Here I am in a taxi in Bombay. I spent time with locals -- they all called it Bombay. I was the only one saying Mumbai. Evidently, that convention is more of a political idea than one embraced by the local populace.I spent Saturday in Bombay seeing the sites. I went to Elephanta Island, did some shopping and got the grand auto tour.
The highlight of the driving tour was seeing
Bandra Reclamation. My driver stopped to show us a
new bridge being built. We saw the bridge, albeit from a distance, but the bridge wasn't our focus. We noticed the hundreds, perhaps thousands of couples gazing romatically at the sea. I've seen spots in the U.S. where couples "make-out" or "neck". All of these spots feature privacy and room for a few cars -- perhaps a dozen. Here at Bandra Reclamation, there were cars and couples as far as the eye could see. All in a country where people don't generally "date" like we do in the U.S. and even casual public acts of affection seem muted by U.S. standards. Don't forget Richard Gere was
charged for kissing someone on the cheek. Love or perhaps lust always finds a way. My driver said that it was generally much busier on a weekday when workers would claim that they needed to "work late" but would find their way to meet their love interest.
I took a longer motorcycle ride this trip, still riding on the back - thankfully wearing a helmet this time. Riding a motorcycle connects you with the road in ways cars never can. You smell the exhaust, breathe in the dust, hear the driver in the next car and feel the bone rattling pothole. I felt more like I was really there when I was on the back of a motorcycle. Thanks Milind for the cheap thrills.
India touches me in a way other places do not. It isn't the ancient buildings or the colorful scenes of everyday life. The people that I know in India - they are why I feel like I've left part of my heart there. More than any other group of people I know, they exist in a connectedness that I don't experience here. You sense the connectedness in their hospitality and the way the are quick to celebrate. It's not the way I was raised. I was raised as a only son, of an only daughter, in a culture that values the "go it alone" pioneer spirit. Now grown, when I see what it is like to live connected with others it resonates with me.
It's hard to say goodbye.
