Top Ten Goodbyes

We leave Mumbai tonight, so here are a few parting words.

Top 10 things I learned from living in India:

10) The people are far more diverse than I realized -- from caste, subcaste, economic class, educational level, geographic region, religion, to ancestry heritage, no two families are alike in custom and ritual.
9) You can do anything with a mango.
8) To be successful in Bollywood, you have to know how to act and dance.
7) Green chili burns the skin upon contact.
6) A squirt of lime cuts the spiciness of any dish.
5) Gandhi's commitment to self-reliance (swadeshi) remains in the psyche of Indians. It drives ambition but complicates their feelings about participating in the global market. Furthermore, many Indians are wary of the outsourcing of labor currently coming to India which offers jobs that pose no personal economic or professional mobility (e.g. call centers) despite overall growth for the country.
4) Gandhi was far from perfect.
3) A mustache is sexy -- it's the new clean shaven!
2) The corrupt Indian government stands as the biggest obstacle to growth and progress in the country.
1) People living in Indian slums are extremely resourceful and entrepreneurial.

Top 10 reasons it's time for me to leave:

10) I sort of understand how to wear jeans in 100 degree weather.
9) I no longer mind the gathered-leggings-with-high-heeled-sandals look.
8) I think a rickshaw is the safest way to travel.
7) I comfortably eat raw vegetables with no peel.
6) Sweating all day has given me more pimples than I ever had in high school.
5) With no TV and Internet, Will and I are doing on average 2 crossword puzzles a day.
4) I am starting to think cricket makes more sense than baseball.
3) My nostrils are furious with me because of the horrific scents they have undergone.
2) In a recent trip to a public bathroom, I was given the choice between a toilet and a hole -- I chose the hole (and thought it was more sanitary).
1) I want to see my niece Paloma!!!

Top 10 reasons I may come back:

10) Perfect my Hindi.
9) Take a job at a call center in Bangalore to experience the extremely efficient system in action.
8)Be an extra in a Bollywood movie dance scene.
7)Every domestic flight (including ones that are only 1 hour) offer free full meals.
6) Spend time in the Himalayas -- go trekking, meditate, be among the mountains.
5) Learn how to make chipatti (Indian bread) from a native.
4) Attend a traditional Indian wedding.
3) See how the country of India has changed and grown, and where it is heading in the 21st century.
2) A hair wash, cut & blow dry at a fancy salon in the trendy part of town (Bandra) costs $18.
1) The houseboats in Kerala (the southern-most state of India) are paradise.

Namaste Mumbai

Yesterday I wrapped up my internship and now the traveling portion of our trip is really going to commence. We're heading from Mumbai to Kerela in the south of India, followed by a trip to Thailand and then ending up in Israel. We're coming back for wedding in LA and then we'll be back in New York a little after the 4th of July.

It's a strange feeling to leave Mumbai after a little over 2 months. It's obviously much longer than a normal vacation, but not quite long enough to feel like I really lived here. It has been a really interesting experience getting to know India beyond the 1-dimensional perspective I had on the economy, culture, future and social issues here before I arrived. Certainly India is poised to grow and continue changing, but at the same time, this is a really complex and diverse place and despite their rapid GDP growth, there are some amazing challenges they face before they become the world power everyone is predicting. It's also very similar to the US in the number of regional differences and the ridiculous differences from state to state. Weddings, food, religion and national identity vary wildly from Gujarat to Tamil Nadu to Delhi.

For our final night out, we went to dinner with the Stanford people at an incredibly sick "pan-asian" restaurant. It was in a converted warehouse and the restaurant had about 90 foot ceilings and a faux terra cotta warrior about 60 feet tall. It was actually really awesome and a good way to say goodbye to all of them until school starts in the fall.

On another note, it's also approximately 437 degrees right now with 99% humidity. Walking across the street to get coffee means that I will be literally drenched in sweat by the time I arrive (on a positive note, I've finally conquered my fears about crossing the street). I also shaved the woodsman beard I've been sporting into a disgusting mustache (but sorry to disappoint the netizens out there--that picture will not be shared in a public forum).

So with that mental image fresh in everyone's mind, I think I'll be signing off as a bloger for now and bidding farewell to Mumbai. The best way to describe how I feel about it is to say that I'm happy I came here and I'm happy that I'm leaving.

Cricket Match

Go Mumbai Indians!

Dobi Ghat

Final outings

We have one week left in India and are finding ways to finish up our trip with a bang.

Last weekend we went to Dhobi Ghat aka The Central Laundromat for all of Mumbai. Thousands and thousands of bags of clothes are sent there everyday, where the clothes are washed in enormous basins and hung to dry. Dhobi Ghat works 24/7. Sounds extremely unhygienic, which it is in many ways. But bizarrely, it is sort of beautiful to see. (I'll attach a couple of pictures)

We are planning to go with a couple of other folks to a Hindi/Western Karaoke bar tonight -- should be hilarious!

Missing everyone and looking forward to seeing you soon.

Mangolicious

While in India, Lindsay and I have become obsessed with Alphonso Mangoes. Conforming to our general produce rule of "boil it, peel it or forget it," this national fruit is one of the pillars of our diet. The mango that is sold here is slightly different than the version available in the US. It's basically a combination of a papaya and and a mango that is extremely sweet and basically the most delicious fruit we've ever had.

Not content to eat the fruit au natural, we've eaten Mango ice cream, Mango gelato, Mango salsa and we've even tried our own hand at making Mango oatmeal and a delicious Mango ice milk concoction. Recently at work, a co-worker "had a connection" to get them sent by the dozen and we've been consuming them in record quantities.

I can't imagine this is the healthiest diet under the sun, but it certainly has been tasty.

The Taj Mahal!!!

In her glory...







The designs are all made of gems:



Will's grip on the Taj Dome