Mumbai

India is crazy about cricket. It is more than a pastime. It is a national obsession. Many times in Rajistan and Uttar Pradesh, the poorest states we visited, I would see impromptu cricket matches being played by the local boys.  In Khadjuraho, there was a village market and cricket match.  I have never been one for games myself, but I marvel at the ability of sport to bring people together in a peaceful way, no matter where you are. 

So it was with a sense of honour that in Mumbai we ended our trip with dinner at the Cricket Club of India, to which a business partner of Cameron's belongs.  Ardeshir Contractor is a very successful entrepreneur in Mumbai and is part of the large Parsi community in the city.  As with most Parsi, his last name reflects the occupation of the family.  Ardeshir himself is not a contractor these days but his great-grandfather built bridges and so, the name.

Mumbai, to my mind, is really the place for Westerners to start when they immerse themselves in India.  Although shantytowns line the runway when your plane touches down, so much of Mumbai will be recognizable as a city - from the streetscapes, the international brands, the nightlife and the people walking the streets.  I am realizing that we did our trip backwards - with the chaotic ecstasy of Varanasi first and leaving the relative order and prosperity of Mumbai to the last.  On the other hand, maybe it was the right order after all and Mumbai was a good transition back to Canada.

As I write this, my last post, I find myself missing India. For all the chaos and poverty, the wealth and corruption, there is such vibrancy and energy there.  Because so many people I dealt with spoke English - I tried to learn some Hindi but did not do well - I was able to speak with people and get to know them in ways that are all too rare in other countries.  I had an email from Vinesh the other day, our guide through Madurai and Cochin - I owe him some pictures - and yesterday, I had a text message from Kimi, our driver in the north.  Cameron and I have friends and business colleagues in many countries and now I am pleased to count Vinesh and Kimi among them.

Cameron is already planning our next adventure and other travels are calling to us but I do believe that India will retain a special hold.  It drew Cameron back 30 years after he first travelled there.  I have realized a lifelong dream to travel in India and it did not disappoint.  As for Alex and Chris, who knows?  If India has the kind of hold it did on Cameron and me, then hopefully they will rediscover it in their own life travels.

Thoughts on Kerala

Water pressure is a much under-rated luxury, as are soft pillows.  If I were to advise a friend coming to India this would be my first comment -mind the hard pillows and make sure you can have a steaming hot shower at the end of the day.

My second comment would be that you might want to start your trip in the South, perhaps in Kerala.  It is a little more understandable to us because, for example, cows roaming freely on the street are impounded and the owner has to pay a fine to get them out.  In Kerala, if a cow wanders into the street, a policeman will take it to the pound.  If it is yours, you must go to the pound, pay the fine and pick it up. In Rajistan, Cameron had commented on how much safer it would be if they got the cows off the roads.  In Kerala, they obviously think so too.

If no one picks up the cow it goes somewhere, though in Kerala they slaughter cows so I imagine that is where it goes.  Sucks to be a cow in Kerala, I would say.
Having let out a sigh of relief at this elementary level of civic control, don't let it get to you.  Driving in Kerala is still totally nuts and there is poverty at every junction, but it is manageable and not quite so desperate.  As I mentioned in an earlier posting, people paint their houses so at least some people in the South don't have to choose between feeding the family and better homes and gardens. In Kerala, at least, they can do both.

Now for some of you there will be ideological considerations that may make Kerala unworthy of your patronage and that would be a shame because overall, it seems to work.  Its people are ruled by the communist party and educated through the Christian churches, with several flavours of church on offer and, judging by the poster of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, several flavours of communism as well.  Expediency makes strange bedfellows.

At Alleppey we saw 5 Churches and church schools for every temple - a true surprise. Jesus seems quite dug in here but is achieving a 91% literacy rate, no small feat and a great result anywhere, not just in India.  I read of an arts festival that is now running in which 9000 Keralan children are now participating.  Education, judging by the number of school uniforms, most obviously from Christian schools but more than likely from all faiths, is clearly a key priority.

This plus the tropical weather, at least during the winter, makes this exactly what the state government promotes - God's own country - the perfect place to acclimatize before plunging into the more challenging contrasts in India.

Reviving our inner Beatle - the sixties all over again at Kovalam Beach

We are as far south as either of us have ever been.  We are a Kovalam Beach, well known hippie resort from the 60s and early 70s.  All the clothes the Beatles made so popular then are on sale in the many stores along the Boardwalk and the easygoing life of the seasonal worker, someone who likes to chill and live cheaply but well in the off season is all here.  The seafood is fresh and love is in the air.  Of course we are channelling our latent hippie at a high end resort just off the main drag with a private beach and chilled martinis. All is as it should be.  When we want to dip our toes into the life at Lighthouse Beach - a part of Kovalam - we have lunch at a place that does not have a liquor licence and that makes us feel positively giddy.  Once again, Cameron channels Bill Murray in Lost in Translation.  (I keep telling him this is a location joke but he loves it anyway - humour him for me).

Rest...or else!

Try to imagine a frantic pace through India – even now I can see that India and frantic pace just don’t go together. We hurl ourselves out of bed in the morning, ready to tick the requisite monuments off our list and ask the appropriate questions of the guide so we can piece together all of Indian history and politics in one trip. We get back in the car and pronounce sagely on the tidbits we have gleaned and then frantically drive to the next place. Over the course of four weeks we have found fresh insights on the Moghul dynasty, we have critiqued and found solutions to the ongoing Indo-Pakistani conflict and deplored the results of – pick one – Partition, Hindu/Muslim violence, especially in Gujarat where we have never been, Nehru/Gandhi policies following Independence and the list goes on. I hope our Indian hosts were listening and if, by chance they were, I also hope they would take our car debates in the spirit in which they were meant, an intense interest and curiosity about India and an attempt to piece together so very many contradictions, our heads were spinning.


Now try to imagine all that frenetic activity coming to a crashing, screaming halt on a soft bed of water hyacinth in the backwaters of Kerala, and you will have the houseboats at Alleppey. There is only one thing to do at Alleppey and that is to sit and watch the world go by. You can’t even have a conversation with someone (a relief after so much thinking) because Giddesh, Babu and Jonesay – captain, butler and cook – have limited English and speak Malayalam. They travel a well worn path with tourists – they know the job and they just do it. It’s like going to a dude ranch – you get on the horse, you ask no questions, your horse follows the horse in front and you just enjoy the scenery. But what lovely scenery the Keralan backwaters hold. Will let the pictures tell the tale.