sikkim pix

from our stop in gangtok then the trek in sikkim in the himalayas...

mumbai - i'm leaving

Sorry for lack of updates since New Year. String of things good and bad kept me busy. Now I want to send out a quick email before I leave Mumbai for the Himalayas and then on back to San Francisco.

My dad came to visit in early January. We took a weekend trip to Jodhpur in Rajastan, saw fort/palace, Hindu and Jain temples, and rode camels on the edge of the Thar Desert.

Then I got bronchitis. The cough I had from before never fully went away and came back with a vengeance. It's mostly gone now.

Meanwhile, C and I were dealing with a complete mess with our subtenant. I'll tell more about that in some other email, though I know some of you got more than enough details already. Thanks again to all who helped out. It got resolved early February, so C was finally able to come to India a couple weeks after.

My sister came for a two week visit. I was able to take some time off work, so we went and did a quick week tour of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. Saw Taj Mahal and many other monuments, palaces, forts, ruins, etc. Had a good time together.

C arrived a week after sister left. She got bombay belly so wasn't happy for a bit. I was pretty busy at work. This week was our first chance to play.

Yesterday was my last day of work. We'll go to Sikkim in northeastern India for some trekking. We'll see India's highest peak, the third highest in the world. Also stop in Darjeeling. Then back to Mumbai for a day before flying home.

new year in india

2-Jan-05

I'm sitting here crunching a Munch bar--wafer layers with delicious chocolayer, only Rs.5--that Zoey got me hooked on. It's 11pm at the end of my New Year weekend.

I found an Indian film showing with English subtitles, so went to that tonight with Howard (another American working here). He and I did some shopping earlier in the day. I'm not much of a shopper, but he is, so I figured I should try it since I know I'll have to show my sister the shopping spots in a few weeks. I have to say I prefer staying further up town near my hotel where it's not so touristy. In Colaba, the street vendors are non-stop on you to buy something.

Yesterday for New Year day, I got off my butt and took in some more sites. I visited Mahalaxmi Temple and Haji Ali Mosque - both walking distance, at least for me, from my hotel. Haji Ali Mosque sits out in the water. The causeway leading up to it had a steady stream of people coming and going and was lined with souvenir stalls on one side and beggars on the other. While there, some India tourists wanted to take a picture of their kid with me. Apparently this is thing for India tourists. Sorta like us wanting to take pictures of ourselves with the colorful village folk. "Look at our pictures from Bombay...Here's the Gateway, here's a mosque, oh and look, here's little Raju with a white person." Good to see things from the flip side, though I hear it gets tiring at places like the Taj Mahal where you're the object of too many photo-ops.

Along the approach to Mahalaxmi Temple, I was refreshingly ignored--no hawkers trying to sell me anything. It was a very busy day for devotees, they and I waited in line for almost an hour to enter. I had nowhere I had to be, so why not do as the locals do? I just let myself get pushed along with the crowd--literally. Security was tight, had to pass through metal detectors before taking off our shoes and being herded through the maze of a line to the temple where people pushed to get their tray of flowers, coconut and sweets blessed before being herded back out. I did get a little room to breathe after that before leaving the grounds.

New Year's Eve, I was able to leave work early and go to a party. Madhav, the guy stationed in SF who hired me, is back in town for the holidays. His friend threw a party at his big old historic house in Malabar Hill--three stories with grounds and gardens. At least half the folks I met there were NRI (non-resident Indians) living in the US, Australia, Europe, Africa. In typical (?) Bombay fashion dinner was served at around 2am. There was a DJ and dancing. The music was mostly America ranging from Eminem to Elvis, with some Indian and African stuff thrown in too. My favorite though was seeing an Indian Christina Ricci look-alike dancing to Achey Breaky Heart. A close second was when they played Hava Nagila and almost everyone, myself included, sang along.

Last weekend, Christmas, met Zoey at a beach in Goa. Goa was a Portuguese colony, so I saw several Catholic churches along the bus route from the airport (I've had a multi-religious week). It was great to get out of the city and see a bit of village life even if it was total beach tourist stuff. The air was cleaner, noise was much less. I kept away from the big hotel scene and stayed at a beach further south which just had huts. I got to ride a public bus for couple hours and see pigs on side of the road snorting through garbage and classic shots of water buffalo with those white long-necked birds on their backs. Coconut milk out of a green coconut, pinacolada at a table in the sand. you know all that good stuff.

We were both pretty out of it since I'd worked all night before getting on a plane, and she had been awake on a train all night from Kerala. We mostly just sat on the beach that day waiting for happy hour. Oh, wait, I did manage to take a good walk to a restaurant on a neighboring beach for lunch to sample some amazing Goan sea food dishes. During happy hour at our hut camp, we got some language lessons from the waiter, Stalin (pronounced with an "a" like stallion). Our new "friend" (dost) was also our waiter at dinner, and it became clear he was quite taken with Zoey. At one point he was telling us how much he liked her and that she reminded him of a "baddy guh". The Honey Bee brandy he'd been sipping had a great effect on his accent. A what? A body girl? That seemed quite bold. He repeated, circling the center part of his face and we figured out he was saying "bald eagle." At that I smiled and he went off to put in our order, but he got side tracked along the way (would we ever get our meal?). When he returned, after perhaps another shot of Honey Bee, he said "I will call you nose," and walked away (we hoped this time to the kitchen.) Wow, way to make it with the ladies. I couldn't help laughing though I thought Zoey might slug me.

A different guy (young) was helping to set up our room that night and for some reason thought we were Russian. He told us he loved Russians and hated Americans. We told him we were American and asked why he hated us? He said oh well he didn't hate us, but America supports Pakistan and he hates that. Said he had tried to join the Indian Army, but was too short. Not sure how prevalent that thought is. It's the first I've heard it here.

The next morning, we saw news about the earthquake and tsunami, but didn't quite realize the enormity of it all. That evening before dinner we sent email to immediate family letting them know we were on the west side, nowhere near affected areas. Then we're sitting for dinner at an outside table on the beach about 70 meters from the high water mark, chatting away blahblah, and I notice the tide has just come up almost to the table! We hopped up and moved stuff back. Then went and packed out bags in case we had to leave. The tide came in like that and then back out again about every 20 minutes for most of the night. It never actually reached the structures on our beach, but the beach just north of us had some flooding in buildings. This started about 14 hours or so after the waves first hit the east side of the country. And Goa is pretty far up the west coast.

I haven't turned on the TV tonight to watch the news , but last I saw yesterday the death toll from tsunamis was around 140,000 and had caused destruction as far as Somalia, Africa. Unbelievable. Yet I might as well be back in the U.S. for how little it seems to have touched life here in Mumbai. It's all you see if you turn on the news or open a paper, but people aren't talking about it during the day. I guess maybe it's like being in the midwest and hearing about an earthquake in Alaska or a hurricane in Florida. Before this hit, there were a couple other stories that dominated the news every day, but folks weren't talking about those either. Or maybe they were, but just not to me, and in a language I don't understand.

I'm finally starting to learn a few Hindi words. I had been so concerned before leaving the US about re-learning this software I'm working with that I barely even looked at my India travel book, let alone try to figure out anything of the language. Hey, here's my mini India culture/history lesson (brought to you by this non-resident, non-Indian)... Just about each state in India has its own language. Think of Europe as being one big country with all its languages, cuisines, and other cultural differences. English and Hindi are the sort of common across the board languages, but there's resistance from southern Indians to having Hindi as the official national language because it's more widely spoke in the north but is definitely a second language to those in the southern states, whereas English is a second language to everyone.

Well time for this weekend tourist to get ready for the work week. I'm going to get a quick news fix before going to bed. I've been fairly shut down emotionally since arriving here (on overload I think) but the coverage of this tsunami is starting to work on me.

i'm fine

28-Dec-04

just a quick note to let you know that i'm fine.
i was on beach in goa at the time of the quake & tsunamis. it's on the west side of india so not much affected. we got some high high tides later that night. the beach just north of us had flooding, but no major damage.

the whole east side of india and even some far-south western parts got hit. really bad, the death toll is so high.

i met someone a few weeks ago from chennai (madras) but i think she was traveling a lot for work, so probably not home at the time. she likely knows folks affected though. and my friend zoey who i was with in goa had a friend who had gone to sri lanka to surf. she has not yet heard from him.

people i spoke to at work don't know anyone hurt by it. so that's good.

mumbai - i'm still here

20-Dec-04, Monday 3:50 AM

My cold turned a corner and I now have coughing fits. I am a consumer of Halls these days. Maybe I should go for something stronger. I hear you can buy all kinds of goodies at the chemist. Codeine cough syrup might be in order.

Had lunch on Wednesday with Jair, the mother-in-law of a friend living in Paris, (formerly a neighbor in Brooklyn). She had just arrived in Bombay for a few days before heading off on a tour in northern India. We walked around my neighborhood and tried to get close to the Towers of Silence but were turned back before we even saw the walls. The towers are where the Parsis leave their dead (and it's just up the hill from my hotel). They believe earth and fire to be sacred so do not bury or cremate their dead. Instead the bodies are left in these tall open towers for vultures to pick. Though we were not able to gawk, we did enjoy the quiet gardens on the way. Um, have I mentioned before how noisy and crowded it is here?

I returned to my hotel Friday night to find it decorated for Christmas. Just one week out instead of months. It was surreal to hear Christmas carols in a department store yesterday. I stepped in from the heat, noise, crowds, and I'm looking at Levis next to a decorated tree listening to a medley of Christmas tunes. weird.

Saturday I caught a bit of the Daily Show with John Stewart (international edition). Seems that CNN Asia is carrying the Comedy Central hit. Ah, a bit of home.

Later that night I met up again with Andy and Laurel, the couple from San Francisco who are designing a vineyard tasting room in Nasik, a town outside of Mumbai. They invited me to a friend's Christmas party. Also encouraged me to check out the modern art museum here, which I promise to do eventually. Met a TV producer. There's a big media frenzy this week in Mumbai caused by a photo of two Indian movie stars caught kissing in public. It's a big deal, even though movies show very suggestive stuff, they stop just short of showing lips actually touching.

After too many Indian whiskeys I went back to the hotel, and instead of doing the obvious thing of sleeping, I tried out running again. 4K, not bad, so I may do the marathons' fun run after all. Registration was closing last week and my boss's assistant tried to sign me up, but the run was full. She said I could sign up for the half marathon instead. I said oh no I couldn't. I think they might have some connections somewhere and may be able to get me in to the 7K. If not, then I guess I'll be sleeping late on 16 Jan.

Even later that night I watched some MTV. Strange to be 1/2 way around the world finally being exposed to American pop culture I've been avoiding the last 15 years. Adam Ant is lookin kinda old these days, even with the makeup.

Tonight I had dinner at my co-worker, Dharmendra's home. We often have lunch together and he gives me tastes of the food he brings from home. His wife was happy that I liked her cooking, so wanted to make me a proper meal. It was delicious, and she seemed genuinely thrilled to have her food appreciated by an "international". It was odd though having her and her sister serve us food, clear our dishes, etc, but not join us until afterward. She said they'd already eaten (not being on the night shift eating schedule), but I wonder if it would be much different earlier in the evening.

OK, here's the transport report for the week. Dharmendra met me at my hotel and we road the train together to the "suburbs" an hour away. The suburbs are only marginally less crowded. He kept offering the taxi, but I wanted a train experience. I know better than to ride the commuter trains during peak hours, but this was Sunday. It was fairly calm. I even got a seat. I've seen trains go by with people packed in and hanging out the doors during the week. From the station to his apartment, I had my first auto rickshaw ride. They are not allowed in central Mumbai. It's a covered three-wheel motorized cart. Much bumpier ride, but more head room than in the regular taxis. (The regular taxis are short, with a sloped roof, so if I lean back in the seat and the car hits a bump, I hit my head--and I'm not even very tall.) Dharmendra and I went out for a beer before dinner. We took his motorbike. I'm glad I've had some time to adjust to traffic here before getting on the back of a motorcycle. Nothing to report on that ride, however my taxi ride home was interesting. Driving down the "highway" which just means we're able to go faster than 20 kilometers/hour, a car sideswipes us, knocking the taxi toward the middle divider. We didn't hit it, the taxi driver seemed just somewhat miffed, and we just continued driving, no problem.

I think that taxi must have been parked near a mosquito breeding ground because I now have so many bites on my ankles and calves. First mossies I've seen here. I'm itching like crazy as I write, and hoping they weren't carrying malaria.

I won't be taking the week between Christmas and New Year off from work. Since my leave days are limited, I decided to wait until I have visitors. In early January, my dad will spend a week here. I think we'll take a weekend trip to Jodhpur in Rajastan, maybe ride a camel even. Then late January C will come to stay with me until the end of my trip in March. My sister will also come for a visit end of Jan for two weeks. The three of us will head off to Delhi, Agra (Taj Mahal) and Jaiper. In March, C and I will probably do some low altitude trekking in Sikim in the Indian Himalayas before headin' on home.

So for now, I might settle for a short weekend trip to Goa at Christmas.

PS. It's the next afternoon, Monday, and I awoke to a band playing across the street--a couple flutes, small brass section and great Indian drumming. They are dressed in western marching band attire. It must be for a wedding. People are now coming out from the apartment building all dressed up. They're dancing, and I'm guessing will have a procession through the neighborhood shortly. Lot's of marigold and jasmine strands hanging on the building and covering their cars.

mumbai - i'm sick now

No not icky stomach kind of sick--I seem to be pretty lucky that way. Actually the only two times I've ever gotten nasty, stomach cramping, food poisoning, bodily functions I shouldn't go into, type of thing were in the US. No, this is just a cold, but it's hanging on and making me quite tired and grumpy. Started with a sore throat on Monday night/Tuesday morning and has been with me all week. Sorta low-grade, so I worked anyway, but I'm darn tired. All those grand plans of going places, seeing things, hanging out with people, volunteering and such... pffft. All I do is go to work and sleep. Most days/nights I spend 10 hrs at the office. I had gotten quite spoiled back at home with my flexible part-time job, riding my bike to work, taking a day off here and there just cuz I felt like it. This new work thing is kickin my butt, and it's only been two weeks. Sigh, maybe I'll get used to it. Or maybe I need to remember that I'm sick and I'll have more energy when I'm better.

I don't have a digital camera (though I may buy one after payday) so no pictures yet.

The guys I work with are quite nice. There are a few women at the office too, but none on the team I work with. The two other senior members of the team, Dharmendra (DJ) and Sidharth (Sid) usually have lunch with me around 10 or 11pm. We eat at the canteen at work. At first everyone was shocked I was eating there and not ordering out like the other western workers have done. "You like Indian food?" "Is it too spicy?" "Have you ever had it before?" There is one other guy from the US here right now named Howard. He said "They're letting you eat here?" Apparently they told him not to eat at the canteen (even though he does eat Indian food) because they thought he might get sick. I don't know, but I've been OK so far, and the food is free. and tasty for cafeteria food.

I even ate at the street stalls at Chowpatty Beach. Had yummy pani puri. Wasn't sure what I was getting into. I was going to go sit down, but the guy indicated that I needed to just stand there. He took a puffed dough thing, popped a hole in the top, stuffed it with stuff, put some juice stuff in it and handed it to me. I took a bite--bad idea, quite messy. Once I had finished that one, he made another. and another. after 3 or so, another guy in the stall took the next pani-puri and made sure he had my attention before popping the whole thing into his mouth. Ok, so now I knew the proper way to eat it. Less messy, but difficult to chew with my mouth so full. The guy handed me a few more. Finally I put up my hand, no more, but he indicated I still had two more. So I ate them. All for just 12 rupees. (less than 30 cents).

At lunch the other day, I asked Dharmendra about the Chief Minister (CM) vs governor because I was getting confused reading the local papers. He helped me out with that, then said he'd followed the U.S presidential elections this year and learned some of the terms. "But tell me, what is the difference with popular and elector?" Fortunately a couple years ago I had learned about the electoral college and was able to explain (sort of) the system, if not the rational for it. "Oh, so that's why Ohio was so important." He thinks it's good that the US has only two parties. In India if one of the major parties wants to get something done, they have to make compromises with the smaller parties.

Sid and DJ both live in northern Mumbai, near the national park (one of the few in the world with an urban zip code). They said the leopards occasionally get out and roam their neighborhood. yikes.

I find myself speaking differently here. Not with an accent (yet) but just more formally. Occasionally "what's up" or "how's it goin" slips out, but usually I don't use any slang. I haven't yet started doing the head thing, though sometimes I've felt like I was on the verge of doing it without even meaning to. Sort of a side to side shake nod bobble thing which means ok, or yeah yeah, or I'm listening, maybe even a full-on yes. I'll likely be doing it by March. Although the other day I noticed Dharmendra actually nod his head, probably because I nod my head so much. Didn't realize I did it that much til I started working here. He's explaining stuff to me and I'm all nod, nod, "uh-huh", nod "ok, uh-huh" nod nod "right, ok" nod. Gee, I should just bobble my head instead.

A company car drives me home early each morning. It's strangely silent. There's no traffic. All the taxis are parked along the road--all along the roads. it's amazing how many of them there are. It's strange to be out while everyone else is sleeping. I know they're sleeping because I see them all on the streets. Many many homeless people.

Monday before work, I met a woman, Subha, from Chennai in town for an AIDS conference. She used to teach at Columbia University in New York and now heads an umbrella organization to help out all the various NGOs in India working on AIDS issues (www.saathii.org). She gave me some names of organizations to volunteer with here. She also knows some folks in Mumbai who are into hiking and will put me in touch with them. I haven't been running again since the first couple days I was here. My knee started hurting. It got better and I was going to run Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with Subha while she was in town, but she was busy getting her lectures ready and I was feeling a sick and stuff, so we didn't go. I don't know, the 7K thing might not happen.

On Marine Drive is a place to try para-sailing --"First time in Bombay". I considered it. Then imagined my body in that water and thought better of it. Not the cleanest stuff around.

I'm not drinking much booze here. Just not likely to go out for a beer after work at 5am. However, last weekend Zoey, Bria and Amanda were all in Bombay passing through on their way south to Karnataka, so I managed to go out drinking with them. We even went to a night club with a family friend of Amanda's who lives here and writes for the Wall Street Journal. He said the scene was a new thing. The kind of people out that night wouldn't have been out ten years ago. The elite have always gone out, but there is a new middle class emerging now with all the BPO companies. They're making around $400/month and can afford to go out on the weekend. The music was pretty good (though too loud for the speaker system they had), mixing american hip hop with hindi beats--mostly it worked. Upon leaving, I learned that it's illegal for places to stay open past 12 or 12:30, so at 2am we had to "sneak out" down the back stairs, through a kitchen and out the back door. Phew, no cops.

Earlier that evening we went to the movies. Saw an old hindi classic hit from the 50s or 60s. It's been colorized and re-released. It wasn't subtitled, but was entertaining anyway. I couldn't last the whole 3 hrs though because I was too hungry, so I left during intermission. We went to the movies again on Sunday night. Saw an English language one. Even this shorter movie had an intermission. They always start movies with the national anthem, the audience stands. We saw Vanity Fair. It was OK. I hadn't known before that the director of it was Mira Nair (Mississippi Masla, Monsoon Wedding, and others). If you haven't yet seen it, rent Monsoon Wedding. I liked that one.

Speaking of weddings, driving around at night, you can see so many places really decked out for big ol' weddings. Last weekend was supposed to be quite an auspicious time for them. But I'm still seeing the lights and such, so I guess wedding are still happening even on these less auspicious days. Probably quite the party.

Went to the movies again this weekend. Howard and I saw Ocean's Twelve. My choices of movies are limited. I wanted to see Khamash Puri (I think that's the title) it won some awards at film festivals, but the version shown here is not subtitled. I can watch a bollywood blockbuster without knowing the words, but the more serious films, well I'd like to understand the dialogue.

Oh here's another interesting thing I see a lot. Two wheelers -- either scooters or motorcycles -- with the whole family on board. Dad driving. mom side-saddle on back cuz she's wearing a sari, older child in front of dad, small child on mom's lap. All riding along through the crazy traffic. Mom's scarf dangle in back, dangerously close to the wheel and maybe she's using one hand to talk on a cell phone. And yet, it seems to work.

Well, time to do a little meditative hand washing of my clothes. Next week I'll go find the laundry place that Bria and Zoey scouted out for me (the hotel charges way too much).

Hey, it's close to over, but Happy Channukah. There's an area of the city of Kochin (in the southern state of Kerala) which has one of the oldest Jewish communities in India (from about 2000 years ago). I may go to Kerala between Christmas and New Year.

Long update. Soon, I'll have nothing more to say. It'll all seem like normal boring stuff, but for now it's still new. Besides, what else am I going to do in the middle of the night, watch tv?

mumbai - main hoon na (i'm here now)

it's 1:30am (saturday night/sunday morning) and i am forcing myself to stay awake in order to get on the night shift track for work. i had just gotten over jet lag and into proper daytime in mumbai, and now i am having to switch back to u.s. time. well only four more hours to go, then i'm allowed to sleep.

hong kong - i had a 7+ hour layover in hong kong, so took the train into city center, rode the ferry to tsim sha tsui and got lunch at a street stall (some funky but yummy dim sum, big rice noodle thingy and fish balls.) got back to the airport just in time for my flight to mumbai via bankok.

mumbai, what a city. crowded, noisy dirty. like new york but much more so. keep the heat and humidity, throw in some cows on the streets, guys carry huge boxes, jugs, cinderblocks, etc on their heads, constant honking of car horns. now make the buildings older and much more dilapidated, add many more beggars and then we need the slums. oh and the traffic, whoa-ie. crossing the street is like that old video game, frogger. shrink the cab size but not the number of them, and have each of them lane-splitting to get the best position in traffic. and did i mention the honking?

there's also the hip and glamorous young things, swanky restaurants, bright lights-big city with wonderful old buildings all lit up at night, and you can find streets lined with colorful flower strands of marigolds, jasmine and roses.

breakfast is included at my hotel, so i had the pleasure of listening to muzak every morning in the restaurant (while i was still on the day shift). fortunately i was able to balance that out with hindi musicals on tv in the evenings.

i spent my first day walking. all day. i wanted to get a better sense of the city than i would have gotten by taking a taxi to and fro. but i was hot and tired by the end. it's exhausting walking around having to watch yourself every second so as not to step in any yucky stuff on the sidewalks (as if there really are any sidewalks), fall in a hole, get hit by a car, get approached by someone wanting you to buy something, etc. i needed a break so ducked into the overly fabulous taj hotel. i sneaked in and hung around the pool for a little while.

at dinner that night with my future co-workers, i told them where all i'd walked. they suggested i sign up for the mumbai marathon (asia's biggest). i don't think i'm ready for that, but i did a 30 minute "run" on the treadmill tonight to see if i might be able to do the 7K fun run instead.

had thanksgiving dinner (turkey and all) with a couple americans (friends of a friend who are also in mumbai for a few months of work) and their array of local friends here in the city, including a bollywood director and screenwriter. i didn't rub elbows with the stars though. they lent me a book which is supposed to be very good, called "maximum city: bombay lost and found." they also recommended "bombay duck." so if any of you are interested in reading about this place, try those two books.

friday i took a ferry ride to elephanta island to check out the old buddhist carvings in the caves. got accosted by a fierce monkey. he tried to steal my water bottle (twice), but i held my own even when he snarled at me - evil monkey.

my fiend who does aids activism in the u.s. and worldwide put me in touch with a colleague here in india. i'll meet with subha next week to see about doing some volunteer work on weekends. she also suggested i do the marathon as part of their group (visibility and all that). so i guess i need to start training -- only 6 weeks left.

i'm looking forward to a visit from bria next week as she passes through mumbai on her way to karnataka. might see zoey and amanada too, but i just don't know. um, y'all need to let me know where you are in this big country...

hey, i read in paper recently that india is the world's largest democracy (population wise), and the world's fifth largest economy (i think it's fifth, but don't quote me.) also today i read that according to the "gini index" of economic disparity between rich and poor that belarus is best (#1) along with a couple other eastern european countries, japan and some scandanavian countries in the top ten. india is around 58th and the u.s. around 79th. interesting.

ok, it's now 2:30am...3 more hours, but maybe i can cheat a little since i still have sunday night to move into new shift.

en route

not much to report so far... i'm in a lounge in the hong kong airport.
just wolfed down a bowl of congee, hong kong's version of cream of wheat (rice?) with peanuts and pickled vegetable.

arrived 7:00 tuesday morning (crossed the date line) after a 14 3/4 hr flight which left sfo sunday night around 12 midnight. i had a middle seat, the plane was packed. not much sleep, but i did zone in and out for a while with bollywood music piped in my ears.

i have a 7 1/2 hr layover, so will grab a shower before exploring another airport in a city i can't count as visiting (along w/ frankfurt, johannesburg, and seoul). my next flight stops in bangkok before getting to mumbai for a total of 8 more hrs. should arrive 8pm local time, maybe getting to hotel at 10.

i'll have a few days to explore mumbai before starting work. i should have more interesting news next time i write.

i think i'll check out the swanky bar at the taj hotel, take a ferry to elephanta island and check out the caves, see one of the nearby hindu temples, cruise the bazaars, maybe buy some more presentable attire.
maybe sleep....