids don't attend school which is a shame and most of the time we see them at the lights holding out their little hands. Oblivious to anyone walking by this morning the children were absorbed in their colouring books, which was fantastic to see! Rarely do we see the poorer children sharing in the experiences of the well to do.. Unfortunately once I was seen their concentration jumped from colouring books to of course rupee and wanting to see themselves on camera.

The young fella was especially proud of his drawing...

Should you ever be on Juhu beach and feeling a wee bit parched you may like to try your luck at one of the many drink carts set up for evening walkers...

Mumbai - It's not that dirty...

2008-03-12T10:14:00.007+05:30

It's official, Forbes magazine has rated Mumbai as the seventh dirtiest city in the world!!
Mercer Human Resource Consulting's 2007 Report on Health and Sanitation Ranked 215 cities as part of a Quality of Life report, addressing 29 civic criteria including, levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital supplies, medical services and the presence of infectious diseases. Bonanza!!!
For the record all cities are positioned against New York, the base city with an index score of 100.
The worst on the latest list is, Baku, Azerbaijan with a score of 27.6, the cleanest goes to Calgary, Canada, with a score of 131.7. Delhi was ranked a few pegs higher than Mumbai at 24th.
The local authorities reject the ranking claiming the survey conducted contacted too many expatriates giving a biased opinion and discounting the city efforts and spending to clean up the city infrastructure and the social needs of the population. Following are some of the survey findings:
Drinking water: Marks: 0 /10
You cannot drink tap water directly — it needs to be either boiled or filtered. The water is filthy and not potable.
Dangerous animals and insects: Marks: 3/10
The city is infested with stray dogs and insects that spread diseases and are dangerous.
(Actually there are fewer dogs now than when we arrived. There is a sterilization program in action. As for the mozzies, Yardaf was a victim of Malaria late in 2007)
Infectious Diseases: Marks: 3/10
Infectious diseases are widely spread among citizens and the population of HIV+ citizens is more than that of foreign cities. This makes dwelling in the city for long periods of time dangerous to one's health. It is also harmful to the environment.
(There are more NGO's making inroads to the HIV epidemic with Hollywood and Bollywood celeb's educating the masses. Unfortunately life is cheap and education is limited)
Hospital services: Marks: 5/10
Hospital services are satisfactory, but most hospitals are located in the island city while the suburbs lack specialised facilities.
(Hospitals are a sight, straight out of the 1950's with some select modern equipment. Bombay Hospital is a large building surrounding a courtyard, trouble is the courtyard is buried beneath building material and waste thrown out of the windows and not removed....)

Waste removal: Marks: 4/10
The garbage collection system is ineffective, and garbage piles are a frequent sight on city roads. However, South Mumbai is comparatively cleaner.
(I would have marked them at 2/10 for this one... check out the pic and some may remember the image of the rubbish washed onto the shore last monsoon..)

Sewerage system; Marks: 3/10
Fifty per cent of city's waste is dumped into the sea without undergoing any sort of treatment. This poses an environmental hazard.
(For those who have visited, you've seen and smelt it... It's not pretty but 15-18 million people living in such a small space it's gotta go somewhere...there's currently limited ways to pipe it and the big question is pipe it to where! The land is so expensive here... although the BMC promises to have NO human poo to the ocean by 2011)

Jamie Durie's - Bombay Blitz - Landscape Tips

2008-03-11T20:11:00.009+05:30

The Bombay Blitz team have been busy this week bringing a new face to the walls and public spaces around Bombay.
Graffiti or street art in Mumbai is currently limited to the busiest beanbag bloke in Bombay, with nearly every spare space covered with rough aerosol "Beanbags 2640 7329" and glossy product advertising taking up much of the remaining eye height vertical space. For the spaces below waist height, Bombayites have come up with a novel way to achieve not only a well balanced, interesting visual scene but they've also stumbled on a way to keep those pesky pissers from stinking up the place.... Yes, with minimal effort and little spend of the Rupee you too can bring art, religion and a little sanitation to the mases.
OK time for this weeks Blitz tip..

If you have a wall on your property get down to you local religious tile store and grab a few tiles of any faith or following. Don't be shy the more the merrier, Christ, Ganesh, Sikh or God... Mention this article and get 15% off any purchase of 30 or more tiles.

Next get yourself a work gang together and stick your new tiles to the wall!
You'll be surprised how calm you'll feel with all that Godly goodness around you and best of all.. those pesky pissers will eventually run out of walls to piss on and use the public toilets 30m away!

Til next week, good gardening and remember to watch where you walk...

Team India of the future...

2008-03-08T12:09:00.002+05:30

The Indian boys love being in photos... We're not sure who these young blokes from Kerala thought they were, but bets are on that they see themselves as India's cricketing future..

Been an' gone to Goa.

2008-03-06T18:18:00.015+05:30

A few weeks ago "Ram Krupa" played host to a final few guests. Jane, "Mata Ray Jane", passed through on her way to Thailand and Vietnam before heading back to Western Australia. Jane had a crack at the life in Mumbai, experiencing being a 'first class lady' on the trains before heading to Kerela to soak up the relaxed South Indian way. A day after Jane was off in the rickshaw, Darren "Sharpie",arrived fresh from bringing in the year of the Rat in Hong Kong. What a contrast, HK to India.. He to took on the peak hour train experience, a Mumbai must!
Whilst Sharpie was here we were able to finally get to Goa, crazy that is only a 45 minute flight and this was our first time.. We stayed at Candolim Beach at the quiet end of town and did a lot of very little for a few days. Actually as Sharpie described, it was like an English retirement village, and from their accent and array of tattoos on the lads, they were all from the same part of England. Now the beaches of India are nice and the culture is moderate to say the least so it is normal/respectful for the women to keep their tops on.. Well.. not the English ladies and we think some of the Russians.. It was a boobs out blitz. Actually in the ladies defence I think there was a standard set by an older gent, who had a lovely all over leather look with his modesty limited to a leopard print lap. I would call it a lap lap but there wasn't that much fabric..

The beach was well tended by countless beach shacks serving rough tucker and cool beer to your beach bed. What better way to round out a day of sun than to retire to one of the choice shacks with some decent tunes for happy hour!
As luck would have it our good Bombay buddy Ash flew down and joined us for his birthday.
Ash was popular on the beach, the ladies gave hime massages and pedicures and there was also this Indian bloke in white budgie smugglers sipping a tin of Fosters through a straw keeping a watchful eye on him...

We headed up to Baga Beach in the evening to check out the more lively part of Goa, with its many, beach shacks, bars and restaurants. The Goan beaches are busting at the seems, these once quiet now villages packed with tourists, screaming along on rented scooters or walking on the side of the busy rural roads doing their best to navigate their way from shop to beach to restaurant to pub..
Goa has a rich history with links to Roman times and 400 year rule of the Portuguese.
Apart from the many churches we went past, Fort Aguada, a Portuguese installation was the only historic site we explored. From our guest house on the beach it was a nice walk sown the beach to the fort which took us past the rusting hulk of the River Princess, a 240m long ore carrier which went aground off Candolim in a storm in 2000. Each year there are renewed promises to salvage and re float the ship but with mother nature doing her worst, the ship looks like it'll be there quite a while.
As usual the cows take centre stage and these ones looked particularly fresh in the early morning light....

Mumbai living...

2008-03-06T16:12:00.008+05:30

Our new neighbours, the road workers, seem to have made the our 6th Road corner their new home. Their works have inched up the street a wee bit which has moved the 3 pumps they are using to dewater the drainage trench right outside our bedroom window. Lovely.. I've never seen one of the workers wear a watch but somehow the pumps fire up at 6.30 each morning before the sun has had a chance to say hello. This is just a bit early for the late night Indian lifestyle. Dinner is still 9-10pm and the feature movie on the tube doesn't come on until 11pm... It's late in the afternoon and I'm having a bit of a tired rant.. But we do have to thank the workers for a few things, the way we see it, the pump that roars non stop from early morn, jolting us from our slumber is a warm up for the sleep deprived days, weeks months that are yet to come. At the insistence of the pump were also given the opportunity to make the most of the morning, heading down to the beach for a walk or challenging our calm to block out the noise with some yoga.

A truck arrived the other day to drop off some backfill for the trenches.. Pavers, large hard objects are not traditionally the best at filling in the small gaps around pipes, but this is India... For those who haven't been here, above is Yardaf our smiley watchman.. This is the fella who gives Noddy, our car, a tub each morning and keeps a vigilant watch over us in the evenings, from under his blanky.. Actually we're certain he is stoned nearly every night.. His English is a limited as our Hindi but we all smile and have a go..

Juhu Beach offers us a place to escape the industrial drone of Mumbai. The only noise to interrupt the sound of the small waves is roar of the flights from the nearby Mumbai airport. We walk past a few nice homes but the one above is one of the choice bungalows on the beach, it's on land a 5 star hotel would be envious of, making it worths equivalent to at least 50 beach front homes on the Gold Coast $$$$... lots a rupees.. Actually Wikipedia touts Juhu to be comparable to the Bel-Air, Malibu and Beverly Hills suburbs of Los Angeles. Hmmmm wonder who wrote that...
Unfortunately the only time you can tell where the horizon is in Mumbai is at sunset... The amazing purple pollution particle sunset we like to call it. There is always a haze of smoke, pollution and dust which hangs in the air which extends beyond the city for 100km. We don't experience the bright blue of the Australian sky but the ladies always brighten the scene with there colourful everyday wear, walking with ease even carrying large loads on there scones.. Oh scones.. I'd love a fresh scone. Actually we had a great Aussie fix the morning between the alarm pump and the sun rising to head to the beach.. HBO was showing Getting Square, an Aussie movie shot on the Gold Coast.

It was great to get a butchers hook at some Aussie humor at 7am, not sure how many Indians would have been watching though...

Move along...

2008-03-06T12:04:00.006+05:30

Nothing to see here....

Unless you're a Hopewate fan....

Yes, the victorious Indian "Bravehearts" are all over the news here and all I can do is make fun of an unfortunate digit up bum photo... We did have a thought this morning though. While walking on the beach amongst the many cricket games were a Sikh father and young son. They were playing happily, the boy tapping the ball, the father smiling at his sons achievements. It was at this moment a ball was hit in our direction, Sharon grabbed it, and we looked at eachother... Should we throw it into the sea and make a monkey gesture and say "this one's for Symonds!!" ?
Na.. Shaz tossed it back to the father's hand there'll be time enough for the Aussies in the seasons to come... Although if you read the paper here the balance has shifted to the Indian's favour for ever!!
The media has picture of fans burning flares instead of effigies of Ponting, picture of players mothers kissing photos of their sons, stories of courageous battles fought and won against aggressive play, abusive fans and poor umpiring. In fact they've gone as far as to claim the Test series also, in the face of the umpiring decisions seen as only made against the Indian team.
To make things worse for us, the Indian Under 19 team only a few days earlier claimed the U19 World Cup....
Here's a few of the headlines; Indians Rule the Roos, Smells like team spirit, Having the last laugh... and they go on..
Alright enough about Cricket... Sorry for you Gilly, well done to the Indians for the Tri-Series win.. The Super 14's rugby is on the Australia Network and the NRL and AFL seasons are soon to return. Time to bring back the Biff!!!

Mumbai Derby

2008-02-04T15:46:00.000+05:30

Yes Race Fans, the Mumbai, Indian Derby for 2008 has been run and won.. We couldn't get near the bookies for a bet so we had to be satisfied with guessing the winner... Any money on No17 was wasted in the big race as didn't even get 100m around the track, I think the moment must have been a bit much and he was stunned with stage fright..

Fashion on the field took on a whole new look this year as we tried to find the Ex-pat who gave the least consideration with their wardrobe... We reckon it was the bloke in the suit in the pic. At least the bloke in the shorts and singlet was coordinated...

The Bombay beautiful were out to make a show also..
Check out Shaz, Ash, Yogi, Rinki, Karishma and bad boy Ben..

Hard Yakka..

2008-02-03T10:10:00.000+05:30

The main road outside our place has been under construction since October '07. This is a bus route and during monsoon it fell apart. The buses had no trouble but the rickshaws and bikes had a hell of a time being thrown over the heaving pavement or dropping into the newly formed potholes.
The local authority has decided to concrete the road and to place some drainage pipes to alleviate the flooding in monsoon. It is so flat in Juhu, the pipes are small and will clog with rubbish and silt very quickly so I fear all the work will be an unfortunate waste. For the time being though, the new roadworks provide quite a few workers and their families employment and shanty housing near the village.

It's hard yakka for the workers who's day starts at the crack of dawn and ends after the sun has set. An excavator breaks the pavement but the labor intensive job of digging a trench is a job for many hands. Loading the dirt into what can only be described as a cooking wok, the workers slowly fill a waiting truck. This continues all day at a steady pace.

The digging around the conduits to finish the trench is a messy business as the trench fills with water turning the trench to mud. A pump roars into action to remove the water, but the hose isn't long enough and soon enough the water is back in the trench.

Slowly, over a matter of a week or so a 30m length of trench takes shape and the timber shoring is installed to make the cramped working conditions a little safer. Only 300m to go...

The work is not the domain of the men. They may be the ones in the trench but the women play their part in the excavation and removal of the dirt from the site. Since the men and the women are working it is only fitting that their children come to the site to be with their family. Yesterday we could hear a baby crying, we look out to see a sheet tied in a tree like the cartoon picture of the stork bringing a new baby to a family. The mother went to the dangling sheet to attend to the crying the baby. Once quiet, the baby is placed back in the sheet and the mother takes her place in the human conveyor.

Crossed Line...

2008-01-30T11:39:00.000+05:30

Every now and then we'll be on the phone and there'll be a very pronounced cross line..
We think this bloke (outside our apartment) and his mates be the cause...
All you need for free phone calls is a screw driver and your own hand set, then just take a seat, relax and enjoy a good chin wag...

Subtropical Chill..

2008-01-29T14:04:00.000+05:30

Mercury levels in the Mumbai megalopolis touched new lows on Australia/Republic Day with the minimum temperature falling to 10.2 degrees Celsius. Brrrrrr.... This is something we're not used to, this is a subtropical climate... Whilst we wait for the cloudless skies of the dry season to end and the humidity of the coming monsoon season to build, the last thing we thought we'd see is images of the north of India in our streets. Working men wrap their heads in scarves as if to keep their jaw from chattering and dress in grubby cricket style pull overs while they sit around small fires of road litter and broken twigs. The chill doesn't last long, by the first rays of the morning sun the temperature is climbing to 20 degrees heading toward the 30's...
The chill has been attributed to a cold wave across north India. It was freezing up there a few weeks ago.. We haven't hit the lowest temperature ever recorded though, this was 7.4 degrees Celsius on January 27, 1962.

Mumbai Marathon 2008

2008-01-20T19:18:00.000+05:30

6am and dawn was still an hour away as we started our journey into South Bombay in the first class carriage of the western line train. We were to meet up with the Leighton mob who were running in the corporate "Dream Run" raising funds for their chosen cause. The Mumbai Marathon has become a yearly fixture of the Asian marathon circuit and is a embraced as part of the Mumbai festival. More than 20,000 people take part corporate run with a total of more than 40,000 running, walking or getting around the course any way they can, while the supporters enjoy the festival atmosphere.

The main marathon had been run and won by the time we hit the road. 9am and the streets filled with colourful sponsored shirts and banners, some runners keen to test their time and others happy to spend a few hours having a walk around the city. It was a great experience to see the empty inner city streets at a slower pace, happy to be in the middle of the road without the threat of being cleaned up by a mad taxi with a family of ten bursting out of the windows.

I'd been asked to join the team a week ago so I trained hard, tapering from walking to the shop to a few beers (carb loading) the night before the event. In all it was a fun event with bands and entertainment along the course. At the finish was a Mtv sponsored DJ playing some good tunes to mild appreciation, but when she started with the Hindi beats the streets, the medians the trees were alive with hands in the air and big smiles. I loved the moves... screw the light bulb, pat the dog all whilst biting their bottom lip. These people love to party and love being in photos, the old bloke beside me just wanted to be in a photo, gotta love 'em..

New Years Eve 2007!

2008-01-05T23:29:00.000+05:30

Mark and I flew back from Kerala, Ash from Australia and Lif from her tour of India to be back for NYE’s. We were headed to the JW Marriott, where Mark & I hoped we would emulate the year before with Jo & Gali – only this time, more food, less alcohol and more memories. The day we were all flying back to Mumbai, we found out we would have to pay the $350 ticket price (new GM). Mark cleverly justified it as approx. $1 per day, and even though it was to be a AFN (alcohol free night) for me, we knew we wouldn’t find any other party at such late notice, nor was it really that safe (as we were unfortunately to find out later) to venture too far from home.

Our limo ride (rickshaw) to the party of all parties in Mumbai. So not cool, but so funny to us.

Our 2007 crew!

Sammy - our mate (but not Ash's)

Aussie performers

Bibasha - the main performance of the evening and the reason for many coming.
She's a BIG star in the world of Bollywood.

Since New Years Eve, the press has been filled with stories of 2 couples (Indians from the US) being attacked outside the Marriott, fortunately 2 reporters shot the whole incident and it has made front page news and caused much debate – are Indian men sex starved? One poor girl had her dress ripped off. If it wasn't for press, their tale would have never got further than the useless visit to the local police station directly after the incident..

We too experienced two separate incidents when leaving the Marriott at 3.00 am. Mark and I left in search of a rickshaw, we live only minutes away. The street was crowded with a mob of people heading towards the beach. I was holding Marks arm and we unwillingly joined the wave as we tried to make our way to the road. A group of boys/men started shouting at us, but we ignored their taunts. I held my bag protectively across my tummy in fear of someone banging into me, it was that crowded. Out of nowhere a guy came from behind, grabbed my breast, the force separating me briefly from Mark, I turned around and yelled words I've never uttered before and saw him running cowardly into the crowd – there were literally hundreds of grinning men watching this crazed white woman.We crossed the road where there were less people, I was shaking and could barely speak but before I knew it, another hand groped me from behind. This time I turned around, smacked the guy behind me, yelling at him like a woman possessed. The guy I hit claimed it wasn't him, but fortunately it happened right in front of police. Never before have I felt safe or respected the police, but the men who came to my rescue were a God send. They grabbed the guy I yelled at, he was yelling back, they hit him with their lathi as he was trying to back away, they called me over and I had to tell them to let him go, as although he was the closest person to me, I wasn't 100% sure it was he who had the audacity to touch a female in this manner and I couldn't have him violently punished, if it wasn't him. I also just wanted to get to the safety of home.

What is wrong with Indian men? Why is there no respect for women in this country? I have worked and travelled in many countries and this mob kind of sexual behaivour just doesn't happen elsewhere.
What are Indian parents not teaching their sons?

Santa and the coconut palms…

2008-01-03T17:47:00.000+05:30

We enjoyed our short stay in Kerala last Christmas so much that we decided to head back to Varkala this year and make the most of the South Indian sunshine and clean air. The Hill Palace Hotel, with onsite 2 week old puppy to play with was our base this year. With its balcony view to the ocean through the coconut palms and being central to the cliff top restaurants and Tibetan souvenir stores, it was perfect.

There was a different crowd this year, less of the backpacker yoga travelers and many more package holiday tourists from Europe. As a result we spent more time on the beach lazing under the umbrella and less time stumbling along the uneven cliff top path in the early hours of the morning.

On the ‘must do’ list whilst in India was a backwater trip. Where old barges are refitted to carry passengers through the expansive waterways of coastal Kerala. We chose an overnight trip out of Kollam, about 30km north of Varkala to break our time lazing on the beach. What an experience we had… Trips like this can be hit and miss and we surely had a hit and miss trip…

To cut a long story short, we enjoyed the tranquility of the water ways, the village we visited was great as the locals were in the midst of Christmas celebrations and included us whole heartedly. The down side.. the boys with the brains on the boat tied us to a coconut palm with loud speakers at the top and at 5am the villagers cranked the volume with Hindu Temple classics. We thought the crew may not have known but to our surprise, this had been happening for the last 41 days as part of a Hindu festival.. The crew was oblivious to our pain... At least we were able to watch the morning mist rise off the water, with the village on the riverbank coming to life.

The rest of the time in Varkala was as expected, very lazy indeed. The main tasks of each day being, to negotiate the price of the beach umbrella, deciding where to place it and where to watch the sunset and have dinner… It was tough but we got through it, albeit with a little help from the local men. You see, the tourists may love Varkala, the beach, the ocean and the fresh food, but for the local men the tourists become the entertainment. Many times throughout the day the life guards or the police with their big sticks move the men along but they quickly return as curiosity gets the better of them..

Merry Merry & Happy Happy

2007-12-20T16:19:00.000+05:30

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a very happy new year for 2008. Congratulations to all those who’re engaged or married to all those who have had babies, are about to have them, have fought hard to save their health, have moved countries, have started new businesses, moved jobs, have been promoted, have bought a house and for the rest of life’s incredible events which we’ve not mentioned. Its been a huge year in Incredible !ndia… and hasn’t the year flown…

If Santa was an Indian he might look a bit like this...

The Taj - 'a teardrop on the face of eternity'

2007-12-19T10:08:00.000+05:30

The road to Agra in Uttar Pradesh is a busy 200km stretch crossing through villages and filled with over burdened trucks, camel drawn carts of wheat, tourist buses and the sleepy drivers beeping and weaving through the smallest gap. Our driver Ali, took the passenger side mirror off on a slow moving cow and then again on a truck without even waking up! Ali didn’t start the trip well, a journey which takes between 3-4 hours took us 5+ as Ali got a bit lost, taking a short cut down a dead end, busted up dirt road to the crushing/concrete plants feeding the Delhi building boom…

Needless to say Shaz was not impressed...
On the outskirts of Agra we stopped at Akbar’s Mausoleum where Shaz created a stir with the girls more than the boys showing a bit of knee..
We were keen to walk a bit after the drive so we asked our 3 Star Hotel tour desk operator in which direction he’d recommend we walk.. He asked if we would be purchasing, because on our map it stated that tourists often liked to purchase in Agra, we said no, so he summed up the evening city sights of Agra in three words... “There are none…” We walked off anyway into the crush of peddle rickshaws and all our soon to be “friends”..
Next day we joined the dawn patrol at the World Heritage Taj Mahal (1631-1653). A few years back the government decided to limit cars and industry around the Taj as the white marble was turning yellow with acid rain.. Unfortunately when Agra lost favour and Delhi became the new centre Agra declined into an industrial city until the tourists hit.

The crisp winter morning was a great time to see the Taj before the pollution haze over the city was too thick and the hordes of tourists descend. It is a truly magnificent building. Shah Jahan was the local Mogul ruler in the mid-1600's. When his second wife Mumtaz Mahal, which means "beautiful wife" died giving birth to their fourteenth child at the young age of thirty-nine he was so heartbroken that his hair turned white overnight. Not satisfied with merely a change in hairstyle to express his grief, he decided to build a huge, elaborate mausoleum to his beloved, departed wife. Thus, the idea of the Taj Mahal was born. "Taj" means crown, and "Mahal" means palace. The year after his wife died, 1631 CE Shah Jahan had construction started on this monument. It was to be a tribute to her, and a show of his great love for her.

The architecture of the gates at which to enter such Mausoleums provides you a narrow view of the structure, once through the gate the expanse of the parks and the enormity of the scale can be fully realized. After seeing so many images of the Taj over the years it was amazing to finally be there to feel it.

Seeing the work that have gone into structures like these across the world is truly amazing. The books quote 20,000 worked on the Taj with much of the stonework and semiprecious stones making up the inlay work imported with the skilled tradesmen from Asia, Europe and Sri Lanka.

The massive red sandstone Agra Fort (1565) is the other major draw card, which continues a connection of love to the Taj, which can be seen across the banks of the Yamuna River. Shah Jahan, the builder of the Taj was imprisoned at the Fort by his son and was left to look over to the Taj for 8 years until his death.

Delhi, oh how smelly..

2007-12-19T08:41:00.000+05:30

We’ve just returned from India’s sprawling capital Delhi with over 15 million people it is one of the worlds biggest cities. The thing we hear most about Delhi in Mumbai is the delayed flights in the winter with the fog/smog that engulfs the city on a daily basis and the notorious smell in the streets. Our early morning flight had no problems and landed in the air thick with a mix of pollution, smoke and morning fog. The air was like this all day leaving the sun filtered as a perfect orange ball in the sky. Delhi is more of a planned city with wide streets and expansive parks breaking up the urban sprawl but the traffic is the same chaotic mess. The city is preparing to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games so the people have a new Metro service and new shiny bus stops for the beaten up old buses but the city planners have neglected to solve the matter of city streets being a wash with men urinating. It’s bloody horrible as you walk along a modern(ish) street only to have to step over the urine tracking to the kerb from the blokes openly pissing on the footpath. Sharon asked one well dressed fella why this had to be his toilet…no stage fright for him…

The Red Fort in Delhi is a little over rated in comparison to other historical buildings of India.. Getting through the main gate was like an obstacle course fairly typical for any Indian tourist site.. Firstly the player must avoid the impulse to buy postcards, guidebooks, novelty beards and employ “very good guide sir” in the plaza, then let go of any personal space hang ups as the guards at the security pat you down and without a fuss make it past the guard with the itchy trigger finger on the mounted machine gun directed at the visitors. From there run the gauntlet of the “very cheap bazaar” all to get to the monument/park inside. I have to say the park grounds around the monuments of Delhi were fantastic, a great feeing of space with people walking at their own pace and even on the grass.. But you will be moved along by the security if you and your girl are caught "entertaining yourselves" that is, sitting too close together for too long..

The Jama Masjid Mosque is an active place of worship in Old Delhi, so it’s shoes off and some more rupees for the foreigner with the camera. It was impressive but I glad to leave as the hassle inside continued worse than on the packed streets below.

The National Modern Art Gallery was fantastic for the senses. I’ve never been in a place in India where I could hear my own footsteps. The gallery had some interesting modern angles on traditional Indian art. The walk back to the middle of town took me past the India Gate and the shopping strip around Connaught Place for the tourists…

Humayun’s Tomb, world heritage was a highlight from Delhi. This 16th Century red and white sandstone building and surrounding formal parks and gardens were beautiful. This tomb to the senior wife of the second Mughal emperor is a predecessor of the Taj Mahal in Agra. It was great to explore the grounds with buildings in partial ruin or in a state of grand perfection.

As the major cities of India expand there is a push to build brand new cities like Navi (new) Mumbai and Gurgaon outside Delhi. These city expansions although providing modern housing and new industry for big $$$, have the worst of western consumer influence with large shopping malls, one mall claiming 1km of wall space with massive advertising boards being built next to broken down roads and people sleeping in the dirt.. We still struggle with it but have to realize that although India professes to be first world it is still battling in the third world.

Early Xmas

2007-12-17T21:57:00.000+05:30

As it happens with many expat communities, Christmas is celebrated when it suits the timing of those leaving the country.. It was no different recently went we had an afternoon on the deck at Vie, our local "surf club".. About 10 of the Mumbai mob gathered for a 750 rupee (about $20 aussie) buffet with beer included.. It was too late for Vie to change the pricing once they realized we were all Australian... We forgot to take pics til late afternoon and the buffet/beer was over..
It's so nice to have a place to have a beer on the beach. As luck would have it Vie is directly under the flight path of the busiest airport in Mumbai, those 747s are low on take off sometimes and when the tide is out it pongs a bit.... We've seen a few ladies asking for money on the beach but this was the first time for a bloke on the beach in budgie smugglers... Indians are generally a little more bashful..

The next weekend we enjoyed an Aussie xmas lunch at Megan and Jason's which had the works... Roast chooks, spuds, honey carrot, ham Megan smuggled into Mumbai a week earlier, chocolate cake, eskies of beer and Australian wines. An Indian Santa dropped in to hand out the secret Santa pressies (Rs500 limit) and entertain/distract the kids.. Good fun!

Sights at the Chor Bazar

2007-12-17T21:12:00.000+05:30

A few weeks back we headed to the Hilton Hotel in south Bombay for a Tourism Award evening. As traffic is always a consideration we decided to suit up in Juhu and drive Noddy to town leaving two hours for the 25km trip. We were late but we looked great and created a stir as we stepped out of Noddy and handed over the keys for Valet parking.. We love it... At the finish of the evening the valet boys drove Noddy up the ramp and it took 4 of them to make sure we knew it was an old Indian car. "Old is gold", said the leader and like royalty without a driver we jumped in and roared off...

We stayed with Ash that night and next morning headed back to Chor Bazar, the "Thieves Markets" for a bit of xmas shopping. We found a few things to buy or at least entered the price negotiations, old doors that convert to nice tables, turkish lamps, Art Deco furnishings. There's so much stuff there, shops spill onto the gritty streets with all sorts of objects which haven't broken when they've been thrown out, or weren't wrecked in the accident leaving little space for the people to sleep or animals to feed..

On the way back to Juhu we saw the smallest hearse we've seen...
A bongo van with a big window and roof racks with the coffins stacked inside..

It's not funny really..

Back in Juhu..

2007-12-17T18:59:00.000+05:30

We landed back in India far from the clean streets, clean air and order of Australia knowing that we'd be released back into the wilds of the megalopolis that is Mumbai. We knew our time in Australia would mean we'd miss the major celebration of the Hindu calendar, Diwali but we caught the tail end of it. Fireworks are pretty easy to come by here and for the five days of Diwali and many following fireworks boom across the night sky. The slums that surround the airport were bursting with colour as the fireworks and flares lit up as the plane landed at around 8pm.
We've been away from Mumbai many times but the struggle to survive in this place still hits you every time you step out into the streets. Arriving back to 6th Road, it look like a bomb had hit. The local council decided to attack the road outside our house. They've ripped up half the road in a effort to provide services and a new concrete pavement. The great thing for us is that the traffic has been cut to about 30% the downside is that rickshaws are harder to get, walking on the street is even more perilous, and the job will be running until next monsoon...

The way it works here is that when a work crew sets up a construction job they're permitted to set up 'temporary' housing for the duration of the job. For a roadworks job families set up nearby as its normal for the family.. men, women and sometimes the older children to be working.

The next weekend was another festival for the North Indians. It's never a dull as this is all a lead into the wedding season which lasts until March.. The revelers celebrate with a procession which fill the streets and usually finishes at the beach where mother nature is left to clean up...

As frustrating as our surroundings may be for us, as we've blogged before, the simple things can make such a difference. While walking to the beach this day we're approached by some girls for money but they we're as happy to be played with as they were to receive any money.

And the boys playing cricket in the dirt quickly lose interest in us when there's a ball heading toward them..

If you're ever in the neighborhood, keep a lookout for a few of these pics and you'll know you're not far away.. There's a fellow who is our mate at the beach, he never asks for a thing as he sits in his cycle chair, he waves or salutes. He was squinting early one morning so I gave him my Bolle sunnies with a scratch or two and he's still got them.. There's a rickshaw/car graveyard at the corner at the top of the street, Indians seem oblivious to copy write so the "Just Do It - Nike" bus does the rounds of the local school and of course spitting is banned, trouble is the sign is in English as most of the tobacco is spat by the Hindi fellas...

Don't see that in Mumbai...

2007-12-17T18:45:00.000+05:30

The monsoon was still trickling along as we left Mumbai for Australia.
The months of monsoon were periods of heavy rain and months of grey skies and it'd been some time since we'd seen storm clouds roll across the landscape. The pics are from a storm that swept across the Gold Coast the afternoon we arrived. It was great to watch..

Rajasthan

2007-12-17T17:11:00.000+05:30

It’s been a while between blogs and this one was started in the departure lounge of the Mumbai Airport. Yup in keeping with Indian tradition the flight has been delayed by a few hours building the expectation of the journey first journey back to Australia together since we departed in November 2006.. Time flies… So much has happened over the last few months...

We had a chance to visit Rajasthan in September. Rajasthan is the desert state in the north of India and borders Pakistan. There are quite a few magical places to visit and with the time we had chose a few days in Udaipur The Lake City and Jaipur the dusky pink, State capital.
Udaipur was a great get away from Mumbai. Built around Lake Pichola (named for the village which was flooded), Udaipur dates back to 1559, and with only 300,000 people, time seemed to move slower it was soooo quiet by comparison to Mumbai.

After a morning of walking the narrow village/city streets to the city sights of the City Palace and the Jagdish Temple it was great to escape to our hotel with a rooftop pool with a view over the Lake Palaces on Jagmandir and Jagnaiwas Islands.

We’d been told the hilltop view from the Monsoon Palace on the outskirts of town was a must see so we journeyed up in an underpowered rickshaw which had to cool down half way up. The open ess at the top felt amazing, the setting sun perched over the horizon and the fresh breeze rising from the trees below.

The palace was a palace no more, under partial reconstruction after being left to the hands of lovers inscribing their names and the elements. Day two we joined the many on bikes hiring a Hero Honda and headed out into the country for a ride and some more space. Actually we were heading to a small theme park billed as a craftsman village just out of town. Luckily we got completely lost and just kept going out along the rural roads surrounded by rolling green hills as the village which we later found was nothing special. Udaipur was the backdrop for the '83 Bond flick Octopussy and every rooftop café had nightly screenings on 'big screen' TVs.. We couldn’t resist a beer in front of the tube watching Bond race through the streets in a supercharged rickshaw..

Jaipur, the ‘Pink City’ was a totally different experience. This city which seems more like a dusty trading post which has outgrown its old city walls of 1727 sprawling out in to the surrounding valley. Tourists are told of the fantastic bargains to be had in the bazaars, from textiles to jewels and every man and his stray dog will “just want to ask you something friend”…

Pedal rickshaws and camel drawn carts compete on the potholed streets with speedy motorbikes and overcrowded rickshaws all the while the street sweepers are shifting the dirt from one place to another keeping Jaipur clean. We got an understanding of the city layout by walking up to the Tiger Fort (1772) overlooking town, this should not be attempted after 10am because it’s bloody hot and the old water reservoir was a bit green for a dip!!

The view over the town got better with each step closer to the fort, which was still in good nick with empty rooms being explored by tourists of all sorts.

The city called us from the streets below, so it was to partake in the luxury of a pedal rickshaw and the back alleys of the old town. One fellow who wanted our business had eyes as blue as Sharon, we're told this is a throwback to the days when the Greeks were roaming around.

September is early in the tourist season and it seemed that half of the shops shutters were down but the ones that were open were making up for it. Shaz started a blue with a few of our new ‘friends’ when for the 100th time that day we’d been asked our name and country and we were slammed for being rude when we didn’t wish to stop to talk.. A mixture of the heat and the frustration of being a tourist in India lead to a crowd gathering as we gave them an education. I doubt the next tourist gained any benefit from our effort.. From here we were fired up for bargaining for treasures in the bazaars, making the shop keepers work hard for their rupee.

It was random and lucky that our mate Darren from Mumbai was in Jaipur for a photo shoot, so we caught up for a plate of meat cooked local style and a few cold beers after a few days in the dust..

2007-12-10T12:22:00.000+05:30

"You may never know what results come from your action.
But if you do nothing, there will be no result."
Mahatma Gandhi

Read all about it...

2007-09-25T08:27:00.000+05:30

India has new heros!
After the Indian Men in Blue saw off the Aussies from the T20 finals, all the talk built up the Final with Pakistan.
5.30pm yesterday the streets went quite, the crowds formed 10 deep at a shop fronts in malls, packed onto the footpaths, yes every cricket mad Indian had to find a TV to watch this all important match. The text messages were flying throughout the match, Indians telling the Aussies that Pakistan were next.. The match went down to the last over and as soon as the last Pakistan wicket fell, the crackers and fireworks boomed out across the neighbourhood, letting everyone share the joy and scaring the crap out of the stray dogs...
The news channels and the papers are awash with praise for the win, which comes on this the final day of celebrations for the Ganpati, Ganesh Festival. Where devotees invoke the blessing of Ganesh.
Some of the Headlines
"We Are The World"
"Pakistunned!"
"WINDIA"
"Superpower: India 2020"
"The Heroes"
We'll be hearing about this one for a while... but the Aussies have a chance to redeem themselves with the one day tour of India throughout October..
C'mon Aussie C'mon!!

T-I-I....

2007-09-24T11:51:00.000+05:30

We've taken many a picture of the street where we live. Photos when we arrived, the many wedding and the many festival processions, friends and family coming and going, our first monsoon flood... But today I think we have the winner.
Before dawn this morning, say 5am, there was a bloody grate crashing sound followed by the sound of a truck engine revving. We jumped up to see the what was the making all the noise only to see the truck speeding off lowering its tray after dumping a pile of building rubble right on the street below. It is not uncommon to see rubble strewn around building sites but this is new in the Mumbai Madness...

The added bonus in the pic is the scene we see so much of but still don't fully understand. Grown men and teenage boys holding hands in public like lovers that cannot bear physical separation from each other. This, in the same society where even incidental contact between the opposite sexes is still taboo.
Yup, T-I-I...This is India...

Quite a stir...

2007-09-20T19:03:00.000+05:30

We were in a restaurant in Jaipur recently called Peshwari. A nice place serving tandoor cooked meats and veg dishes..
The custom in Peshwari is to eat with your hands, nothing out of the ordinary until they brought over the bib/aprons to wear as we enjoy the food.
Well, nothing out of the ordinary until Shaz put the bib/apron on creating quite a stir, yeah she looks happy in the pic but the rest of the place was aghast, the moral police were called to arrest a naked woman dining in the restaurant...

Ganpati Bappa

2007-09-16T20:31:00.000+05:30

The grandest festival in the Mumbai calendar started yesterday when Lord Ganesha (गणेश) the giver of peace and prosperity was welcomed into the homes of Hindus all over the city. The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi following monsoon, heralds the beginning of the festive season. It is an exciting time in India especially in the packed city of dreams, Mumbai.
For the next six months the mood of the city is said to stay upbeat and the trials of the monsoon are forgotten.
On Friday we took a drive into South Bombay and saw a large Ganesh image being towed up the main street on the wrong side of the road to a place where the locals can come and pray. As tradition dictates, in 10 days time this and other large community images will be immersed in the most convenient body of water to signal the end of the festival.

The Ganesh images come in all shapes and sizes and for this festival are made from clay mostly but more are being made of toxic plaster now due to the intricate work of shape and paint. Craftsmen take months to make the idols which range in price from Rs80-Rs300,000 ($2.50-$8000+) Thanks to Shagga who visited us during monsoon we have a Ganesh on the dash of Noddy the Ambassador..

Today we were fortunate to be invited to take part in the family celebration of owners of our apartment. We rolled around to the family house with Lif and Ash after watching the North Queensland Cowboys beat the NZ Warriors in the Juhu Pavilion with the Mumbai mob.
We were warmly welcomed and made our way to the family alter to pray after sprinkling Ganesh with red and white sandlewood powder from a carnation flower. We learned that Ganesh is the favored God in Hindu religion for if you pray to him your prayers are surely to come to fruition. Good God to know...

The Ganesh is draped in flowers and surrounded by offerings of food, gifts and money. This is a time for families to get together and this house felt a lot like an Australian house at Christmas/Boxing day... There was plenty of food and the TV was on with the Cricket, India v NZ..

It's said that on the last day of the festival, millions of people of all ages descend onto the streets leading up to the sea, dancing and singing to the rhythmic accompaniment of drums and cymbals. Around our way there was no waiting. The drums were beating and there were hundreds of thousands of people making their way to the beach late in the afternoon bringing their day of celebration to an end.

We joined our surrogate Indian family once again on the beach this time for the finale. Songs were sung to the clash of cymbals, a coconut was broken as part of a blessing and it was time for the lads to put the image of Ganesh on their shoulders and walk out to neck deep water where they dunked him into the ocean. This scene was being repeated up and down the length of Juhu beach some families louder than others with fireworks booming every minute or so..

Something else we learned today, in 1893, a fellow named Lokmanya Tilak transformed the annual Ganesha festival from private family celebrations into a grand public event. He did so "to bridge the gap between the higher caste Brahmins and the non-Brahmins and find an appropriate context in which to build a new grassroots unity between them" in his nationalistic strivings against the British in Maharshtra. Tilak chose Ganesha as a rallying point for Indian protest against British rule because of Ganesha's wide appeal as "the god for Everyman." Tilak was the first to install large public images of Ganesha in pavilions, and he established the practice of submerging all the public images on the tenth day. National pride gave the Indians another reason to celebrate.

There are four essentials for the festivals, family, colour, music and fireworks.. lots of fireworks. stay tuned for more festivities...

Massage anyone....

2007-08-30T08:18:00.000+05:30

Here in the Mumbai Madness we love a massage to relax, ease away some of the madness and bring in the Bombay Bliss. So here's a few pics to click if you'd like to give yourself or a lucky person a massage. The pics show what part of your body you may effect and what you may receive from said massage...

Feets

Not Feets.

Other bits, also not feets.

Raksha Bandhan Celebration

2007-08-27T10:01:00.000+05:30

Today is a special day in the Hindu calendar, celebrating Raksha Bandhan,
This ritual is observed on the full moon day of the Hindu month of Shravan and is the day to celebrate the relationship of a brother and sister which is said to be one of the deepest and noblest of human emotions.

'Raksha Bandhan' or 'Rakhi' is a special occasion to celebrate this emotional bonding by tying a holy thread around the wrist. Sisters tie the sacred Rakhi string on their brothers' right wrists, and pray for their long life. This thread, is ideally made of silk with gold and silver threads, beautifully crafted embroidered sequins, and studded with semi precious stones. The Rakhi string resonates with sisterly love and sublime sentiments and have the meaning of 'a bond of protection', and Raksha Bandhan signifies that the strong must protect the weak from all that’s evil.

According to the Hindus, this is how the day is marked, ‘As per the traditions, the sister on this day prepares the pooja thali with diya, roli, chawal and rakhis. She worships the deities, ties Rakhi to the brother(s) and wishes for their well being. The brother in turn acknowledges the love with a promise to be by the sisters’ side through the thick and thin and gives her a token gift.’

The Social Binding
This ritual not only strengthens the bond of love between brothers and sisters, but also transcends the confines of the family. When a Rakhi is tied on the wrists of close friends and neighbours, it underscores the need for a harmonious social life, where every individual co-exist peacefully as brothers and sisters. All members of the community commit to protect each other and the society.

Holy Cow

2007-08-23T11:38:00.000+05:30

Around the northern suburbs of Mumbai we often see the beloved holy cows of India. I was walking back from the shop the other day and passed two just walking up the street, some sit on the street outside the house and moo to each other, some younger cows are painted up, pulling religious carts with minders asking/guilting all to give a donation. The cows can hold up traffic if they feel like it, I've nearly hit one on the Enfield when I was overtaking a rickshaw on an arterial road and to my surprise a cow had decided to take a rest on the pavement against the median...
We've heard stories that the cows wandering the city areas eat from the garbage sites often suffer a slow death from eating plastic bags.. We've seen it in action at the garbage sites. Household organic and inorganic waste is deposited on the pavement in the village for all the crows, stray dogs, cats and cows to consume. It may sit for a few days before the local BMC or council workers collect it by hand..
Not much of a life for many of the animals least of all the Holy Cow.. or for the council workers for that matter..

Click on the pic to read the news article, but in short, 30kg of plastic was found in the cow once it had received treatment..

Juhu Sports Bar...

2007-08-16T18:43:00.000+05:30

It's time for an update.. a sports update..

Thanks to old mate Jason at the JW Marriott, we've been able to gain a bit of sanity and expand our sport viewing from the 4 channels of Cricket available on the local cable networks. With the finals of the codes at the end of September and the Rugby World Cup up soon Jason has reached Eddie McGuire status and set up the Australia Network at the Marriott, dish and all..

The Juhu Old Boys Association is taking memberships late in the season, meeting in the Marriott Club Lounge overlooking Juhu Beach for the back to back Sunday games of the AFL and NRL. The games start at 10am and the bar doesn't actually open until 12pm... bliss!

The newsflash from the Sports Lounge of the Australia TV Network arrives in my email each week to give us the games of the coming weekend, the email quickly goes around the troops with the current Sportsbet odds linked in and away we go...

Last weekend we had ambitions of going for a kick of the footy on the beach after the games.. This wasn't to be, as the tide was in, and in monsoon there's not much beach left at high tide so Jason, Darren, Ash and myself grabbed the QLD Reds ball for a bit of passing in the bar. This wasn't enough for the lads, so we moved out to the bar foyer and started Wally Lewis passes, drop kicks, grubbers and the odd AFL handball for Darren the Adelaide Crows boy.. Ash did a great job of saving one of the light fittings when the passing got a little wild. The space really wasn't big enough, gave the staff a bit of a laugh though and gave us a hard earned thirst..

We won't be around to watch the games this weekend but we've got big plans for the Grand Final weekend.

The Girls have put in a great showing too.. Shaz, Megan and Aliyfia have put in big efforts with Megan screaming at the idiot box like she was at the game.. Great work! Great atmosphere!

oh and there's always gotta be one in the crowd... Sharma the camera loves you..

Hound the House Guest

2007-07-25T18:45:00.000+05:30

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...

2007-07-24T19:07:00.000+05:30

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...

2007-07-14T10:15:00.000+05:30

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?

2007-07-14T09:43:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-13T15:43:00.000+05:30

What you think, you create

What you feel, you attract

What you imagine, you become...

Mumbai 7/11

2007-07-12T15:22:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-12T14:13:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-09T14:31:00.000+05:30

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

2007-07-05T10:07:00.000+05:30

* 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

Hit the road Jack

2007-06-30T19:38:00.000+05:30

Ash waited out the flood waters as long as he could but he decided to leave the safety of the Mumbai Resort that is our sanctuary and make his way, somehow, back to South Bombay before dark. Love the thongs mate... Shaz wants them back...

The waters had dropped about 2 inches over the last few hours with the easing rain, so it's now or never..
The scene outside is a weird one, the waterlogged streets are filled with what can only be described as zombies all going somewhere.. The water is too deep to lift your feet and if you try, you're sure to lose a thong, so you drag your legs through the water slowly making progress. I was one of them this morning on my petrol mission

As the rain stops more cars seem to be on the streets creating havoc for the zombies as the wash from the car sends them off balance for a moment.
Sharon has just heard that much of the central part of the city where we are is under water, with the airport closed for many hours, people stranded and the people in the slums choking the banks of the rising Methi River having to be relocated. We are lucky so far with power on today in our apartment, but what of the people living in the slums and those even worse off. I'm sure we will find out more in days to come.

They got out just in time......

2007-06-30T13:47:00.001+05:30

I write with sadness at the departure of Shagga, who settled into Mumbai life, living & breathing the glorious frustrations of this crazy town.

And for my little brother, who, only 2 weeks after our arrival landed on our doorstep, and has been coming and going ever since. He heads back home after 7 months on the move.

They left in the nick of time. A day later, they would have had to row to the airport, if the planes actually take off at all in this weather.

Rain has pelted the city over night, and continues in full force today. Even without the dreaded litter and with good drainage, I think flooding would occur with so much consistent rain.

Mark went out earlier to try and start Noddy, our new Ambassador as it kind of ran out of petrol (or so we think) as we arrived in our street 2 days ago. He bravely walked to the service station to fill a jerry can, wading knee deep and walking in the middle of the road in order to avoid the open drains. Still Noddy won't start - although it makes a better sound than before. (whatever that means). He lived undercover in his old life - now he's out in the rain, and could just float away.

It's a true mixture of excitement and disappointment, we were headed to the Taj Lands End to watch the Bledisloe Cup today, but not only is it dangerous to head out on the roads, we could get stuck half way, or at the Taj. So I sit wearing the Aussie colours, in the lounge room, it's actually pretty nice to be stuck inside (at the Mumbai Resort), if only our cable would work. Ash stayed the night, after a night out this side of town, for Kavita's birthday and had planned to head to the footy with us this morning. He lives in Sth Bombay, and rather than endure the commute in awful traffic, it's easier to stay this side. He's now trapped. Megan called before and asked if we stocked up on food! Jason rang also from the Marriott making plans to gather beds for a 100 or so staff who, if the rain persists, will have to stay over night as they won't be able to get home.

Our streets have turned literally into rivers. Our little compound is now full of water and every time a bus, fire truck, 4 wheel drive or even a little car braves the road, it makes huge waves. I just saw a poor dog nearly drown, swimming for his dear life after a fire truck went by. People are wading through and the Paan wallah (beetle nut seller) has packed up shop, moved to our compound with his wares to wait out this incessant rain.

More photo’s to come.

It's fun!

Rusty n Markus European Vacation

2007-06-23T18:51:00.000+05:30

Nameste from hot and steamy, currently bucketing down Mumbai, well it’s time to blog on about the last few weeks before the beers from last night start to attack the grey matter.

Mr and Mrs Harvey, wow that looks weird to write it… Shaz and I finally took off on our honeymoon/holiday to Greece like we’d planned to do 12 months earlier.
Thanks to the wonders of technology we were able to bring back more than 700 photos and movies crammed with great memories.
Our trip took us to London, Riga, the capital of Latvia and a few weeks in Greece…
The tan is fading fast and but I can’t get out of my boardshorts, it makes me feel like I’m still ready for the beaches and beautiful waters of Greece..

Our first stop, London… where we were greeted at the Chalk Farm tube station by Bear who had moved to the UK with Mary last year. Bear and Mary and their flatmates Nat and Will were gracious hosts and welcomed us with the very best, home cooked Sunday lamb roast dinner you could imagine.
The brochure said blue skies in London but true to form, the next day in London was chilly with rain. All part of the charm, so we.. (Bear and Mary who came down with a severe case of Mondayitus and Mel G who arrived from Israel at midnight) headed off to the Camden Markets to find coats for the next leg of the adventure to Riga. The day took shape very nicely with welcome drinks ordered at The World’s End pub, which turned into an afternoon I had been really looking forward too. Sitting in a pub with friends indulging in a pint or two… no pubs on street corners in our part of the world…

Jackie and Logan also from Bris Vegas moved to the UK last year and joined us for a beer and the odd tequila shot.. nasty... The night finished off with a bit of gaming, full action Wii Golf in the lounge back at Chalk Farm. Unfortunately heading to the 19th hole before that game saw me miss a put or five, setting a new course record at 28 over.. Much to Sharon’s frustration.

I was lucky enough to spend the next day on the couch with a dodgy belly which we're calling food poisoning, seriously you’d reckon eating the food here would’ve toughened me up..
Shaz and Mel hit the streets of London for the day and had a ball retracing their steps in the city from a few years prior.

As luck would have it we arrived in London the week of the first mate against mate, state against state of origin. Brilliant! football and another pub!! Bear was up early revving the troops and making sure we were at the Walkabout pub at opening to get the best seat in the house to watch the Queenslanders bring it home at Lang Park!!

Shaz, Mel and I went on out own walking tour of London for the afternoon and later that evening Shaz and I hit the West End and took in a performance of Chicago, and all that jazz...

Riga - Latvia

2007-06-23T17:22:00.000+05:30

So long London hello (sveiki) Latvia. Bear and Mary had sent out a call across their blog for friends in the area to join them in Latvia in May. The timing was great for us and for a mob of 9 others who all discovered Riga. We landed and were ferried to the hostel for welcome drinks and dorm room with our 10 bunk beds.. This was our holiday part of the honeymoon, which was perfectly timed for the first anniversary of Bear and Mary, which we were so very pleased to be a part of. To those unaware, Bear's the bloke who did a great job of getting our wedding on video.

Riga is a port town with a beautiful old town, curved cobblestone streets, some beautiiful architecture, parks and large public squares, which are full of cafes to enjoy the short summer. We were amazed at the weather, no need for the coats from London as each day was mostly very warm with blue skies. Perfect for walking the streets, seeing the sights in the morning and catching up for beers in the afternoon. The beer was cold and the food was hardy, with lots of meat on the menu.

Although things would have been much different from 1940 to 1991 when Latvia was under soviet occupation.

Unfortunately since opening to the tourist market, Riga is getting known for more than its history, with teams of stag parties from the UK heading there each weekend to try their luck with the stunning local girls. We asked some local blokes what they thought of the visitors to the city. They told us quite frankly that they weren’t too happy. Once we explained we were Australian and Kiwi and that we brought our own beautiful girls they were a little happier...

The louts have a go but love rules in Riga with the tradition of engraving a Love Padlock and attaching to a bridge in the park...

We all had one day out of the city to a local beach, which felt like a school excursion, and the teachers were on a break. The hungover rabble had a late brunch and after much deliberation, indecision and coin tossing the beach and not the park was our destination for the afternoon. Right now how to get there..? The train station yeah... where’s that? OK where do we get off, is it far to the beach? Can we walk? Will there be beer? Two by two the kiddies jumped on the train and ventured to Majori a very quaint village by the sea to see the local beach culture. We were amazed and a little shocked by the beach fashion, ladies in full evening ware walking past a big bloke in a pair of budgie smugglers..

In all, we had a ball and have way too many stories for the blog. Nat, Will, Greg and Luke great to meet you, no more monument surfing hey Will. Paul who has been living in Moscow these past two years, Isa who unfortunately had to leave husband Col behind to finish work in Ireland and Mel Gibbo great fun all round! Massive thanks to Mary and Bear for getting it out there.
And yes we missed it, we left a day early with Paul, Bear hacked off all but two of his dreds!

An unfortunate reminder to all who stay in hostels, watch your stuff!!
Mel, Bear and Mary all had cameras stolen from their room with Mary also left without her purse and phone.. Karma is out there and will find the mongrel.

Athens

2007-06-23T16:51:00.000+05:30

This is where the holiday slowly took on more of a honeymoon feel. We landed in Athens via Munich all ready to walk in the contrasts of the history of Athens and the revitalised 2004 Olympic city. Sharon had lived in Greece for 3 years as a teenager with her family so it was fun for me to see her expressions when we passed familiar shop or street, which would lead to a story of youthful mischief. We decided to shout ourselves to some nice 5 star accom in the Plaka, which was central to the sights and the Tavernas. Gotta love being a 30 something backpacker..

First night out gave us an indication of the how expensive Greece is under the Euro. Shaz kept explaining to staff that under that Drakma it was much cheaper which only delayed the payment of our Euro bill. So from here, we checked the price of the Greek Salad, which was a standard order, before ordering to gauge bill , . The fresh food was superb but we held off seafood until we got to the Islands. We spent the few days in Athens walking amongst the ruins of the city and the markets streets and the nights exploring the beautiful food of the Tavernas and catching up with Sharon’s old school mates in who were in town for the wedding of one of their own.

Vanessa a local friend took us out to one of the upcoming areas of Athens, Gazi (the old industrial district) bit like New Farm 10 years back. Van and Dennis met us to say hi to Pavlina the bride to be.

The ruins of the Acropolis, the Temples of Hephataestus and Olympian Zeus were colossal. The stonework in place to this day albeit a little out of shape with a few bits missing, is a tribute to people who built them.

The view from the Acropolis to the low sprawl of Athens with the sun high in the blue sky turns every solar hotwater system into a shining daystar on a rooftop. With so much history it is easy to meander and find much of interest. As we wandered we got very used to the open squares, pedestrian areas and sidewalk cafes and tried to imagine such a scene in Mumbai… Dream on…

Mykonos

2007-06-23T16:15:00.000+05:30

We were loving the Greek sunshine, so we skipped across the Greek Islands to Mykonos for some serious fun in the sun. Our hotel high on the hill had spectacular views over the town and port, perfect for sunset drinks and a bit of IPOD dancing.

We hired the scooter and hit the road to Super Paradise Beach, which is one of the many clothes optional beaches. Paradise Beach was great for the first full moon party of the summer and of course, happy hour with the dancers drawing attention to the massive sounds from their bar. Each bar tries and outdo the next in a fight for beach supremacy and a share of the tourists coins.

Our pick of the beaches was the out of the way northern Panormos Beach with its half moon bay, café on the beach and beautiful waters. Bloody lovely..

Our trek down from the hotel was more an obstacle course than a path but the journey was worth it, the maze of streets in Mykonos town slowly opened up and we found some great little shops, interesting locals, the odd watering hole and more fantastic food. Once out of Athens we couldn’t get enough of the freshest (off the boat to your plate) calamari so we weren’t missing the Mumbai butter chicken at all...

Peloponnese

2007-06-23T14:22:00.000+05:30

We rose early to a grey sky for our ferry back to the mainland to herald the final leg of the trip, a road trip across the Peloponnese to the Vassellisi in the south west corner of the Peloponnese. The trip took us through winding mountains roads, coastal villages and a landscape peppered with ancient sites.
To enter the Peloponnese you must cross the Corinth Canal, carved from solid rock, which was cut to link the Ionian and Aegean Seas. We were lucky enough to time a coffee break at the mouth, to see tug dragging a cruise ship through the canal, we waved and so did they...

Epidavros is the site of the World Heritage Listed 14000 seat, Epidavros Theatre, where performances have been applauded for over 2000 years. The experience of sitting in the top row and hear normal spoken word from the performance area, matched with the view was amazing.

We found Rigas Pension in Nafplio old town and went exploring the next day in the 16th century Palamidi Fortress towering high over the town. Our host for the hight was a Greek fellow from Sydney who’d fallen in love with Nafplio and decided to spend over 3 years of his life renovating a Pension. 2.5 Million Euro and it’s yours..

On the way to Gythio where we enjoyed even more fresh Calimari we stopped at World Heritage Mycenae ruins dating back to the 3rd Century BC.

We travelled on along the coast road heading for Mt Parnonas. The roads narrow and bend as they wind through the villages, which were not built for heavy traffic. Close to the crest of the mountain we stopped to avoid a tourist taking a photo, then we looked up. The Moni Panagias Elonis Monastery is perched on a shelf in the rock with a large part of the mountain overhanging the building. Space may be tight but they have a veggie patch, chickens and goats for their daily needs.

We made it to Kalamata and after a few crazy minutes in traffic, nice driving babe, (tip Lonely Planet maps, not so hot for driving) made it out and on the road to or destination, Vasselisi.

Sharon’s mum Gina was born here and Sharon’s Great Uncles and Aunts still work the family land on a cliff top over the Messinian Gulf. With no idea of where the Uncles were, so we headed for the farm land (Faneromeni) and drove around until we stumbled on Uncle Pedro tending his Olive trees. From there it was non-stop old-fashioned Greek hospitality, everything eaten was fresh, I mean off the tree, milked from the goat or straight from under the chooks bum fresh.. Farm living… We still had to to a wee bit of token work..

Living rural means animals, and one afternoon we were taking shelter in a cave from rain. I walked out to feel the rain and heard a thud on the sand. Thinking it was a rock falling I turned to see Shaz pointing at the ground where a snake had fallen from the shrubs above to land beside her... That was a moment.

This is were Sharon’s Greek skills were put to the test… I couldn’t contribute much to the conversation but it was great to watch Sharon in action conversing with her family. We stayed in Vasselisi where David and Martina joined in the family fun making their way from Italy. Uncle Pablo had photos of Sharon and David when they were kids in Greece. It was great for the family including the cousins to get a chance to meet 20 years later.

We had one more swim in the calm sea, ate fruit from the trees and enjoyed one last Greek home cooked meal then was time to return to Athens, savour the last few weeks, then jump on the big silver bird back to Mumbai...

Fun with the camera.

2007-06-22T17:44:00.000+05:30

While away we stumbled on a new camera feature..
Colour Accent!
Digital makes it so easy for the amateurs..

Beer o'clock...

Lounging...

Bee to the Flower, Consumer to the Product...

Pretty in Pink...

Bloody Smokers..

In the news...

2007-06-14T18:45:00.000+05:30

Shaz make the Mumbai papers.... again...!!

Click on the image to see it a wee bit clearer..

Safety first...

2007-05-18T09:41:00.000+05:30

Happy Birthday Henry!!

2007-05-15T16:42:00.000+05:30

Man that wig gets around...

Thanks for letting us know that you had just finished a great Wagyu steak and Barossa Shiraz too...
very nice...

The End of the World!...... word up....

2007-05-15T10:52:00.000+05:30

Check out this link: End of the World for an interesting view on how the world may end...

It has a long load time but be patient, it's worth it...

We had tears...

New Mumbai Transit System

2007-05-14T13:37:00.000+05:30

Mumbai authorities are trialling a new transit system in-line with their vision to be the most modern city in India by 2015. The first link receiving much media buzz is the section between the International Airport and the Town Centre or South Bombay, approximately 25km. The passengers will be treated to comforts of an airliner with the travel time of high speed service expected to be 30 minutes. There were reports that the rail corridor was to be expanded to accommodate the new service but the existing road network is used in the early stages.

not......
The real story as reported by the BBC..
Residents of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a busy road.

The decommissioned aircraft was being driven through the city at the weekend when the driver got lost and then abandoned the plane. The Boeing used to belong to the private company Air Sahara. Some locals are angry that no action is being taken to move the plane. Others say it is a tourist attraction. It appears that after taking a wrong turn, the driver found himself facing a flyover that was too low for him to take the plane under.

The driver has not been seen since and no-one is assuming responsibility for the 737.

Five days on, it is still not clear who is responsible for the aircraft and its transfer to Delhi.

Just another day in Mumbai!!

Birthday Pix

2007-05-13T18:39:00.000+05:30

Mumbai Birthday

2007-05-12T16:55:00.000+05:30

On the 22nd May, we'll have been in Bombay 6 months. It takes around that long to discover, that you've settled and have surrounded yourself with a group of like minded friends.
My first birthday in Bombay. The day started, as it usually does, (I wish) with a sumptuous breakfast, cooked by none other, Paprika, a chat to my parents on skype & to Jo Shaw, we then moved on to our new favourite game, Sing Star (Play Station).
Preetika and I have had 3 nights 'singing' until 5 am, belting out the only 3 songs that our voices will carry, coincidentally perfectly executed by 5.00am each time.
The Play Station was Mark's birthday present, something to do if we were caught (with electricity) inside for days in the Monsoon (didn't realise electricity, AC & fans may disappear with the sun).
We then moved on to the Marriott where I had a real massage (glorious gift from PP) and spent the afternoon by the Marriott pool, ate a club sandwich and corona for lunch, a real treat, thanks to Jason - the Ops manager and good friend.
The rickshaw ride to the restaurant - always a treat, especially with the subwoofer (is that what it's called?) blurting out Hindi classics, and finally, to the dinner party at 11 Echoes. We didn't actually end up ever sitting down to eat, drinks at the bar overtook the desire to eat, yet when the vision blurred, we ordered a stack of entrees. (Hmmm, not much changes in 10 years, I believe my 27th birthday was similar, although it's hard to remember that far & that many brain cells back).
Friends in the pix include Kavita, an Indo/Australian actress, cousin of Ash from BrisVegas who now lives here too. Vida, Miss Afghanistan's Miss World entrant, who is never allowed back into Afghanistan for wearing a swim suit and is now a model/hopeful actress here in Bombay. A polish yoga instructor who models on the side (hates the materialistic world of it) and her Indian boyfriend who is an architect (they have an Enfield too and they're taking us cruising out of Bombay, which we haven't yet done), Dazza a Sth Aussie photographer,come wine importer married to one of India's top models, Yogi & Rinky, a Jain who studied at Bond Uni, married to a Hindu, (interesting love marriage), (some friend of Vida's who bought us 3 bottles of Moet - bless - not cheap in this town), a salsa dancing television dude I met at Frames Film festival who'd lived in the States, Jason & Megan, our first friends, both from Australia and of course Preetika and my newly returned husband from Australia, Mark (hence all the loud singing 'til 5am the previous week) ....I can't remember who I've forgotten (sorry). Anyway, our common thread is living in this crazy town and happily surviving.
The young ones (me) headed off to the nightclub Enigma, conveniently located at the Marriott, where we were ushered into the VIP area (thanks again to Jason - the greatest friend alive) and joined the mass Bollywood dance off, it's an amazing view from our perch. Poor Preetika ripped her knee open, which was actually quite bad, as we realized when the ugly lights came on and we were kicked out. It didn't stop her and I belting more tunes back at home, not allowing anyone else to have a long turn.
Now for some rest, peace, tranquility and yoga.......

Clean the drains before the monsoon rains

2007-05-12T16:42:00.000+05:30

Now is the time for cleaning the drains before the monsoon rains. We are told that the local joke about Juhu is that when someone takes a leak or when a person spits it floods in Juhu. Not hard to understand really when you see how flat it is and in places not much above sea level. The drains don't function too well as they are either blocked or the outlet is blocked. This morning I saw what looked like a family cleaning the "box" drains in the street. The young boys were small enough to get into the drain which may be half a meter deep and scrape out the decaying rubbish, silt and anything else that is in there. In places the drains are open, like infront of our place and in the more glamorous areas the drains are covered with concrete making it a mining job to clean out.

A story from opendemocracy.net highlights the Mumbai's street workers toil in desperate conditions to clear the city of the 7,000 tonnes of refuse its people produce every day.

There are 30,000 Municipal workers employed by the Greater Bombay Municipal Corporation. These workers pick up our garbage, sweep our streets, clean our gutters, load and unload the garbage trucks and work on dumping grounds.

Without exception, all 30,000 of them despise their work, despite getting a salary of Rs. 7,000 (AUD$ 200) per month. In some cases whole families are entrenched in this work. The men are known to abuse their wives and children. On the death of their husbands at a relatively young age, the job passes to the widows as a “pity case”. The despair continues.

The black and white pics to follow are from a photo study, "Not a pretty picture" which looked at the living hell that constitutes the life of a municipal worker. The study questioned how much do the citizens, contribute to the dehumanisation of these workers? Do we realise that life in the city without this workforce would be a life of ill health, disease and even death?

Each and every one of us creates waste. We do not deny this fact. In Mumbai, we create 7,000 tonnes of waste every day. We know that such huge amounts of garbage can pose a serious health risk, that it can lead to outbreaks of disease, including cholera, dysentry, typhoid, infective hepatitis and plague.

Twenty hard strokes of his heavy, wooden broom is what it takes Parmar to sweep one step of the overhead bridge. Sweeping tiny leaves and gathering them into a small pile requires 30 to 40 brisk strokes of the broom. Gathering and making the pile has to be done at a fast pace, before the leaves scatter away in the wind. Thirty strokes a pile, 10 to 20 piles on a single tree-lined pavement. How many strokes of the broom a day?

Manek reports to work in a galli (narrow lane). He is always worried that the supervisor will mark him absent and give his duty to a temporary worker. This happens all the time. It is an easy way to make a little money on the side.

Manek first sweeps the main road and then, around 11am, the supervisor directs him to a house galli. In this galli, which he has cleaned every day for the last 15 years, Manek has had boiling rice water, packets of fish shells and beer bottles flung upon him. Once a sanitary napkin landed on him. His co-worker used her broom to wipe the blood off his face. But they did not get out of the galli. It had to be cleaned.

The western suburbs, where these pictures were taken, have 65 kilometres of big nallas (drains), 56 kilometres of small nallas and 52 kilometres of box drains. Some of the drainage lines are deep enough to accommodate a double-decker bus.

Once inside, there is nothing but darkness. The worker is totally cut off from the world above. Anything could happen to him - he could pass out from inhaling toxic gas, slip in the slime and lose consciousness, or be carried away in the rush of water and waste. Clearing garbage is back breaking work.

After an hour or so, when the worker comes out of the drain, he is shivering. Yes, it is true - this work requires no special skills. Just a pair of arms and legs and the courage to descend into hell.

We've found that there is a great sense of Indian pride when it comes to the cricket or when India flexes its populous might in spark of world power but it is very difficult to imagine a "clean up India day" such as there is in Australia. A typical scene any hour of the day along the crowded roads may be an old woman and probably her great grandchild sifting through one corner of a mound of rubbish while there is a holy but worthless cow chewing what may be food which is covered in fresh piss from a stray dog. This is all while the traffic crawls buy with the occupants of the air conditioned cars spraying empty water bottles, packets and wrappers from a window which is opened for a spilt second to be rid of the item. This image is a broad generalisation but unfortunately we see it or a form of it everyday.
We can't help ourselves and still separate recyclables from perishables even though there is, unfortunately, no reason to do so.

The head wobble

2007-05-11T19:07:00.000+05:30

The head bobble or head wobble refers to a common gesture found in South Asian cultures, most notably in India and Pakistan. This form of non verbal communication is sometimes referred to as "Indian head shake". We refer to it as a little amusing and at times bloody annoying.

The meaning of the bobble is myriad but is usually in response to another individuals request or comment. It usually signifies an acknowledgment of something or a sign of enjoying something immensely (usually accompanied with a wide eyed look). Other meanings it could have include:

"You're welcome," or "of course"
"Goodbye"
"I don't know" or a shrug, Usually accompanied with hands turned up and a shoulder shrug.
"Ok Ok"
"I'm giving you the answer I think you want to hear"
"I hear the words that are coming out of your mouth"
"I really want the answer to be yes..."

Our main experience with the head wobble is the rickshaw/taxi drivers. We'll say our destination in our best modified English with a splash of Hindi and when we receive the wobble and the snap of the head indicating, "get in" so we do exactly that. The challenge comes when we reach the first corner and the driver turns in the wrong direction, which is quickly followed up from us with.. "you know where we go?" Of course we receive another head wobble and we wait for the next corner to see which way we'll turn... So the head wobble to me means, "I'm giving you the answer I think you want to hear"

It has been said the origins of the head wobble come from watching snake charmers with cobras. Snake charmers play their music largely for dramatic effect, and it is in fact the movement of their head that mesmerizes the snake. When the cobra is not going to strike, it will sway its head from side to side. This body language signifies 'I am of no threat to you', and is a simple gesture to draw someone into your confidence, similar baring one's teeth in a smile.

Thanks Wikipedia..

Bye Bye Fi Fi

2007-05-09T18:46:00.000+05:30

We just farewelled our 9th visitor to "Ram Krupa" in downtown Juhu.
Preetika (aka FiFi, aka Paprika) was here for a few weeks on family business and was great/bad influence on the house. We saw Pune (Poona) together and the car we're going to buy (stay tuned) with PP, swam at the JW Marriott pools, had a recovery sunday session at Vie on the beach with Ash after Sharon's birthday, celebrated every bottle of wine, drop of beer, piece of chocolate and vaccum packed olive from Australia which was part of the last few weeks. Shaz celebrated her birthday and there'd be no cake without Preetika making sure of it.
Just to let you know, anyone who is challenged by Preetika at the PS2 music trivia game BUZZ, look out she has a lightning trigger finger and the random knowledge to go with it...
Oh and if you're wondering the pics are from, they're from the time when Shaz and Preetika were extras in a bollywood film.. a serious bollywood film...

See you soon FiFi..

How do I leave comments on a blog?

2007-05-09T08:41:00.000+05:30

OK it's not scary and we'd love to receive your comments good, bad, funny sarcastic... whatever..

We have comments enabled on the blog, which is found as a link at the end of each post, like this:

If you click this link, you will go to the comment posting page.
The comment posting page looks like this:

In the upper left corner, there is an option to show or hide the original blog post that the comments relate to. The rest of the left-hand column contains any comments that have already been made.

On the right hand side of the page is the space for you to enter your comment. Beneath that are the identity options. (Some of these may not be available, depending on the blog's settings.)

The options are these:

Blogger username: Your display name will appear, along with a link to your profile and your photo (if you have one).
Other: You can enter your name and a link to your website, without having to have a Blogger account.
Anonymous: No identifying information is displayed. The comment is credited to "Anonymous" without a link. BUT IF YOU LEAVE AN ANON COMMENT PLEASE LEAVE SIGN YOUR NAME SO WE CAN KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

We have used the option to have comments open in popup windows. In this case, all the primary features will still be present as above, just arranged a little differently:

New Tunes

2007-05-07T18:33:00.000+05:30

Shaz and Preetika were at the JW Marriot a few days ago and were introduced to two Aussie lads havin' a go and makin' some live chilled out tunes for the patrons. They're called Tijuana Cartel from the Gold Coast where they had the Thursday slot at Mybar. The blurb below is from their myspace site www.myspace.com/tijuanacartelband

"SPANISH guitars don't exactly go with funky beats the way fish go with chips, but breaks four-piece Tijuana Cartel is showing the world just how good the combo can sound.

In an era where appropriation is worn almost like a badge of honour, this Gold Coast act buck the trend and continue to expand, experiment and draw influence from an ever-widening circle of world and club sounds.

Vocalist and lead guitarist Paul George's flamenco strings slither over some tastefully broken beats on the bands two albums - a self-titled 2003 debut and the 2005 follow-up Frequent Flyers.

The new record brings splashes of Middle Eastern vocals to the mix, alongside some lilting Moby-esque soundscapes and get-up-and-dance beatfests - a club-friendly selection without a dull moment."

If this is the kind of music you'd like in your collection keep clicking and check a similar effort by the same guys under the name George and O'Sullivan.
www.myspace.com/georgeandosullivan
This one sounds like chilled electronic fantasy with overtones of ancient acoustic sounds.

Influenced by: Kruder and Dorfmeister, Buddah Bar, Oka, Rodrigo and Gabreilla, Groove Armada, Anuska Shankar, Melanie George, Massive attack,Plump Dj's, Chemical Brothers, Tiff, Strunts and Farah, Ravi Shankar, Chrystal Method, Chuck D, The Last Poets,N.W.A, Krafty, Tool, The Greys, Bowser, The Post Moderns, The Pixies, Nitin Sawney,Air, Morcheeba, Tparty

Find out about more of George and O'Sullivans music including "Tijuana Cartel" and "Gitano" at www.nicherecords.com

Which Beer?

2007-05-07T15:14:00.000+05:30

Driving through a busy Juhu intersection the other night in a rickshaw I leant forward to instruct the driver to go left in my best Hindi and I was blinded by the new Foster's billboard taking command of the night sky. Foster's is available in most of the restaurants and bars around Mumbai and unfortunately in some of the bars we've been to it's the only beer on offer.
As responsible Australian drinkers we avoid Foster's where ever we can and dive into the local brews. Kingfisher has the lead at present as it has the advantage of the Premium (up to 5%) and Strong (up to 8%) variants.
Local price for a carton of 12 tallies from the local bottle shop is around RS750 or $20 Aussie. Actually this is the haggled price, it normally starts a few hundred rupee higher but becomes cheaper once the fresh, new bank notes shown to the shop keep go back in the pocket..
Beer like everything else that is from a "nice" venue starts to get expensive. A stubbie of Kingfisher is RS150 and it's up from there Fosters RS175, Corona RS250, Peroni RS300.
There is a small piece of theatre performed each time a beer is served. The bar staff will present you with your beer of choice, unopened, like a fine wine. You then have the opportunity to test the chill in the bottle with the back of your hand, once you're satisfied the beer is cold enough a wave of the hand, Royal style, is given and the bottle is ceremoniously opened for your enjoyment.
It's hard to say which beer is the best but on a hot, humid, Bombay day the best beer more often than not, is the cool beer that's in your hand.

The Indian Harley-Davidson?

2007-05-03T22:41:00.000+05:30

Enfield Thunderbird....
Yeah not the traditional Bullet but it does the job.
A cracking 350cc leaves the rickshaws for dead..
Beardsly stop laughing....
It's a dry time runner because when the monsoons hit the roads turn to ice and the steel manhole covers will surely add to the excitement.
Mum we're OK, just had the main oil line and a cracked wheel mount replaced.
It's not alot of fun in the Mumbai traffic, lots of stop start 1st to 2nd gear and I've had my foot run over once already. We love it though, it's great to have a little freedom and hope to have many escapes from Mumbai on the beast that is the Thunderbird...

Our Neighbours

2007-05-03T22:18:00.000+05:30

Check it out folks, this is the map of our "Ward", the voting hub of Ward 63, stretching 1600 x 850m, is home to over 50,000 registered people, and we're not one of them.
With the change in India's wealth the property market has gone crazy. Every ramshackle house or as they're called here, bungalows, are being pushed over with a smash of a feather and a 6 to 10 story building is being built with 3/4 bed apartments sold for about AUD $850,000. Unfortunately there are strict ownership laws as the rental return is over AUD $7000 per month. Crazy but there is wealth in this country!!
The rich are the best at avoiding tax. Cash is KING here!!
The new middle class brought about but the IT and call centre trade are the new tax class for the government. Finally they have tax base to provide from but at the same time the channels of corruption grow deeper with the booming tax benefit.

bits n pieces

2007-05-03T20:10:00.000+05:30

We took the bike for a ride the other day a few miles north to Versova in an attempt to find a ferry to cross a river mouth to a more open area of Mumbai on the coast.. Versova is a beach village which faces the Arabian Sea and is home to a major Mumbai fishing community.
After about 30 minutes in traffic and my brain starting to boil in the helmet as we rode through the village, more like a slum really with make shift huts on the coast road. Now those who remember one of our first blogs last year will remember a series of self portraits from a night out, one of which was "stinky fish face". Now the fishing folk reckon it's a good idea to dry the bombil fish on stilts and on the pavement in preparation for the local meal, Bombay Duck. The stench from this process was horrific and it seemed like the smell was just circulating inside the helmet. I now understood why I was the only one with a helmet, it seemed the risk of head injury was much less that actually being ill in your helmet..
The "fish" in the picture is Bombay duck (Marathi: bombil). Despite it's name it's a lizardfish which is native to the waters between Mumbai and Kutch in the Arabian Sea, and a small number are also found in the Bay of Bengal. The fish is often dried and salted before it is consumed.
Fish Bombil fry (Bombay Duck)
Ingredients:
2 to 3 Bombil Fish
2 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp rava
3 tbsp oil
Seasoning:
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil Salt to taste
Method: Cut the Bombil fish in to 1 inch long pieces. Take fish pieces and apply turmeric powder, red chilly powder and salt, marinate it for 15 to 20 minutes. Take all flour, mix them and roll these pieces into it and shallow fry them. serve hot.

This pic was the end of an ever narrowing road through the Versova village. The road (about 3m wide with open drainage and sewer trenches) slowly turned into a walking path which was the location of local well where a few of the locals were doing their best to cool down with a fresh bucket of well water.
It was at this point we decided to meander our way out of the village being sure to avoid the fishing village and head back to Juhu.
There aren't many ways to escape the heat here. A cold shower is a warm one as the water from the tap is from the tanks on baking the roof. I was standing in the shade of a tree just yesterday hoping for respite from the midday heat but the reflective heat from the pavement made sure I sweat where I stood. The one good thing was that when I got back on the bike my shirt was cooled by the passing air.

The Sun n Sand is now our refuge from the heat. This quaint little hotel has a pool and we are now members. The chlorine stings and it can be crowded at times but our membership means that we can escape the crowds of Mumbai for an hour and enjoy the Aussie tradition of life by the beach. Alright.. not quite the Aussie tradition but the beach is there as seen in the pic, and the water we swim isn't the local sewerage treatment plant... Remember the guy praying on the beach... oh yeah...

I'm sure we've said it before, within a very small radius, less than a kilometer, in this city the landscape of human existence can change from wealth to extreme poverty and back again. We are so fortunate to be able to live in the madness that is Mumbai which challenges our reality, our compassion all the while educating us and serving daily reminders of what life on this earth is. If you believe in reincarnation , this is an amazing place to see it in action.

Australia... made in China

2007-04-30T10:20:00.000+05:30

On the recent trip home I bought an Australian flag... gotta have the flag...
At first I was shocked but not overly surprised to find that the 2 dollar flag I had purchased with complimentary flag stickers was made in China..
Is it that China makes the best flags money can buy?? Jump online and you can add to your global shopping basket a factory "which specialize in producing household products such as flages, car flages, national flages etc for Publice service." and as in any good market even a global one, the listed price is "BEST PRICE" of course, special morning price for you??!!
The Made in China site is where you'll find the A-Z of nearly every general item manufactured on the face of the earth. Get into the Made in Australia site and you'll find wine, swimmers and art... and should you want to buy a flag then you'll have to be after a safety flag, Tibetan Prayer Flags, Affirmation Flags or Poi Flags as Australian companies are not listed as being able to make the national flag. I know there are businesses that make the larger Australian flag, I have bought one before and I was chosen to hold onto the flag from the RSL at the time of the passing of my Grandfather.
Armed with this information I made contact with both the ALP and Liberal party to ask why Australia as a nation couldn't produce a flag or "flage" to compete for distribution to the Australian people. As one would guess this is an issue that may not receive a great deal of attention individually but collectively with the regressing population and the demise of Australian manufacturing it is surely the tip of the melting iceberg... No reply as yet from the parties..
And yes if there was a flag in the store which was made in Australia and cost more I would have bought it...

The steps to creating positive Karma

2007-04-07T11:56:00.000+05:30

"The thought manifests as the word;
The word manifests as the deed;
The deed develops into habit;
So watch the thought and its way with care,
and let it spring from love born out of concern for all beings.....
As the shadow follws the body,
as we think so we become."

Buddha

We have it in our power to create the causes for whatever effects we wish, with little steps (or causes) each day.

Apparently...

2007-03-25T13:55:00.000+05:30

...... 1 in 5 people in the world are Chinese.
There are 5 people in my family, so it must be one of them.
It's either my mum or my Dad, or my older Brother Colin,
or my younger Brother Ho-Cha-Chu?
But I think its Colin...