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.