time in mumbai

i am back in amherst, after many hours of travel halfway around the world, but want to recap my last days in india.

i arrived in mumbai at 7 am on sunday morning, having slept only slightly on the sleeper bus from jamkhed. it was a bus without seats, but with bunk beds - wide enough for two - along either side of the aisle. they had little curtains covering them, and windows in each that i opened for the ride to get some air (AC sleeper doesn't mean the AC is on, apparently). abhi, a driver from CRHP, came with me, and we spent the night foot to head on the double bunk. not too comfortable. when i got to mumbai, the city was silent - no traffic, no masses, fewer smells. i got to the hotel and took a shower, turned on the AC and went to sleep until noon.

when i got up, i made a b-line for mahesh lunch home, where david, june and i ate the first time we were in mumbai. i got spicy house special prawns, which were even better than i remembered them. after a long lunch, i walked down mahatma gandhi (MG) road, and went shopping for some souvenirs. then i hopped in a taxi and went to mani bhavan, gandhi's house in mumbai that is now an historical society and museum (at right). it was free, which was an added bonus. then i took a taxi over to crossword bookstore, an indian barnes & noble's with a cafe and everything. i got a toasted cheese sandwich and a smoothie... pretty funny now that i think about it, but i was so excited to be eating non-indian food at that point. i bought a book on yoga and the alchemist, by paulo coelho (for the plane).

then i went back to the hotel and slept - - my game plan was to spend half of each day fully exploring the city, and half the day relaxing so as not to get overwhelmed.

monday morning, i woke and had breakfast at a little place across the way. i got idli sambar, which are (picture right) little cakes served with a spicy broth and coconut chutney. i had mango juice with it. oh god it was so good, thinking about it now... if you've had ethiopian food, the idli (cakes) taste like that large flat ethipian bread that you dip in stews. it is slightly fermented-tasting, but not bitter, and quite spongy. then i was off to colaba causeway by foot. i walked for a good hour downtown in the tourist district, where i bought hand-made chappals (little sandals with the toe-loop like those at left, but mine are red). then i bought indian sweets, which taste like a sweet cheese mixed with nuts, but it's formed into a cube with edible silver decorations on it. i stopped into coffee day, a chain around india which always promises air conditioning and purified water in cold foods (a concern at all times - only eat hot things! we are told as travelers, but this place made it possible, on a 90 degree day, to enjoy icy beverages and cool sandwiches). i got a mango milkshake that was dynamite. on my way back up colaba causeway, i bought a $6 suitcase to carry home all the things i had bought in india. as i hopped in a taxi, i hoped secretly that it would make it home (to give you an idea, the straps inside that clip together to hold your clothes in place were made out of fruit of the loom underwear elastic!)

i went home and napped, then ventured out to find some snacks and mango juice for the room. i wandered around some outdoor markets near my hotel, where there were no tourists at all, and enjoyed the city as the sun set. then i went back to mahesh lunch home - i couldn't get enough! - and had another delicious meal of chicken tikka and garlic naan, and ice cream made of some ingredient i'd never had that was really delicious. it had little nuts and gummied-fruit in it and was orange.

on tuesday, i woke up early and walked down to the prince of wales museum, the major museum in mumbai that houses all the indian sculpture, miniatures, tibetan and nepali art, as well as a natural history museum. you get a free audio tour with admission, so i spent a good two hours wandering around the museum, which - at left - is housed in a gorgeous indo-saracenic style building from the empire days. then i went to a great restaurant called delhi darbar, where i ordered north indian naan and butter chicken, then had custard apple-flavored ice cream. i had heard of custard apple all throughout my stay, as they grow it on the farm in jamkhed, and one of the main things i had heard was that it was a favorite ice cream flavor in india. it looks like an unripe cauliflower ball, and inside are little nubs, each containing an inedible black seed. but it's a very creamy fruit that tastes like a combination of milk and pear. it's really good.

then i was going to take a tour of bombay, but none were running, so i decided to take the ferry to elephanta island, a site in the middle of the harbor an hour from the shore that has some hindu caves. but when i got there, i was so happy to see... monkeys! they looked like this one (i searched "elephanta island monkeys" and this came up, so this monkey is actually from elephanta):

if it hadn't been for the monkeys, i would not have been glad i went to elephanta.

i came back, and took a taxi to swati snacks - a kind of swanky place where all the food is made with purified water, so i got bhel puri and pani puri - - generally served on chowpatty beach by vendors with carts, but safe to eat at this place. they are little spherical puffs that are popped at the top so that they can be filled with lentils, puffed rice, chutney and some spices. they explode in your mouth. i also had a kesar lassi, which was a sweet yogurt drink.

i headed back to the hotel to pack and prepare for the long trip home, and slept poorly because i watched a tv show documenting flight accidents and plane fires. not the brightest idea the night before 24 hours of air travel.

in the morning i woke to a call from dave, who was in the lobby (he was going on to delhi with june, and had come back to mumbai on the way). we had breakfast at the place across the street - masala dosa - and then i got into the taxi and headed to the airport.

the plane flight back was the longest of my life. as we landed i almost started crying because i was so happy to be home. then i saw zeke, who came to get me at the airport. and now i am home in amherst, picturing the imaginary line across the globe i took to get from jamkhed to amherst. i can't believe what a massive journey that is.

arrived in mumbai

i am here in mumbai after an overnight sleeper bus, which was surprisingly and luckily uneventful. i am off to a few museums today, through the heavy monsoon rains, and will depart wednesday to come HOME!

here are some updated photos of us from the july course:

http://www.jamkhed.org/Allied.shtml

two more days in jamkhed

i leave jamkhed in two days, on a night bus to mumbai, where i will spend three days in the city that shook me the first time i went there eight weeks ago. since the last time i wrote, i have spent three weeks working on a study of how alternative, herbal, and complementary medicine is used here at CRHP. it's been so interesting, and i can’t wait to continue working on it when i get back.

it will be hard to say goodbye to my friends here – rinske from holland, kate from australia, bernie from California (the new Mabelle Arole Fellow who will be here for the next ten months before starting medical school), and the community at CRHP. but i think i will come back in the future because this place is incredible. i've learned to be much more optimistic when approaching problems here; instead of anticipating obstacles, i should respond with solutions when, and if, i arrive at those obstacles. i've spent time on the farm, where they grow “diesel trees” – the oil from the leaves of this tree can be used directly as fuel – and moringa – a type of pod with seeds that are used to purify water so that water-borne illness has been cut way down in this area (it’s also used to purify the Nile in Sudan and Egypt), and the pod has more calcium than an equal weight of milk and more iron than most dark green vegetables, so a powder can be made from the pod and used to fortify the diet. they’ve brought access to water to the people of the drought-prone areas. and they’ve made jobs for people by teaching the trades that produce these potential means of livelihood. on the last day of the course, they gave us a quotation from Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism:

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say "We have done this ourselves.

this is exactly what CRHP does and it’s really refreshing.

dave and i (dave is my classmate from mt sinai who has been here all summer, did the course with me, and has been working on TB research the past few weeks) have had some great existential conversations the past few nights. they have been illuminating because they are in the context of development and health work. this summer i wanted to do a bit more soul-searching, since i’m searching for a spiritual side to life that suits me. many of the people at CRHP are christian, and thus have morning prayer and sunday services. i was raised catholic, so it’s not foreign to me, but at the same time there is a faith in god here as a means to give strength to the work they do. they say wonderful prayers like “god, give us the strength to continue our work, building communities, improving health, and empowering those who can’t now stand on their feet. we spread your love through the work that we do.” this is the reason for religion: to do good to and for others. and so i don’t get the sense in religious ceremony here that people, as at churches back home, are lost in ritual, mumbling a memorized prayer, thinking “god, help ME, bring ME this, make sure I achieve that;” instead, god is a symbol of love and goodness that one who does service brings to others. i think a community of others who believe people are good and that the purpose of life is to do good for others is all i need to develop that part of my life i feel is lacking. i have found some of that community here in jamkhed, and it’s very exciting to find kindred spirits, even if they are practicing religions (which i’m not sure i want do), who share some of my values.

in parting, though i'll post one more entry in mumbai, i will see you all soon! i arrive home on august 22!

two more days in jamkhed

i leave jamkhed in two days, on a night bus to mumbai, where i will spend three days in the city that shook me the first time i went there eight weeks ago. since the last time i wrote, i have spent three weeks working on a study of how alternative, herbal, and complementary medicine is used here at CRHP. it's been so interesting, and i can’t wait to continue working on it when i get back.

it will be hard to say goodbye to my friends here – rinske from holland, kate from australia, bernie from California (the new Mabelle Arole Fellow who will be here for the next ten months before starting medical school), and the community at CRHP. but i think i will come back in the future because this place is incredible. i've learned to be much more optimistic when approaching problems here; instead of anticipating obstacles, i should respond with solutions when, and if, i arrive at those obstacles. i've spent time on the farm, where they grow “diesel trees” – the oil from the leaves of this tree can be used directly as fuel – and moringa – a type of pod with seeds that are used to purify water so that water-borne illness has been cut way down in this area (it’s also used to purify the Nile in Sudan and Egypt), and the pod has more calcium than an equal weight of milk and more iron than most dark green vegetables, so a powder can be made from the pod and used to fortify the diet. they’ve brought access to water to the people of the drought-prone areas. and they’ve made jobs for people by teaching the trades that produce these potential means of livelihood.

on the last day of the course, they gave us a quotation from Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism: Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say "We have done this ourselves".”

this is exactly what CRHP does and it’s really refreshing.

dave and i (dave is my classmate from mt sinai who has been here all summer, did the course with me, and has been working on TB research the past few weeks) have had some great existential conversations the past few nights. they have been illuminating because they are in the context of development and health work. this summer i wanted to do a bit more soul-searching, since i’m searching for a spiritual side to life that suits me. many of the people at CRHP are christian, and thus have morning prayer and sunday services. i was raised catholic, so it’s not foreign to me, but at the same time there is a faith in god here as a means to give strength to the work they do. they say wonderful prayers like “god, give us the strength to continue our work, building communities, improving health, and empowering those who can’t now stand on their feet. we spread your love through the work that we do.” this is the reason for religion: to do good to and for others. and so i don’t get the sense in religious ceremony here that people, as at churches back home, are lost in ritual, mumbling a memorized prayer, thinking “god, help ME, bring ME this, make sure I achieve that;” instead, god is a symbol of love and goodness that one who does service brings to others. i think a community of others who believe people are good and that the purpose of life is to do good for others is all i need to develop that part of my life i feel is lacking. i have found some of that community here in jamkhed, and it’s very exciting to find kindred spirits, even if they are practicing religions (which i’m not sure i want do), who share some of my values.

in parting, though i'll post one more entry in mumbai. see you all soon! i arrive home on august 22!

two more days in jamkhed

i leave jamkhed in two days, on a night bus to mumbai, where i will spend three days in the city that shook me the first time i went there eight weeks ago. since the last time i wrote, i have spent three weeks working on a study of how alternative, herbal, and complementary medicine is used here at CRHP. it's been so interesting, and i can’t wait to continue working on it when i get back.

it will be hard to say goodbye to my friends here – rinske from holland, kate from australia, bernie from California (the new Mabelle Arole Fellow who will be here for the next ten months before starting medical school), and the community at CRHP. but i think i will come back in the future because this place is incredible. i've learned to be much more optimistic when approaching problems here; instead of anticipating obstacles, i should respond with solutions when, and if, i arrive at those obstacles. i've spent time on the farm, where they grow “diesel trees” – the oil from the leaves of this tree can be used directly as fuel – and moringa – a type of pod with seeds that are used to purify water so that water-borne illness has been cut way down in this area (it’s also used to purify the Nile in Sudan and Egypt), and the pod has more calcium than an equal weight of milk and more iron than most dark green vegetables, so a powder can be made from the pod and used to fortify the diet. they’ve brought access to water to the people of the drought-prone areas. and they’ve made jobs for people by teaching the trades that produce these potential means of livelihood.

on the last day of the course, they gave us a quotation from Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism:

Go to the people. Live with them. Learn from them. Love them. Start with what they know. Build with what they have. But with the best leaders, when the work is done, the task accomplished, the people will say "We have done this ourselves".”

this is exactly what CRHP does and it’s really refreshing.

dave and i (dave is my classmate from mt sinai who has been here all summer, did the course with me, and has been working on TB research the past few weeks) have had some great existential conversations the past few nights. they have been illuminating because they are in the context of development and health work. this summer i wanted to do a bit more soul-searching, since i’m searching for a spiritual side to life that suits me. many of the people at CRHP are christian, and thus have morning prayer and sunday services. i was raised catholic, so it’s not foreign to me, but at the same time there is a faith in god here as a means to give strength to the work they do. they say wonderful prayers like “god, give us the strength to continue our work, building communities, improving health, and empowering those who can’t now stand on their feet. we spread your love through the work that we do.” this is the reason for religion: to do good to and for others. and so i don’t get the sense in religious ceremony here that people, as at churches back home, are lost in ritual, mumbling a memorized prayer, thinking “god, help ME, bring ME this, make sure I achieve that;” instead, god is a symbol of love and goodness that one who does service brings to others. i think a community of others who believe people are good and that the purpose of life is to do good for others is all i need to develop that part of my life i feel is lacking. i have found some of that community here in jamkhed, and it’s very exciting to find kindred spirits, even if they are practicing religions (which i’m not sure i want do), who share some of my values.

in parting, though i'll post one more entry in mumba. see you all soon! i arrive home on august 22!