Thoughts on Water, Traffic & more

Good Afternoon from Mumbai where I am feeling so much better after sleeping in a bit and organizing my life (including some pictures to share soon). In the light of day (it's not raining today - yeah!!), I can appreciate a few more things about my hotel including the excellent water pressure which I haven't had in a while.

Water is a topic I've been meaning to address here. It's a major issue as I had heard. Hotels make gentle requests of guests to be mindful of the water (as they do in most places now) but here the request is made with much more detail such as "turn on only the hot water while you are waiting for the water to warm so as not to waste the cold water." We always have bottled water everywhere (hotels, restaurants, etc.) so all of that plastic is a major issue as well. At the Leela, our first hotel, we received a detailed letter about how the monsoon season has been unusually dry this year (clearly before our arrival) and so they asked that guests please shower rather than bathe as that takes less water.

Traffic is another big topic. In Delhi, we went to Shonal's house for dinner. It should have taken us about 10 minutes but it took us over an hour going literally inch by inch- it was HORRIFIC. If we'd known how to get to her house, we could have walked much more easily. The honking never stopped. At that point, Matt decided to serenade me by singing some unknown-to-me Rod Stewart song so I knew he had really lost it - I think we were both delirious from the stress. We finally just had to laugh and joined in singing of Elton John's "Rocket Man" and we emphasized the line about how it's going to be a "long, long time"- which is exactly how I was feeling at the time! I cannot imagine having to face driving in that kind of traffic daily but I know hundreds of thousands of people do so everyday ... Driving in Big D has never looked so good..

So Shonal, our refined and complex companion, is taking us to the Mumbai Yacht & Country Club for dinner - wow! Shonal blows my mind everyday - the layers of my new friend are slowly revealed. She is from an upperclass family and her father had a stainless steel business. Her father had a very forward-thinking philosophy and he made sure that his daughters had opportunities to work and travel the world before they got married. Shonal had an arranged marriage and her husband's family has a business of mustard oil, the main ingredient in eastern Indian cuisine. It's obvious that Shonal could stay at home and never work on anything at all if she were so inclined. However, she is so, so committed to education and to working for a better future for the younger generation and those less fortunate. I really, really admire her because she knocks herself out everyday - her cell phone NEVER stops ringing as she tries to balance home and work. She is a mover and a shaker - and what fortitude to be dealing with me and Matt. AND, by the way, in addition to her teacher professional development company, she also oversees her family's committment to sustaining a rural school for 110 deaf impoverished children - Oh my goodness, WHAT an inspiration!!

Well, my two travel companions are soon to arrive so that we can set out on another day of adventure. I'd like to send a special "shout-out" to the students of Spanish IV at our Academy who I hear are following this blog with great enthusiasm - Thank you!! (BTW, I've learned that the study of Spanish is really growing in India - !Que felicidad!) I will be beyond excited if a few members of our student community register as as official "followers" - it will make me feel very "in" and modern which is important to me as you know.

Hasta Pronto from Mumbai,

cmn