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