India. It has been calling me ever since I realized how vital world travel is to my life; it always seemed like the sort of place that would saturate my senses and bring me closer to the ultimate truth of reality I seek in my life. I crave answers to the Big Why of existence and while a one month tour of the Sub-continent could never possibly fulfill me, it is always enlightening to experience an alternate reality to the one I am accustomed. Boarding a plane and disembarking on the other side of the world is simple and easy, and with a few Dollars converted to Rupees, my life continues uninterrupted as I find the basic elements of survival–food, water, shelter– in a new context. Familiarity vanishes (except for my travel companions, Alaina, Eric and Sarah) and I am forced to adapt and evolve, settling into a different rhythm played by another culture.
And so we arrived in Mumbai… It was about midnight by the time we found a taxi and were on our way to a hotel in the Colaba neighborhood. The first common yet bafflingly unfamiliar element we confronted was the driving style in this country. The cars function (usually) like those I know, but the operators seem to abide by a completely different set of rules than I learned in Driver’s Ed. Traffic lights and lane dividers exist but are completely ignored in all respects, while vehicles of all sizes and speeds flow within inches past and towards each other. The main rule of the road appears to be: Don’t Slow Down. Efficiency is prized above safety, and as a passenger I have little choice but to put my faith in the wheelman as he (I have not seen a female driver) puts his faith in whatever God he prays to when he starts his car. It is hilariously terrifying at times, but how can one truly appreciate life without an occasional whiff of death?
I am fortunate to have a friend living in Mumbai (which he still refers to as Bombay). Suhaas was a classmate at Middlebury and is now composing music and acting in Bollywood films so our first night in Mumbai actually turned out to be remarkably similar to our nights in Brooklyn: hanging out, drinking beer, listening to American indie rock and laughing with friends in a small apartment until 4am. It was a warm welcome to the country and a great introduction to some wonderful people that made this planet seem a little smaller.