Mumbai in one word - alive

COUNTRY: India - Mumbai
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Community Health Work
WRITTEN BY: Helen Foster

Week 1- Mumbai group

After a very long day of flying I arrived in Mumbai at 10:30pm on the 1st January. I felt very anxious, not knowing what to expect and feeling very conspicuous in my western clothes and what felt like ridiculously white skin! I was approached by two Indian men in Kuala Lumpar who asked if they could take my picture, so I was hoping that that was not going to set the standard for my time in India!

Waiting for my luggage took a significantly long time as the power to the conveyer belt kept shorting out and one of the staff had to keep jumping up on the belt and sorting out the piled up bags. Eventually I left the airport and walked out into the sea of signs, feeling like some kind of prize bull on display!

I was met by someone from the in country organisation. In the taxi I went to put my seat belt on I realised that there was nowhere to click it in and that they were there simply for decoration! As we wove dangerously through trucks, motor cycles and rickshaws, with me throwing in the odd profanity for effect, I could not believe how alive the city was at that time of night- New York really needs to watch its back as Mumbai would too appear to be the city that never sleeps!

Mumbai in one word- alive.
The city is hectic, pungent and over crowded; at times organised chaos, other times not so organised. Each time you go on the roads you wonder if perhaps it might be your last! Catching a train in Mumbai is like trying to have a tea party with a heard of charging bulls, every man (or woman) for themselves, and if you don’t push and elbow your way out of the train you will simply just be left on there, which Dani came very close to finding out!

The city is a picture of controversy- monstrous western malls with the best of the best and towering sky scrapers and hotels, while just across the road beggars lurk in front of slums to ask for money and people fix shoes and sell cigarettes out of make shift stalls. People walk around in varous religious attire, while hashish and marijuana are offered on street corners. But you know what? It just works, making Mumbai one of the most safest and exciting cities to be in.

Everyone is getting along really well and it feels like have all known each other for years, not just a week! We have bonded over our own individual culture shock, our passion for traveling and our toilet habits- finding hilarity in the irony of being armed with literally hundreds of dollars of gastro medication and finding that the high carb, low fibre diet in fact made things quite the opposite! The accommodation, is pretty basic, occasionally being blessed with a hot shower, and when the river gets low, the smell is so strong that it feels like you’ve been hit in the face with a dead fish. But, that is India down to a tee and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We have been overwhelmed by the hospitality and kindness offered to us by everyone we have met. One highlight of our first week would definitely have to be our visit to an Indian home. Charishma’s family friend from back in Australia encouraged her to visit her mother and brothers while she was in Mumbai, so we all went along one evening. Not wanting to impose we ate dinner first- later we would learn that this would indeed lead to our demise!

Next minute, we find ourselves facing a table piled high with what could only be described as a feast fit for a king (or rather, 6 scruffy looking Australian uni students!). Not wanting to offend anyone we slowly worked our way through plate after plate of delicious Indian cuisine and two bowls of ice cream! Finally, when we were so full we actually thought we might all have to sign up to the biggest loser next season, the beautiful grandmother uttered in her broken English “you want banana?!”

Other highlights include, mastering our batering skills at the street markets, playing cricket and hide and seek with the kids from our building, a day at colaba checking out chow patty beach, lunch at the Taj Mahal hotel gate way of india, haji ali mosque and leopolds café, a weekend trip to goa and going to the premier of a TV soap fashion show at a 5 star hotel (didn’t feel out of place here at all!!)

We went to the gateway of India, excited to see one of Mumbai’s main landmarks. We soon found that to the people of Inida, a group of pretty young Australians was far more exciting than some old stone gate way and were quickly bombarded with requests for photos. A man with his wife and family politely inquired if his young son could get a picture with us, just like you would ask for a picture with mickey mouse at Disney land!

Our visit to the haji ali mosque was a very chilling experience for us all. The mosque is out in the ocean and can only be reached when the tide is low. Beggars congregate on the long path to the mosque, some just sitting quietly, others with missing limbs or grossly disfigured chanting and praying to god. The effect of this is something that can not be put into words, and although we were all very taken back, we all felt very lucky and appreciative for the opportunities we have in life.

Dani, Charishma and I commenced our placement at the Society for Education of the Crippled this week, as Johanna, Rachael and Lauren headed off to Sanjeevani hospital.
We fell in love immediately with the children at the school, they are so optimistic despite their physical limitations. The language barrier has been difficult but despite this we have gotten by with the power of hand gestures and lots of stickers!

The staff at the school have been so welcoming and helpful, which has made our transition a lot easier. As a speech pathology volunteer it has been very difficult to run therapy sessions with children that speak only hindi, but the children have been so sweet and cooperative and don’t judge me as I bumble around with my phrase book trying to describe different articulation techniques!

The nursing girls at the hospital have had a very interesting week observing lots of different medical techniques. Even though Sanjeevani is a private hospital the girls could not believe the difference in hygiene standards from Australia, with no hand basins in operating rooms, no sharp bins and used needles just casually scattered around and one surgeon sneezing mid operation and just continuing on. Despite this, hospital staff are not permitted to wear shoes and have to wear thongs so they don’t bring germs in from outside.

We are looking forward to our next three weeks!!