One of my new favorite spiritual/transcendental saying is, "You are always at the right place at the right time". Meaning if you just follow the path that your life puts you on, you will come across the exact right things, and learn exactly what you need to.

And I guess that includes going where scam-y cab drivers take you.

Yesterday, we planned a day out in Delhi and hired a cab and driver for a few hours near the hotel. He was one of those argumentative cab drivers that tries to take advantage of tourist by telling them that their desired destinations are too far and/or unsafe, while re-directing them to his "friend's stores". Every person reading this who had traveled internationally knows or has hired that guy.

So, after some arguing about where to go for shopping, and landing up at some dud spots, we found an amazing Western-style bookshop, which we needed desperately to get books for the train ride. Cool - and check box!

Next, all of the monuments and temples in the guide book were either too far, too crowded or too expensive by his take, but he knew a "free" temple tour we would like.

Well, it turned out to be his very own Sikh temple in the city - go figure!

Now, just to be clear, that is not him in the picture above - it is one of the holy men at the the Golden Temple who saw Maddy frowning and tried to cheer her up, and even suggested the picture!

So the cab driver got a paid trip to his own temple and even a donation out of us, but we also took an hour tour of the place, heard a live prayer ceremony, toured the grounds and even saw their famous kitchens which volunteers work daily to feed any poor who need a meal.

We all had to wear head covering and remove our shoes and socks, but that made it all the more authentic and special. And there were very few tourists there at all, so it turned out to be a unique, authentic and quite a moving experience.

It also turns out that his temple is one of the biggest and most revered in Delhi, so we actually did see a historic monument, but also had a real and moving experience.

So, despite having to deal with a less-than-straight-up cabby, the universe's plan for us yesterday turned out to be just right.

- Mike

The original big city-to-city ego clash was, of course, London and Paris, (which we hope to see both later on during this trip), but we experienced a similar rivalry here in India between Delhi and Mumbai, and the differences are pretty vast. And I don't mean just the color of the motorized rickshaws.

Before we go there, though, just for a moment let's look at some other major city match-ups around the world; Tokyo vs. Seoul, Shanghai vs. Hong Kong, Moscow vs. St. Petersburg, Sydney vs. Melbourne, Sao Paolo vs. Mexico City, Toronto vs. Montreal, Stockholm vs. Copenhagen, Singapore vs. Taipei, Milan vs. Rome, Barcelona vs. Madrid, and of course in the U.S. we have New York vs. L.A. But we also have many other, lesser rivalries in the U.S., (with typically the larger of the two in the match-up not even recognizing it as such, or just chalking it up to wishful thinking); Chicago vs. New York, Minneapolis vs. Chicago, Portland vs. Seattle, San Francisco vs. L.A., Pittsburgh vs. Philadelphia, Baltimore vs. Washington D.C., etc. Reading each one on the list above, and I'll bet most of us have a natural gut-instinct towards one or the other, even if we've never been to either. Why is that?

Here in India, it is a true rivalry, however, between the two biggest cities, and when you tell Indian people you've been to both, everyone wants to immediately know which is your favorite. They might not be exactly thrilled that you are here at all, but they want you to like their city best. Before we came to India, I honestly had no pre-set thoughts about which I'd like best, save for input from Indian friends, but after a few days in each, we definitely formed some pretty quick opinions.

Mumbai is a combination of San Francisco and L.A. - the entertainment and hipster city on water, but also with the Indian banking and financial hub (?). Delhi is a combination of NYC and Washington D.C. and all government, big business and heavy industry.

Some other quick comparisons:
Mumbai - gritty, very crowded, scary and horrific traffic, and much more poverty. But also more laid-back and with a less aggressive and safer feel believe it or not. People stared but just out of curiosity (and to pass the time stuck in traffic).

Delhi - cleaner, more open space and wider streets, nice greenery, gardens and trees, many more monuments, government building and temples, and traffic that actually felt civilized. But also much more uptight, aggressive and edgy. People here stared (and for quite a while) just to let you know they see you...and to remind you that you are on their turf.

I want Suzanne to also add a few observations, but I am not sure which I would come back to? The cheater answer would say we like the best parts of each, and to combine them, but that's not fair so I'm not sure which I'd pick right now. Of course, it would also not be fair to make any assessment until perhaps we saw other major Indian cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad or Kolkata, but we are not visiting any of them this trip.

We will get our chance to see some rural sights and smaller cities though starting tomorrow on our week-long train ride across the northern states.

All aboard!

- Mike


Delhi was on the original list of places we would stay for an entire month.  The first question out of people's mouths when they heard this (even if they were from Delhi) was 'Why, what are you going to do in Delhi for a month?"  We took this advice (?) to heart and spit the trip up a bit with 2 weeks in Mumbai and a few days in Delhi, plus our train trip. Being a lover of all things Indian I couldn't imagine what was not to like about both cities. 

As Mike says above, Delhi is a greener, cleaner city compared to Mumbai.  It even feels like the pace is slower and more relaxed.  And thank goodness they started the city-wide initiative to reduce horn honking a while back because it is working. PSA's along the lines of the Don't Text & Drive.  Don't Honk & Drive. (In contrast, however, in Mumbai every truck has this painted on the back bumper, "HORN OK PLEASE" - Mike).

Now it's very unfair for me to compare the two cities as we lived in an apartment complex in Mumbai and we are at a nice hotel in Delhi, but my gut feeling is that it would have taken me twice as long to get my groove on here in Dehli. People in Mumbai really didn't care that we were there, while here in Delhi we were actually asked if people could take their pictures with us (as oddities! - Mike). I told Izzy it was as close as she would get to the paparazzi. 

- Suzanne

Despite the conflicted feelings I had of education versus exploitation, I went ahead and took the walking tour of the infamous Mumbai Dharavi Slums made popular in the movies. It is one of the world's largest slums with close to one million people living in less than one square mile - and with a population density 20X that of the rest of Mumbai, which is saying a lot. For about $20, you can take a two-hour walking tour with a local resident, and mine was a 19-year old Accounting major, college kid named Ahad.

What makes Dharavi so unusual isn't it's size, oppressive living conditions or human density, as unknown to many people, there are actually other slum areas in Mumbai close in size, but it is the fact that it is also a mature and complex economic zone with miniature (some as small as bedroom-sized) factories and recycling plants that produce close to $500 million dollars in GDP for India.

It is estimated that out of the 20.5 million people living in Mumbai proper, over 6.5 million live in squalor conditions, so there are many slum neighborhoods like Dharavi, and even one right outside our apartment complex gate for instance (image our surprise arriving on the redeye and driving past tin shacks and tarp houses almost all the way from the airport to our front gate in the dark. We were worried for a moment.)

Oh and a disclaimer: all of the pictures above and below are actually from Dharavi, but they are not mine and are from professionals posted on Google Images. It is advised not to take a camera in, less for safety and more out of respect.

I did not take the kids with as they would have not been able to handle the sights or the lack of safe walking conditions in certain places, nor did Suzanne go with as she would have really been out of place. In the factories and shops it was exclusively men, and the women I encountered were mostly in the tiny one-room homes (more in a bit).

Oddly, while walking very few people looked my way, far less than a regular Mumbai street - either they are used to seeing tourists, or just by myself with a local tour guide I was less a spectacle than usual as a family of five, tall pastey Europeans. I did run into one other tourist, however, and he was from the Bay Area (go figure, us curious Liberals).

The three main areas of Dharavi are market streets, micro-production factories, and housing. The market streets are nothing out-of-the-ordinary for Mumbai, save for perhaps an additional chicken or goat, or Brahman Bull pulling a cart (with full Hindu paints, decorations and garnishes). The Micro-factories are incredible with paper and plastic recycling being one of the most prominent activities. The city garbage services sort through trash and bring all of the recycling goods here, where residents stand waist-deep in mountains of paper and plastic hand-sorting by color, weight and material type. They are next cut down, shredded and processed. Other key recycling businesses are aluminum smelting, paint-can cleaning and cardboard re-cutting. All of these tasks are done in small rooms in incredible heat and dangerous conditions by half-dressed men with no safety equipment, let along full-clothing or shoes.

Production and processing of new goods such as leather, fabric dying, sewing and pottery are also key, and in their own separate quarters. As currently occurs in China, South America and even America in the last century, many of the workers are migrants from the rural areas who will work for any pace in any conditions for a few Rupees a day and a dirty mattress above the factory. For the most part, it is normal that they work 12-hours per day, 6-days a week.

The third-part of the tour, and the most disorienting portion, is the housing. The top 20% who run many of the companies live in run-down government high-rise housing typical of many U.S. cities (but the building are heavily soot stained and with laundry drying in every window in the dirty breeze). The remaining 80% live in one-room hovels that do have electricity, but with no running water or sewers. If you're lucky, your one room with ten family members is on an outside lane, but if not...

Here is where I have to pause and say I wished I was a much better writer, because when we turned down a dank, ever-narrowing lane to see the inner slum-rooms, it was beyond my range of words. If you could imagine in your mind an expensive movie-set made to look like the tightest, most gruesome, grim dsytopia possible, you'd be getting close to what I saw. I felt like I was in an underground warren of tragically displaced and suffering people after an Apocalypse.

The inner passage-ways were about 3-feet wide by 5-feet tall and mostly pitch black (and this on a bright and sunny day). There were lights on in the some rooms and the doors were just blankets. Above was a tangle of random metal supports and jagged tin edges, plus loose electrical wires. Beneath was flowing, raw sewerage. It was like being a rat in a dark maze, or being in a bad dream.

And for many, many people, this is home.

When we emerged back into the sunlight, I immediately thought, how will I ever explain what I just saw to anyone? It was one of the most unusual sensations I have ever experienced. And definitely 'first-person slum voyeurism'.

My Guide was a wonderful guy and as we parted he helped me hail a cab and even did the inevitable arguing for me - for you see in India, if you do not have a pre-paid car service and driver, every common-cab boarding-procedure is an long drawn-out argument about destination, fee or something. It just seems like sport to them.

Mumbai is a rich and vibrant city with a huge financial district, Bollywood, many upscale malls and nicely gated apartment buildings. But as a business-friend of mine told me after a trip here 10-years ago, "Bombay (Mumbai) is a funny place, on one side of the street is a modern, state-of-the-art office complex, and directly across the street, a slum with open sewage." Well, it's an exaggeration, but not by much, and we've seen both while here so far, and in a side-by-side mixture that doesn't make sense to our way of life in the U.S. - but there is no avoiding the poor and the slums here in India. And today, instead of just driving by, I had to actually go inside and see that life for myself.

And inside, despite what I experienced for housing, I have to say that most of the people looked productive and happy; busy and with purpose. When I finally asked my guide at the end of the tour if people who became successful typically moved out, he said no, most do not as this is their home. So I offer my honor to those who are happy, and my compassion for those who suffer there. And thank them for letting me respectfully visit their homes and places of work.

But who am I really to presume we know anything about their lives or feelings. They could be happy, or sad, or it might be the only thing they know (except what they see on TV) and perfectly normal. After all I believe they do not need our pity, but our love and compassion. And as the wise Buddha once said...“Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering."

Off my soap box for now...and off to Delhi to see what this whole "best Indian city rivalry" is all about!

- Mike

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see our friends from Hinsdale right here in Mumbai.  The stars aligned for about 2 days and as The Sants passed though Mumbai from Delhi we were able to get together and meet for dinner along with their extended family. Liz couldn't explain exactly how everyone was related but on occasions like this it didn't matter. Four generations of someone's extended family joined us for a wonderful Indian meal, a few toasts and some great (if not stunted) conversation.
Our kids were thrilled to see some of their classmates and even the age differences didn't get in the way of everyone talking and learning a bit more about each other.  I think all of the kids were just excited to have a conversation with someone outside of their own family.  The girls enjoyed a mini-book club and compared notes of their favorites.  The Fault in Ours Stars and The Giver were both big hits.

As it turns out the partying in Mumbai doesn't really get started until 11pm but Liz and the kids had an early flight and after our harrowing 1.5 hour, cramped taxi ride to the restaurant we all needed to head out in search of a return ride.  Mumbai is such an enormous city that the taxi drivers will just refuse to drive you if they feel your destination is too far.  The work-around for this seems to be getting one driver to take you to a central drop off point then another to pick you up and drive you the rest of the way.  We would have practiced this more often if we had any idea what the street names were or could even pronounce them.  Lesson for next time.

-Suzanne


PS - Maddy and Izzy shopped for authentic Indian dress today and found some really cute things. See below. It's going to take me a while to figure out how to drape Izzy's new saree so I will post a picture of that soon.

    An aura is the energy around a person. A Chakra is a focal point of energy were lines crisscross in the body. Somehow, they figured out how to read these through technology and computer software, so today, we got ours read.
    The seven dots you see on the right pictures are the chakras. The chakras wheels tell different things about a person like whether a person is social, artistic or intellectual or not. The seven chakras are the Base, Navel, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Third Eye, and Crown. When the computer totals them up, it will tell someone's aura chakra balance. Mine is 40, or an average balance. It means my aura and chakras are not fully balanced, but I can always change that. The chakras have different sizes, colors and shades, which can tell if a person is balanced or not.
    My aura is deep green, which is my main color. In the picture it shows green, blue and purple, which I thought was really cool. My aura size is a middle size, which means I have a strong presence and radiant energy. Maddy's aura is slightly bigger, but still an average size.
    I am still surprised by the fact that a small machine and a computer can know so much about me from a hand print, and most of it accurate. It was funny because at first I thought the scanner was wrong, but then I really thought about it and I realized most of it was true. My Dad said I could strengthen my chakras through meditation, so maybe I'll work on that for a homework assignment.

-Izzy


Hello People Reading This,

If you have a Energy Reader anywhere near you, go and ask if they can read your Aura. You will be so amazed. My Aura is yellow which means creative, easy going, intellectual, humorous, philosophical and optimistic. Maybe I'll change when I get older, but I hope not. I like being yellow. Over all, that expeiriance was AWESOME.

-Maddy ;)

Last Fall when I first spoke voice-to-voice with the owner of the apartment we are renting in Mumbai, I asked for a list of things to do, and also for feedback on my ideas. And because a typically required stop in any large city like London, Tokyo or Moscow is the subway system, I asked about the train lines in Mumbai. When I inquired whether we could ride the local trains like the locals do, he replied, "Yes, I suppose, but why would you want to do that?" He went on to explain that cars with drivers are safer and not very costly. But he did add, "If you want to try it once just to see, I'm sure you would be fine, but it is not for your children."

So when Suzanne booked us for an Aura and Chakra Energy reading session in the south part of the city (more on that in a later post), we decided to try a 45-minute ride on the train system in order to avoid a 90-minute car ride from up north. And to try the experience without the kids!

Where we are staying there are exactly ZERO Caucasian tourist, so we really get looked upon. And from the get-go on the local commuter train platform, you would thought we had three heads. When the train arrived it was beyond packed, but we did see a car that looked somewhat open, so we hopped on. After about a minute, we were told several times that we were in the "Handicapped" car and should not be there. We also noticed all the women on the train were sitting together in one car as well.

So, two stops later we hopped off and tried to get back on our own train in another car, but to no avail as the crowds pushed us back. Seven minutes later we tried again, this time with Suzanne properly in the lady's car and me one car further down. Suzanne was able to get on somewhat easily (by Indian standards) but I was rebuffed again as again, it was to far too over-crowded. The train started to pull-away without me and I did not want to get separated from her in this city, so I did what any Indian in a hurry would do, I jumped in like a mosh pit and grabbed the last handle available and hung out the door (like in the picture).

It was actually quite fun and I just hoped my hand didn't slip off the sweaty metal hanger, or my face didn't meet a signal post going past. As also depicted in the picture above, none of the doors actually ever close and hanging out is common (especially for the studly 20-something men), as is jumping off a slowing train and running across large sets of tracks to avoid the crush of people on the platforms. The good news was this was not one of the more rural lines where people sit on the tops of the cars.

On the way back we boarded in the main station so Suzanne sat in a 'men's car' with me, but one Indian gentlemen actually got up and moved because of her presence. I'll have to do a little research to determine as to whether we insulted him, or it was out of respect, or...?

The richshaw driver home from the train station was the most aggressive we have had to date, and I would back him in NASCAR. He put that rickshaw in places that just seemed impossible. Plus, in busy intersections (most with no traffic lights), he would barrel head-on right at another vehicle in a game of chicken, only to have both turn sharply to avoid each other at the last second; and all I could think of was an amusement ride where your car whips 90-degrees to the right at the last second and you go through doors into the next room like in "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride". In the five days we have been here, however, we have not seen an accident of any type and we are starting to scratch our heads?

The metaphor for the train is a good one for Mumbai; we're just trying to hang on. When our Indian friend from New Delhi (in the north) heard we were going to India on our World Trip, she was smiling and happy for us; but when we told here the main stay was in Mumbai (in the south), she immediately frowned and asked why? "Mumbai is large, loud and frantic...and hard. Even many Indians don't like to go there." Upon hearing this, a part of me panicked as we had already booked flights and got an apartment, but another part of me thought, "Oh yeah Mumbai, bring it!" I just thought, what is the worst that can happen, after all, we are not camping in the desert. We can always put our tails betwen our legs and go to a Western Hotel and watch the BBC for a while.

We were smart enough, however, not to book an apartment in a regular neighborhood like we are doing everywhere else, as the frantic 24-hour pace and noise would have been too much, so we are in a gated high-rise complex, typical of what you would see near any major airport in the U.S. Right outside the gates are extreme poverty and pollution, but, we are still taking rickshaws to shop and are cooking our own foods.

I'll let Maddy post pictures of this apartment and we'll keep pressing ahead until Sunday when we go to Delhi - and then we'll get to see if that city is truly less frantic, or if that opinion is more of a local's north/south regional pride POV! :D

Oh, and P.S., the total train-ride time with richshaws and walking took about 2+ hours each way, so no time saved at all. It was all just for the sheer thrill of it!

- Mike

Maddy's face pretty much sums up how our first few days in India went.  
After a long overnight flight on Valentine's Day from Ethiopia to India, long lines at immigration, (albeit in the NEW terminal), confusion about the size of car that is needed to carry 5 people and 6-months of luggage, a taxi driver that took us to the wrong neighborhood (in the dark) and missing keys at the front desk, we made it to our apartment in Mumbai only to find that the third bedroom designated for Ben did not come with a bed but a quilted mattress on the floor.
Dad to the rescue.  Luckily the apartment owner also owned the unit next door that had a bed and was a bit cleaner.  Crisis of the week averted.  It took a about 3 days to get acclimated and overcome any remnants of the red-eye flight and by Sunday afternoon we were ready to venture out as a family. 
This is where the story gets interesting. 
A family of four can take a cab in pretty much any country. Families with 3 or more kids need a larger car. We agreed that an English speaking driver would also be helpful but not necessary. Mike is amazing at the art of pantomime.
Google 'private driver in Mumbai' and you get a website called www.driverinmumbai.com.  Seems easy enough, right?  Call them up and schedule a time/place (700 Rupees sounded cheap for 8 hours but who are we to judge?) then meet them in the lobby.  I'm thinking the hard part is going to be convincing the kids that more sightseeing will be good for them. 
The driver showed up on time and spoke English.  He was missing a key ingredient to our day though.  A vehicle.  No car. No minivan. No rickshaw.  Driver in Mumbai really is just that. A Driver in Mumbai.  You provide the car. 
At this point it is 4pm. Now the 700 Rupees made sense. The driver was kind enough to call a friend and try to get a car for us to borrow. No luck. So he called the local taxi company and arranged for a minivan and driver to pick us up and drive us south to the Gateway of India.  Then he waited with Mike until the car came.  An hour later and we are in the minivan headed south with the original driver, the new driver and three hungry kids. Let's all go see the Gateway of India.  And no, the 'drivers' had never met before but became our tour guides for the day. One big happy family.
As it turns out this was the perfect plan. One of them stayed with the car while the other showed us around the area. Even at a major tourist destination like this our family looks pretty out of place. We fooled everyone with Ben's Canadian t-shirt though.  (Thanks Grandma)

Check this one off our list. 

-Suzanne
 

There are five (5) ways cities are internationally ranked by size, and when it comes to population within an actual city limit, Mumbai is #2 at 20.5 million. 10 million of which are out driving at any given time, and 9.9 million that are honking their horns continuously. This place makes Buenos Aries driving look like a Seniors' parade (which it is, see below).

One of the most popular form of transit is the three-wheeled motorized rickshaw, which is part golf cart, part go kart, and part kid's ride at at an amusement park. Izzy and Maddie really love them and we were actually racing around in two today while the drivers tried to pass each other in strangulated traffic! It went from scary to hilarious in a matter of minutes. It reminded me of what Jerry Sienfield said about riding in NYC taxi's: "You're in the back seat, but its like watching a movie. And you're thinking to yourself, boy, that looks dangerous, I wouldn't try that in my car. And; Well, the man must know what he's doing; he is, after all, a professional".

The craziness of traffic cannot be described unless you have experienced it for yourself. Our friend Scott Chafin warned us, and said he first reaction when being driven around in India, was, "Aaaarrrgggghhhhhh!". And then his second, "Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhhhh!". Although statistically, according to the World Health Organization, it only ranks 77th worst out of 192 (and in the moderate category), whereas Ethiopia ranks 17th worst (and in the high danger category), while the U.S. at #107th worst, and Argentina a very safe #121 worst. Check out the rankings at: http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/road-traffic-accidents/by-country/.

So, research shows that this craziness with drivers missing each other by a matter of an inch or two is not all that particularly dangerous, and you can actually sense it a little, so you just relax and go with it. Although I cannot image what an actual accident would do to already permanently snarled traffic. :O

Oh, and the cost? About $1 USD for every 10-minutes of improbable accident avoidance. And at that price, it just might be the best thrill-ride value ever.

- Mike


Forget roller coasters, were taking a rickshaw! Like my dad said, rickshaws are awesome. It's half taxi, half Six Flags ride.

Me and my Mom were in one rickshaw today, while Izzy and my Dad were in the other. It was like go carts. Me and my Mom's rickshaw kept getting in front of Izzy and my Dad's every time they tried to go in front. There's a bunch of bumps in the road so so bounce around all the time and it's really fun.

So if your ever in India, you HAVE to take a rickshaw ride.

- Maddy

Part of what I hoped to experience on this trip was meeting some special people along the way - and in addition to our host family, we also met a very special man in Ethiopia - the van driver that showed us the town and country.

Ato (Mr.) Ayele Menkir (a-YELL-ee) is a retired High School English teacher with great conversational skills, a deep knowledge of Ethiopian history, and a very savvy navigator of the treacherous Addis Abab roads. He was our driver, tour guide, interpreter, Grandfather-figure - and good friend for a week. After sitting next to him for many straight half-days, we became like a cop-buddy movie act, and I prided myself in trying to make him laugh. He has a big family with a daughter in Norway and one in Australia plus a few still in town. If he is reading this, I hope he corrects any of my "misremembered" facts! :)

Suzanne was just as enamored of Ayele, but not the 4-hours-a-days in the smoky, lurching traffic. The front seat was part history lesson and part laugh-fest, but the back seats were all loud. bumpy and quese-inducing (especially after taking Malaria pills with strong coffee on an empty stomach!) I could have driven around all day with our new friend, but Suzanne wanted to get to our destinations and hop on out!

Here's to Ato Ayele, a great man who was amongst the many people that made Ethiopia a great stop on our World Classroom trip.

Now, off to Mumbai, India on the redeye!

- Mike

As Suzanne mentioned, our host in Ethiopia, U.S. Ambassador Ruben Brigety II and his wife Dr. Leelie Sellasie, took us to tour the African Union (AU) complex and to see and hear the famed Harlem String Quartet as they were brought in to play at several U.S. Embassy hosted events.

The African Union celebrated its 50th Anniversary last year and is the evolutionary body of the OAU, Organization of African Unity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Union). The AU complex and headquarters is in Addis Ababa and Ambassador Brigety who is the Ambassador for the AU, frequently has meetings there, but is officially housed at the U.S. Embassy.

From what I could surmise, the AU is part European Union and part African mini-U.N. It seems to be more about continental cooperation and intra-government communication, and not currently involving a common currency and banking system.

The complex is new, stunning and was very educational - and we wanted to share a few pictures.