Alarm set for 8:00 a.m. up at 9:15 ;) 1st shower since we got here, filty, filty girls! thing is we didn't know how to work the shower until then.
Breakfast in Crosswords - such a santuary in the madness that is Mumbai - have to seriously negotate getting accross the road and moving through the crowd on the footpath. taxi's seem merciless and always have one hand on the horn and one foot on the break - the best thing about the taxi's are the breaks !!! headed for Colaba and the Gateway of India to venture on to Elephanta Island. taxi driver ripped us off by driving us past security and pleading starvation and a gaggle of children to feed so for a journey that cost max 70 rupies he insisted on 100! we learned quite a lot from this exchange. the boat trip to the Island was quaint and though i was keen to talk with the only other Europeans on the boat but they were not enclined so we sat there like two kids on a school trip laughing and giggling with excitement and pinching ourselves at the thought of our positioning on the Arabian Sea and our oppenness to all that may unfold. Cathy kept getting out of the way of a man who kept trying to photograph his son till i told her he actually wanted her in the photo ;) ...he must have taken a dozen pictures!
I hope there are some pictures of the weathered faces, hands and feet of the fisherpeople who populate this Island and of the lived in faces of those who sell their wares on the ascent to the Caves - we'll see. There are times it is very difficult to stomach the smell of some areas and there are times it is very easy to smell the sweetness of those who labour so intensely, have nothing but can give you the look of a sage and the blessing of a thousand saints with one glance.
The statues of Elephanta gracefully and masterfully present all who visit with all the sophistication and drama of a bollywood movie. Honestly the carry on of Shiva and Parviti (can't remember how to spell her name)reads as a page turner and unfolds like a soap opera.
Shiva was stunning and the three headed monument to him on the back wall that stands about 30 feet in a cave that was only very recently uncovered is a beauty to behold. He meets you on entrance with his dance of creation and to the right stands before his foes with multiple arms as he kills the demon Andhaka, but best of all is to the far left where Shiva transcends gender and is elegantly carved into stone, divided down the middle the found face, breast and hips of the feminine on his left and the slender toned masculine on his right, uniting both sexes in one body. and on and on and you can't help but stand befor this majestic work of a nation of people who hadn't a angle grinder or polisher bewteen them but toiled to create and honour their great gods and leave us with their splender.
Back to the Gateway of India we spoiled ourselves with a visit to the Taj Mahal Hotel and had tea in the Sea Lounge. Now folks, believe me when i say it lives up to it's name. happily we got lost and got to see much more than we might have :) the guy who served us was delightful and when we were leaving he ran after us and presented us with a half a rasin cake (think we gave a massive tip or something). apparently the guy who built this did so after he was refused admission to a European hotel in Mumbai because he was of Indian origin - what a fingers up eh! we also passed the hotel that snubbed him, which was very elitist at the time, suppose you guessed that one, anyway it's a ramshakkle rund down rat infested hovel but thankfully it gives shelter to many of Mumbai's homeless :)
oh, forgot to mention, we were approached at our table, overlooking the city and the sea, by a member of staff who asked: are either of you gentlemen Mr Giddings! well we laughed and laughed. it was such a treat to visit the Taj.
Returned to our hotel to a note from Aine saying she was back from a month in Ladakh and to call her: yehoooo! well i think a supernova was born in the moment we met i was just so happy to see her and how much more special that i was in her adopted hometown. off we went to a local haunt to the most delicious food then down to the Ghetto where the rich progressive kids hang out to funky music and pool tables. now lads, a little context for you: up to now we'd only seen women begging or selling or on the backs of mopeds with male guardians and now they were euro dressed, hair died, drinking and smoking and horror of horrors having fun! think Aine got a sore throat after this night, Cathy got a cold and i couldn't get enough sleep to take the zombie out of my pores.
ah well, another day operating on the many relms of existance, shifting up and down gear and witnessing.
Oh yes, forgot to mention, we're taking malarone anti malaria meds and it would appear that me Darling's hair is getting darker and darker! lets watch with interest!
