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India
Hassle, Birds, Bodies and Bollywood!
21 January 2007
Palolem, Goa, India
Nearly every traveler we discussed India with, prior to our arrival here, warned us, to varying degrees, about how much hassle we would have to deal with. India is, they said, a place you either loved or hated. Further, if you were one of those who loved it, you would most likely only realize this in retrospect. A good friend of ours, who had traveled to India, even said that “India is something of a pissing contest among travelers.” Meaning, there is reason to doubt those who claim to love travel in India.
At any rate, we had mentally and otherwise prepared ourselves for the general assault we would inevitably have to withstand when we arrived, bright and early in the hustle and bustle of Mumbai. Imagine our surprise, then, when we strolled out of Mumbai's international airport and received hardly a second look for the cab drivers amassed near the exit!
This was only the first of the pleasant surprises, in this regard. Before leaving the airport, we got a pre-paid taxi, which would take us to our hotel in the Colaba district of Mumbai, the tourist area on the city's southern-most peninsula. The driver, while quiet, was nice enough and even spent a fair amount of time helping us find our hotel, when we couldn't initially locate it.
We arrived in Mumbai shortly after 5 a.m. and by 7 we were in our hotel, which was in a good, central location. Our room the first night was, unfortunately, miniscule and had no window. However, it was clean and allowed us to rest a bit after a long day of traveling from West to East. The next day we were able to move to a bigger room with a tiny window, which was a big step up!
Exploring Mumbai was really exciting, though by this time we were both a bit tired of seeing monuments, temples, etc. Still, our outing with Gopal, the older gentleman we met (see ‘Meeting Gopal’), turned out to be very nice. We got to visit two Hindu temples, which were incredible and left us wishing we knew more about Hinduism. Gopal tried to explain a few things, but we had a hard time getting the meaning, probably because we knew almost nothing to start with, and he is coming from a position in which the tenets of Hinduism are second-nature. What we witnessed were Hindu devotees going around the temples, making offerings of flowers, incense, sweets and money to the various idols placed throughout the temple. Sometimes they would ring a bell. Clearly, we need to learn more before we can begin to understand the religion.
We also got to look at the Temple of Silence, which is a Parsi, not Hindu, religious building. The Parsis originally came to India from Persia, where they were apparently persecuted by the Muslim majority. Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about the Parsi belief system. What we did learn from Gopal was that the Parsis have a unique way of dealing with their dead. While Christians and Muslims bury their dead, and Hindus cremate the deceased, Parsis allow their dead to de devoured by scavenger birds. This is what takes place at the Temple of Silence, though only Parsis are allowed to enter. We could see many birds circling above the tower, waiting to return human flesh to Nature.
The Parsi dead are covered in a mixture of sugar and wax, and then set out in the tower where the birds do their business. A novel approach, to say the least!
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One of the other things we did in Mumbai was to watch a Bollywood blockbuster called ‘Guru,’ in a very plush cinema. The finer points of the story eluded us, as the story was entirely in Hindi with no subtitles. However, it was still an incredible experience.
Bollywood apparently rivals Hollywood in the production of films and the size of the industry. However, the similarities do not extend beyond organizational. The films themselves are very different from the average Hollywood production. Part musical, part drama (very, very dramatic!), part comedy and part action film, these films really overtake the senses. The genre is so over-the-top as to seem somewhat ridiculous to the uninitiated, however it is big business indeed! All we can say is, try to check out a Bollywood film at your local video store and see for yourself!
Another point that stood out about the cinema experience is that at India movie theaters, everyone stands before the film for the national anthem, as an image of a battered, but still flying, India flag in the wind plays. It is a very patriotic moment!