learning to fly

January 14 is a day that everyone in Jaipur looks forward to--it is celebrated as the first day of spring (although the weather begs to differ), the Hindu pilgrimage to Galtaji, and the annual kite festival.

Mankar Sankrati is a state holiday, and residents of Rajasthan spend the day on rooftop terraces with kites, loud music, and plenty of food! Amit and I ventured into the wall city to our friend Chetna's home. Her rooftop provided the perfect vantage point for watching the kite fighting and making our own attempts. My little purple kite lasted about five minutes before it was taken down by a triumphant neighboring kite flyer. However, my kite string wasn't coated with glass or rice like the serious kite fighters. My iPhone isn't exactly kite picture friendly, so this picture from Gujarat gives you an idea of what the spectacle looked like:

Shops and street stalls around the city had colorful kites for sale.

 

It is actually quite dangerous to be riding through the streets of the wall city during the kite festival. Kite strings are tangled through the streets, and its very easy for an unsuspecting rider to get a string wrapped around them. A five year old girl riding on the front of a motorcycle was strangled by kite string during the festival this year. A student organization mobilized to rescue birds that were injured by haphazard kite strings.

My favorite part of the festival was riding through the city and seeing all the sellers of the balloons for the kiddos not quite ready for the responsibility of kite flying.

The flying closes at nightfall with the gathering of fallen kites for a bonfire and celebration of the day.

dock of the bay

I swear, this post will contain nothing about a fort.

Work sent me to Mumbai at the end of December, so I had a chance to get out of the desert of Rajasthan and ring in the New Year in a new and foreign place. Like Delhi, Mumbai is an undulating mass of people and vehicles. However, I found myself liking Mumbai leaps and bounds over Delhi. The people are friendly, the city is cleaner, and I felt safe everywhere I went.

Mumbai is about the same size as Chicago, and 20.5 million people call it home. It is comprised of 7 islands that the Portuguese referred to as Bom Bain, meaning "good little bay". In the mid-nineties there was a political campaign to change the name from Bombay to Mumbai, as many claimed Bombay was simply an bastardized version of the original name. Many people use the name interchangeably and I have yet to decide which moniker to stick with.

Despite being the financial and commercial capital of India, 62% of its inhabitants live in the slums. Where we see large gaps in financial status in the US, Mumbai's class gaps are staggering. Mumbai is the home to Dharavi, the world's 2nd largest slum. It covers an area of 535 acres and has its own micro-economy within its confines. I've read that it has a turnover of over $500 million USD per year. The people living in the slums have filled gaps that others (upper class) refuse to do themselves. For example, Dhobi Ghat is a large open air laundromat that has garnered the business of hotels, hospitals, and those in high rises.

Other enterprising inhabitants created slum tours for people to view the activities of the slum in an up close and personal manner. The tours are guided by youth that have grown up in Dharavi and close to 80% of the proceeds go back to those in the slums. The guide I met spoke impeccable English and definitely contradicted everything I had imagined. Although I didn't go on a tour myself, I suspect I will go on one before I leave India.

Mumbai is also home to Bollywood, which is the world's largest producer of films. In my experience, they are long and overly dramatic. They almost always contain multiple dance numbers and I can't help but giggle every time. It's hard to take a drama or action movie serious when the characters break out into spontaneous dance numbers.

 

In contrast to the palaces and other historical sites that I've grown accustom to in Jaipur, Mumbai is decidedly cosmopolitan. The architecture has a distinct Gothic appeal and clear influence from its time as a Portuguese and later British colony. 

One of the most recognizable landmarks in Mumbai is the Gateway of India (not to be confused with the India Gate in Delhi). It is in southern Mumbai facing the Arabian Sea, and was build to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary. Today it stands as a reminder of the British colonization of India. It was the perfect place for tea and watching the boats come into harbor.