I may have been to quick to judge Mumbai...

So it’s been nearly a week now and I’m getting a whole new perspective on Mumbai. The area I’m staying in left me some what jaded because it is a tourist haven. This attracts beggars, pushy street vendors, drug dealers that will pester you to no end, and more con artists then I would care to imagine.

Outside of Colaba (the part of town I’m in) the people are warm and friendly and as interested in white people as I am of them. I went to a number of parks and noticed many people staring and taking pictures of me instead of the scenery and sculptures. I got in a number of long conversations about the present state of India, America and poverty in Mumbai. I had a blast (though I got a nasty sun burn).

I drove for the first time yesterday in Mumbai. I was scared out of my mind. Not only was I driving on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car, in a city that thinks lane lines and traffic signals are just for show; I was driving manual… it was terrifying. Check out the picture.
Culture shockers:

SERVANTS- The cast system still seems to be alive and well here in India. Because of this huge poor class even the lower middle class have servants for everything. You have drivers (not as common), milk men, laundry pick up, barbers that only shave people, cooks, house keepers, personal shoppers… the list goes on and on. This lifestyle ensures that the poor don’t go hungry (very few seem to) and that the middle and upper classes live extremely comfortable lives.

LANGUAGE- A lot of people speak English, but a surprising number speak none at all. The young and wealthy speak English, but the middle class and most poor speak little to none. Most surprising to me is that waiters and security guards speak almost no English yet they have extremely high levels of face to face interaction with English speakers… It’s very interesting.

I’m going to spend another couple of days here in Mumbai so Sid and his friends can show me “Mumbai Night life” and then it’s off to southern India. I’ll probably post again before I leave and let you know what’s hip in Mumbai.