day 74 – mumbai (bombay), india, day one

have found my third eye in india

beautiful lady greeting us at gangway
she put red powder on our 3rd eye if we wanted... i did!

armed indian soldiers are everywhere

this band greeting us was playing besame mucho (not indian)
and i was singing along... they smiled about that

here we are in mumbai!  sadly, bob didn’t get his seaman’s book (like a passport, acts as instant visa for many countries which require special visa) in time, as his paperwork was delayed by some flunkie on his last ship who neglected to file it, so he has to stay on board in mumbai.  that is a drag… i will be off today and have opted to go to the mumbai taj hotel with some guests who are also going that way… i wanted to hit the tailor there and have a garment made and one of the other ladies wanted to get a pedicure, so we hit the shops and boutiques of the taj hotel this morning.  i was pissed my visa wouldn’t go through (after being fitted and picking out this gorgeous material, buttons, everything… and a great deal!  i got the tailors info and will try again from home when i can call my bank, etc…) i paid rupees for a couple of souvenirs in the shops and waited in the lobby to meet up with the others.  while i was waiting for my friends to re-connect in the lobby meeting spot, i struck up a conversation with a couple who works in the casino on the ship.  the fellow is from bulgaria and vacations in turkey often, and he had some great recommendations of places for bob and i to visit while we are there.  i also chatted with one of the concierges, a very polished and polite young man who told me about all the bars and restaurants in the entire place, so i could relay it to the others so we could choose where to go for lunch.   he also gave me a lovely taj mahal palace pen!  a very historic place, with one of the oldest hotel bars in mumbai.

exterior detail of taj palace hotel

 guard and tank-jeep in front of taj entrance

no pianist?  i'd play here!

outdoor area walkway

statues and art everywhere

the hotel is also reputed to be quite haunted by many… the architect of the taj himself is rumored to haunt it – a guy from france who was so despondent that they had built his masterpiece facing the wrong way that he offed himself.  there are several other colorful stories throughout the years, and then, of course, the horrible terrorist attacks there a couple of years ago where many were killed and wounded at the taj and in neighboring hotels and a jewish center close by.  as a result of those attacks, the security is beyond stringent today.  there is a barricade in front of the main entrance behind which is a full security checkpoint with metal detector, army tanklike vehicle and machine gun-armed military guards.  all the men are frisked and the women taken to a small sheltered area where they are also frisked (just not in front of others).  after this, you pass through into the building which is quite opulent.  the very air is infused with essential oils everywhere you go, and it smells beautiful.  the only thing that interferes with all the beauty are the machine gun-armed guards at every elevator and hallway entrance.  at least i felt very safe today!  the maritime security level of india and most of the places we will be going throughout the middle east is elevated from level one to level two, meaning they have increased security measures on board and in each port and there are no visitors allowed on the ship from the shore in these places.  we also have security escorts with tours and are generally told in advance of docking the places we should not consider going.  some of those places we can’t go aren’t for security reasons, they are simply illegal, or for cultural reasons, such as the towers of silence by the hanging gardens.  in the parsee tradition, corpses are not allowed to be buried or burned, so they are instead suspended in towers with vented walls where vultures can fly in and out and devour them.  it is forbidden to go to such a place unless you are of the parsee faith.  or the cages, a district where there are many prostitutes, etc., and westerners will not be taken there even if they ask to go… it is considered very bad form to ask to go to any of these places… i heard that a photographer awhile back infiltrated the towers of silence and in so doing caused quite an international incident… without bob at my side, i decided to stay in a safe place today which still offered some shopping, dining and the view from the top where we ended up dining were amazing!

when we met back up, it was noon, and as the restaurant doesn’t open til 12:30, we decided to go for a beverage first at the harbor bar, a very old hotel bar in Mumbai.  i was with a couple of my piano bar regulars, a canadian gal, marsha, and herb, an american fellow.  they come into the piano bar every night, and they insisted on taking me out to lunch, which i thought was very nice.  we had run into another really sweet lady named edna who was on her own and asked her to join us for lunch also.  we went to the 20^th floor at the top of the taj palace to a very lovely middle eastern restaurant called the souk, which means the marketplace.  they offered pan middle eastern cuisine, and being sunday, and a national holiday called holi, they had a wonderful buffet of amazing stuff from all over.  again i had to take pictures of the names of stuff, and there were dishes from egypt, morocco, libya, jordan, lebanon, syria, and more… i have never had too much stuff from that region other than things you find often in the states, like hummus and falafel… all of this stuff went much beyond my experience and was marvelous.  i could go on about all of it, but i will say the most remarkable thing i had was made there at the taj, and it was rose petal ice cream.  it’s a very light ice cream with actual rose petals and made with essential oil of rose, so that when you eat it, it is like eating the smell of a flower… sublime and amazing and delicate, and i had to stop and tell everyone at the table to try it… we were all equally bowled over by this experience… never had anything quite like it!  i think the buffet in cochi a couple of days ago was actually better food, i guess i like indian food better, and dining with bob or family is always the nicest dining time i could have, but there were a few stand out things i loved here.  

one of the chefs

my dining and piano bar pals, marsha, herb and edna

incredible variety

salads, spreads and flatbreads

monument known as "the gateway to india"
many pleasure boats, charters and fishing boats

looking out over mumbai

rose petal ice cream twelve o'clock

feel good international cake incident family

we had a feel good moment with the table next to us, a mother and father, a grown daughter and her husband… they began clapping hands and singing to the mother, and a small birthday cake was put out, and edna and i started clapping along with them and smiled our birthday wishes… they were so touched that we bothered that the daughter brough us all birthday cake and we took pictures with them and chatted a bit… sometimes a small happy international interlude like that just makes you feel good about human beings again… it’s hard to explain, but it seemed a significant experience to all of us… i think most people in the world would like to feel better about getting along with others right about now… once again, i knew this would be my only meal of the day, and i had to make my way back to the ship to get some rest (immigration was early this morning!) and get ready for another evening.

there are many poor people here, and as you return to the port, they are waiting just outside the gates and come out of nowhere to surround your car… it is heartaching…  i know you can’t fix everything but give what you can, and my full stomach made me feel guilty when looking at the frail folks outside… i try not to have westerner’s guilt, because i can’t help that i was born instantly privileged by being born in america, nor can they help being profoundly disadvantaged by being born in poverty… it just makes you sad, though, and you feel a little helpless, and yes, guilty at times… i know that guilt is sort of a waste of energy, so i try and transmute my guilt to gratitude and remember how fortunate i am and be thankful and humbled by the real world and it's many less fortunate people.

my theme tonight was springing into fall since it is now spring north of the equator and fall south of the equator.. i did songs with spring or autumn references, and with the indian cultural show on board at 8 and 10, my room was a ghost town at 10 and didn’t pick back up much after… most folks had a long day today and will have another one tomorrow since we are overnight and here for another day, so i hung it up early and so did the other lounges that were empty… more tomorrow!  ciao for now!  -di