It's been a few months now, but here's what I remember:
We arrived in Mumbai around 2 or 3 am. The airport was much more modern and clean since the last time I'd been there in 2003. Unfortunately, that lessened the impact on the senses of stepping into India that I'd always gotten right out of the plane, with the heat and the smells and everything. The customs and immigration was unexpectedly fast and smooth. We found all our luggage on the carousel and cashed in some travellers checks for rupees. We remembered to use the relatively clean bathrooms inside the terminal rather than the really skanky ones outside, which I remembered from last time. (A few weeks later I found out they're still really skanky). In the inside bathroom, there were the usual ladies handing out toilet paper and expecting big foreigner tips. I didn't have any Indian change, so I gave her the first thing I found in my purse, something British. The woman looked at it and me with disdain, probably hoping for American money. Sorry.
As soon as we stepped outside the terminal there was the throng of greeters and drivers, holding signs with their passenger's names. We found our driver, who we'd booked through our travel agency, and followed him through the crowd, pushing our luggage cart. As soon as we entered the parking lot we were greeted by friendly men welcoming us to India. One of them insisted on pushing the cart for us and I stupidly let him. I was so excited about being in India I forgot to think. I wish the driver had given us some advice then. Our van was only a few yards away, and the man wanted $20 (US) for loading our luggage. Too late for bargaining, I made a show of outrage, told him that was ridiculous and gave him a few hundred rupees instead (which is actually pretty generous), and he took it. Our first learning experience.
This van, like most of our transportation for the trip, was big and modern and air conditioned and I chafed at the windows being closed. Mom and I sat in the back and Danny up front. We were off to Pune. Driving from the airport through Bombay to the Pune expressway, the city was surprisingly quiet in the middle of the night, and there was little traffic to slow us down. I remember when we were young and the planes landed during daylight hours how chaotic and exciting the drive to my great aunts' house in Matunga would be after just arriving in India, how shocking and fascinating the sight of all the people living in shacks beside the road, children playing and sleeping beside them, the enormous stinking slums. Now all the shops were shut and there were more dogs in the streets than people. Occasionally we'd see groups of men standing together, or walking or cycling down the road.
Once we got on the highway Danny got his first chance to experience Indian traffic. This driver was relatively conservative and the highway not very crowded, but it's still an interesting and scary experience to a newbie. The driver turned on the radio and played the MTV influenced pop songs that we would hear everywhere. I was surprised at the number of radio stations available, with the DJ's doing American style DJ talk in Hindi. On the way we stopped at a travel plaza for a tea and bathroom break. We got to Abu Mama's house in Pune about 3 hours later.
Mama and Mami were up waiting for us with hugs and happy to meet Danny, and soon we all went to bed. Mama and Mami are wonderful hosts and their house is perfect for company. There was a bedroom for Mom and one for Danny and me. I guess I slept a little, but for the first few days I'd wake up before 5 am because of the jetlag. I enjoy getting up early and seeing the sunrise in India, although back home I'm rarely up before 9 or 10.
I'd be up at 5 am sneaking around the kitchen trying to make some tea. For that reason, this time I'd remembered to bring an immersion heater and tea mug and tea bags so I could make a big American sized cup of tea anytime I wanted some without bothering anybody. Indian tea is lovely but the cups are so tiny! Mom would get up early too and we'd have early tea together. Eventually, everyone else would get up, and there would be the official morning tea with biscuits, followed about an hour later by breakfast. Ravi and Suharna, their housekeepers who have been with them for years, who live with their two sons in a small house in the back yard, would get up around sunrise and start the breakfast preparations. Breakfast would be something yummy and not at all low carb, like pohay, or upamma.
Mama and Mami took a liking to Danny and were pleased and amazed by his appetite, although Danny told me that he just didn't know how to say no to Mami's urging. All the same, the food was delicious. Home style Maharashtrian food is my favourite cuisine, and every meal there was a feast.
I love Mama and Mami's house, which Mama designed. It's a two story surrounded by a pretty walled in paved garden / yard. The upstairs is rented out and they live on the ground floor. There is a terrace on the roof. It's not at all a big house by American standards, but perfectly roomy and comfortable and appealing. Like many Indian houses of the well off, it has high ceilings and cool tile floors. Many art works are on display. The living room is open to the dining room, which opens into the back patio via french doors. It's lovely to sit at the dining table in the early morning with the french doors open and feel the cool morning breeze and hear the early morning noises of people getting up and about in the neighborhood, the kids heading off to school and the fruit and vegetable vendors with their carts calling their wares. Mama likes to sit on the patio in the morning and read his newspapers.
Eventually we'd head off to take our baths, after Mami announced that the water was hot. Like most houses we went to, the water heaters are only turned on right before bathing.
Mama took Danny and me to the nearby vegetable market, where all the sellers know him well and greeted us happily. I had my camera out and took pictures of the market, and Danny watching Abu Mama buy vegetables.
The neighborhood had changed a lot in the past 4 years. Senapati Bapat road, the main road near their house, used to be full of medium sized shops and businesses, and some vacant lots, which last time I was there had been occupied by a community of travelling camel owners living in straw tents.
Now those vacant lots had big, modern shopping complexes with fancy department stores selling expensive western brands. There was a Piramyd department store, and a Crossword book store, which had open shelves for browsing books, and even had couches, like a small Barnes and Noble. Until recently, at any Indian book store, all the books would be behind the counter, and you would have to tell the salesman what you wanted.
Although a lot of people like the modern department stores, I still prefer shopping at the small old fashioned shops in the traditional crowded shopping districts like Laxmi road. That's a unique experience you can't get back here, and it turned out I got better and cheaper clothes in the small shops. Later, Abu Mama took us all shopping at another big department store, Shopper's Stop. It had an underground parking garage and a guard at the entry. Made us feel like VIPs or something. Mom and I got a few salwar kameez sets, and Danny got a couple of Kurtas. (At first he called them kutras (dog) which we all found hilarious, and keep reminding him of.) Danny was surprised that the store's PA was playing some western pop song. I forget what it was. Unfortunately Mami wasn't feeling well so we went home.
Later, I took Danny out for a stroll on Senapati Bapat road. It was an adventure just crossing the street, which took us several minutes. There were several 'pavement dwellers' sitting around on the sidewalk, and as soon as they saw white Danny, two little children in rags started chasing after us asking for money. They were persistent and kind of scary. We didn't have any money on us to give, and finally Danny got that message through to them with a 'I've got nothing on me' gesture.
It was a life of leisure for us. We'd nap at naptime with everyone else, then have afternoon tea with snacks. When Ravi and Suharna were done with their work, they'd get to watch the tv. Ravi and the boys watched cricket with Abu Mama and Suharna would watch the Marathi evening soap operas with Mami. Usually by that time (10 pm or so) I'd be very sleepy and go to bed.
Out last item of business in Pune was to stop at the travel agency to pick up our tickets for our trip to Kerala. I'd use all opportunities travelling around town in the car and stopping in different parts of town to take photographs and film. I met the travel agent who I'd corresponded with for weeks by email. With our itinerary finalized and paid for, we were ready to head off to Kerala the next day.
We arrived in Mumbai around 2 or 3 am. The airport was much more modern and clean since the last time I'd been there in 2003. Unfortunately, that lessened the impact on the senses of stepping into India that I'd always gotten right out of the plane, with the heat and the smells and everything. The customs and immigration was unexpectedly fast and smooth. We found all our luggage on the carousel and cashed in some travellers checks for rupees. We remembered to use the relatively clean bathrooms inside the terminal rather than the really skanky ones outside, which I remembered from last time. (A few weeks later I found out they're still really skanky). In the inside bathroom, there were the usual ladies handing out toilet paper and expecting big foreigner tips. I didn't have any Indian change, so I gave her the first thing I found in my purse, something British. The woman looked at it and me with disdain, probably hoping for American money. Sorry.
As soon as we stepped outside the terminal there was the throng of greeters and drivers, holding signs with their passenger's names. We found our driver, who we'd booked through our travel agency, and followed him through the crowd, pushing our luggage cart. As soon as we entered the parking lot we were greeted by friendly men welcoming us to India. One of them insisted on pushing the cart for us and I stupidly let him. I was so excited about being in India I forgot to think. I wish the driver had given us some advice then. Our van was only a few yards away, and the man wanted $20 (US) for loading our luggage. Too late for bargaining, I made a show of outrage, told him that was ridiculous and gave him a few hundred rupees instead (which is actually pretty generous), and he took it. Our first learning experience.
This van, like most of our transportation for the trip, was big and modern and air conditioned and I chafed at the windows being closed. Mom and I sat in the back and Danny up front. We were off to Pune. Driving from the airport through Bombay to the Pune expressway, the city was surprisingly quiet in the middle of the night, and there was little traffic to slow us down. I remember when we were young and the planes landed during daylight hours how chaotic and exciting the drive to my great aunts' house in Matunga would be after just arriving in India, how shocking and fascinating the sight of all the people living in shacks beside the road, children playing and sleeping beside them, the enormous stinking slums. Now all the shops were shut and there were more dogs in the streets than people. Occasionally we'd see groups of men standing together, or walking or cycling down the road.
Once we got on the highway Danny got his first chance to experience Indian traffic. This driver was relatively conservative and the highway not very crowded, but it's still an interesting and scary experience to a newbie. The driver turned on the radio and played the MTV influenced pop songs that we would hear everywhere. I was surprised at the number of radio stations available, with the DJ's doing American style DJ talk in Hindi. On the way we stopped at a travel plaza for a tea and bathroom break. We got to Abu Mama's house in Pune about 3 hours later.
Mama and Mami were up waiting for us with hugs and happy to meet Danny, and soon we all went to bed. Mama and Mami are wonderful hosts and their house is perfect for company. There was a bedroom for Mom and one for Danny and me. I guess I slept a little, but for the first few days I'd wake up before 5 am because of the jetlag. I enjoy getting up early and seeing the sunrise in India, although back home I'm rarely up before 9 or 10.
I'd be up at 5 am sneaking around the kitchen trying to make some tea. For that reason, this time I'd remembered to bring an immersion heater and tea mug and tea bags so I could make a big American sized cup of tea anytime I wanted some without bothering anybody. Indian tea is lovely but the cups are so tiny! Mom would get up early too and we'd have early tea together. Eventually, everyone else would get up, and there would be the official morning tea with biscuits, followed about an hour later by breakfast. Ravi and Suharna, their housekeepers who have been with them for years, who live with their two sons in a small house in the back yard, would get up around sunrise and start the breakfast preparations. Breakfast would be something yummy and not at all low carb, like pohay, or upamma.
Mama and Mami took a liking to Danny and were pleased and amazed by his appetite, although Danny told me that he just didn't know how to say no to Mami's urging. All the same, the food was delicious. Home style Maharashtrian food is my favourite cuisine, and every meal there was a feast.
I love Mama and Mami's house, which Mama designed. It's a two story surrounded by a pretty walled in paved garden / yard. The upstairs is rented out and they live on the ground floor. There is a terrace on the roof. It's not at all a big house by American standards, but perfectly roomy and comfortable and appealing. Like many Indian houses of the well off, it has high ceilings and cool tile floors. Many art works are on display. The living room is open to the dining room, which opens into the back patio via french doors. It's lovely to sit at the dining table in the early morning with the french doors open and feel the cool morning breeze and hear the early morning noises of people getting up and about in the neighborhood, the kids heading off to school and the fruit and vegetable vendors with their carts calling their wares. Mama likes to sit on the patio in the morning and read his newspapers.
Eventually we'd head off to take our baths, after Mami announced that the water was hot. Like most houses we went to, the water heaters are only turned on right before bathing.
Mama took Danny and me to the nearby vegetable market, where all the sellers know him well and greeted us happily. I had my camera out and took pictures of the market, and Danny watching Abu Mama buy vegetables.
The neighborhood had changed a lot in the past 4 years. Senapati Bapat road, the main road near their house, used to be full of medium sized shops and businesses, and some vacant lots, which last time I was there had been occupied by a community of travelling camel owners living in straw tents.
Now those vacant lots had big, modern shopping complexes with fancy department stores selling expensive western brands. There was a Piramyd department store, and a Crossword book store, which had open shelves for browsing books, and even had couches, like a small Barnes and Noble. Until recently, at any Indian book store, all the books would be behind the counter, and you would have to tell the salesman what you wanted.
Although a lot of people like the modern department stores, I still prefer shopping at the small old fashioned shops in the traditional crowded shopping districts like Laxmi road. That's a unique experience you can't get back here, and it turned out I got better and cheaper clothes in the small shops. Later, Abu Mama took us all shopping at another big department store, Shopper's Stop. It had an underground parking garage and a guard at the entry. Made us feel like VIPs or something. Mom and I got a few salwar kameez sets, and Danny got a couple of Kurtas. (At first he called them kutras (dog) which we all found hilarious, and keep reminding him of.) Danny was surprised that the store's PA was playing some western pop song. I forget what it was. Unfortunately Mami wasn't feeling well so we went home.
Later, I took Danny out for a stroll on Senapati Bapat road. It was an adventure just crossing the street, which took us several minutes. There were several 'pavement dwellers' sitting around on the sidewalk, and as soon as they saw white Danny, two little children in rags started chasing after us asking for money. They were persistent and kind of scary. We didn't have any money on us to give, and finally Danny got that message through to them with a 'I've got nothing on me' gesture.
It was a life of leisure for us. We'd nap at naptime with everyone else, then have afternoon tea with snacks. When Ravi and Suharna were done with their work, they'd get to watch the tv. Ravi and the boys watched cricket with Abu Mama and Suharna would watch the Marathi evening soap operas with Mami. Usually by that time (10 pm or so) I'd be very sleepy and go to bed.
Out last item of business in Pune was to stop at the travel agency to pick up our tickets for our trip to Kerala. I'd use all opportunities travelling around town in the car and stopping in different parts of town to take photographs and film. I met the travel agent who I'd corresponded with for weeks by email. With our itinerary finalized and paid for, we were ready to head off to Kerala the next day.
