Heading Off

Im heading out of Mumbai for the weekend again. Diwali day off tomorrow so early start.. Train back to Goa to visit the south my motorbike. Have been in a good routine here including an evening walk home after work 40 min along the beach and a morning jog. The humidity has dropped and much more comfortable. I have decided that you could live quite comfortably on the beach. The high water mark has everything.. All manner of food, wrappings, tooth paste, tooth brushes, clothes, syringes, condoms. etc You would never really need to shop if you dont mind reusing...
I have been hanging out at the Iskon Hari Krishna temple quite a bit in the evenings. Just 30 yards from where Im staying, it is very beautiful and has lots of chanting and incense You can also eat, Govinda restraunt (highly recommend!!) or from their food court. Well worth a visit if you are in Mumbai.

Happy Diwali!!!

Everyone is going a bit nuts here at the moment. It is Dawali season, crackers going off everywhere, people singing and dancing in strange places and lots of beautiful Puja (sand/rice/salt) drawings on the ground. Have to be careful not to stomp in a clumsy aussie way through them.
Puja

Im starting to run out of time here. I am visiting a few other Universties early next week and will just be at SNDT for another 3 days to write report, then off to Rajistan. I have been having a few meetings here with people from Social Inclusion regards potential for student exchange which could be a great thing for some of our Social Work students. My host veena has headed off to see her family so I wont see her again here. We have been having lots of lunches and gatherings in the lead up to Diwali which usually break into song, sometimes dance.

typical lunches form the Uni canteen: watermelon juice, lassi, noodles, thali..

A few pics

Women selling flowers. She was so excited seeing her picture in the camera, ran about showing all her friends

Girls selling fruit in Mumbai Jungle park

View of Taj hotel (site of terrorist attacks) en route to elephanta caves.

Checking out elephanta caves with a couple of fellas from Kerala

My working week

We start work a bit later here, which I have gotten into the swing of. Rather than rising before 7 and getting organised for 20k bike ride to work, I am awoken by the chiming of the temple bells across the road. When they ring 8 times I get up, call down for a bit of brekky, Chai and omlett toast sir!! And off to work by rickshaw at 9.25 for a 9.30 start. Very sedentary and I think my fitness has gone to the dogs. Ive started running a bit but it is so muggy I end up sweating about 10 buckets, drink loads of water and get bad calve cramps, which I think must be something to do with electrolytes. This morning I think the bell ringer got it wrong and I got to work an hour early and had to wait an hour before I could get in..

Last week I gave a few lectures and attended a conference on Afro-Asian philosophy. What has Afro-Asian philosophy got to do with my work you ask?? Well, a focus of the conference was rights, particularly in the context of womens rights and the impact of growing islamic fundamentalism, but the rights issues are transferable to disability or whatever. Some of the panel discussions got very heated. The discussion is really about whether the western notions of universal rights are transferable to a eastern context. Having this debate in a philosophical context is really interesting as the discussions are rooted in the philosophic traditions. There is not agreement about this issue with one school arguing that there are no absolute values/rights and all is context based and thus cultural/religious gender etc considerations important. The other school arguing that even without absolute measures you can have aspirational values to which all should subscribe regardless of context. Very interesting and I do have a better understanding of how importantly the critique of Western scholarship/cultural influence is viewed. Based largely on the central role spirituality plays in Indian society, which is seen as being absent in Western discourse.
My presentations went well. I gave 2 to staff in education and development, and one for students in the Masters Social Inclusion program. The student lecture was about social inclusion in an Australian context. The students were really interested and asked loads of questions. It freaks people here out when I tell them that Australia is twice the size of India and has the population of Mumbai. Helps explain issues of regional exclusion. The staff sessions went well also with a fair bit of discussion about the similarities and differences in the Higher Ed systems and inclusion.

Goa Breakfast Spot

Weekend in Goa

I hopped an overnight train to Goa for a weekend trip on Friday night. Sleeper on the train very relaxing and comfortable. Would have had a great sleep if not for the guy snoring his head off above me. Jumped on the back of a little motorbike driven by a guy called Anthony for the 70k trip to beach side Baga. Lots of people of Portuguese descent with names like Frank and Anthony which I don't quite get, but must be some reason for it.. Bought Anthony some lunch when we arrived which he bagged to take back to his family.

Goa was great. Not peak season so not too busy, but very much the tourists playground. Lots of beachside restaurants and bars, about 90% indian tourists and most of the rest Russian which surprised me. They travel on charter flights from Moscow and mostly look like bronzed beach gods, except they cant swim. Quite nice surf but no board hire and I was the only one bodysurfing on the beach. There is a busy industry on the beach of bracelet sales, jet boat hire, para gliding etc. I found a relatively quite spot of beach to swim, read and chat with a group of young fellas hiring the beach beds. They were all from different parts of India, slept in the kitchen of the bosses beachside restraunt shack which they were in the process of reconstructng for the coming busy season. All alongh the beach there were new bamboo and thach bars and sleeping shacks being constructed and the place will apparently be bedlam in a month. The young men were really nice and I felt quite safe leaving them to look after my wallet and things while I swam, which turned out to be the right hunch as they looked after me, and they want me to come back to stay when there restraunt is up and running(which I may try to do).

Hired a motorbike for a day, which took a 1 minute transaction involving no forms, lisences deposits.. Just handed over $7 and see you tomorrow. It was great being free to ride along the coast, checked out some old portuguese forts and a few beaches. the roads are realitively good in Goa and the trafic reasonably light so pretty safe riding.

Met lots of nice people travelling for the weekend including a lovely young woman from Kyrgyzstan who has been doing voluntary work in nepal and wants me to see if she can volunteer in Gujarat school. Really not that keen heading back to the crowds of mumbai from tropical beachside semi paradise.. Still had to be done; comfortable but no sleep on the train and no snoring to blame. Arrived 6.00 am at Dadar station, humid and already teeming with crowds, walking over to the suburban line across crowded, smelly wet muck covered lane, pushing into a crowded train with bag on head so as to fit in.. Sort of feeling like an old hand, coming back into Mumbai, but then got off train at the wrong stop so stuffing around before getting to hotel and heading, a bit tired to work to give a sparkling presentation to the SNDT staff.

Quiet Saturday arvo at a suburban train station. Who said Indians don't like sport? Getting on and off the train is like a rugby scrum..

Spent Friday on an outreach visit to Gujarat villiages with my host Veena and centre manager Parul. Normally they travel by train but we were taking a load of stuff for kids so went with a driver. I was dreading the drive based on last experinece getting out of Mumbai by road but it wasnt too bad. National trunk road to Dehli is wide, multi laned and not too many animals, ox carts etc. I still wouldnt want to drive, lanes are ignored(I suspect they just dont have the experince with lanes, or may be something cultural like queueing issues), and vehicles drive down the wrong side, even on the highway. At one sage our driver saw a jam ahead so cut across the median strip, to the far side of the oncoming lane, followed by a procession of copycats. We played chicken with oncoming vehicles for a while, until the jam was passed, then created a new traffic jam as we, and our followers tried to get back on the right side of the road.. go figure..

The creche and school we visited are amongst small villages, well away from services like power, water, medical etc but in very nice countryside. The school facilities are very sparce as they receive very little funding. I took a load of crayons and pads which was a hit, but wished to do more. One 10 yo blind boy at the school had no access to any type of learning, other than singing songs.

Kids at creche














Hate to play favourites, but the nicest smile in the school


Also attended a women's group meeting. The group pool resources to get bank accounts for small cottage industries. Started with a beautiful song on the porch sung by 15 women, singing about womens empowerment. Unfortunatly the meeting turned sour as a group leader had apparently not been banking funds and refusing to repay, so the meeting turned fairly bitter.

Me squatting with staff from the outreach centre

Mumbai school visit

Organised a visit to a 'special school' in suburban Mumbai. Got directions and headed off from the Uni. Bus to 7 Bungaows, take a rickshaw left at the post office down Aram Nagar 2 Road and turn left at the Jumbo King, the Reach school being on the right. Just mapping out directions as it set up certain images in my mind, post office, some fast food joint, school.. Even after being here 3 weeks I keep getting caught out by these images. Of course heading to 7 bungalows (no bungalows in sight) along bumpy jam packed road lined with people living under tarp, sleeping on crates down both sides. Prostitutes touting for business at the intersection, along with beggars. No post office in sight, wait, what does that shacks sign say POST OFFICE. Down the track onto a very bumpy dirt road, loads of roaming dogs and couple of cows, round the lake like muddy puddles and what's that rickety shack say on a little poster? Jumbo King!! Further down this narrowing dirt track, there it is The tiny sign on a tiny little house, Reach. Ill get pics when I visit next week for Diwali festival morning tea. Sort of strange that you get in there having had your expectations suddenly realigned, and find that the place is seems to work like most things in India, works, but just a bit differently.

6 tiny classes of 6 kids separated by partitions with a teacher each from junior primary to final year. The private school is set up for kids with learning disabiliites who were not coping in mainstream. They get intense tuition, and either remain in school and visit or move to reach. Really nice teachers were working beautifully with the children who were obviously enjoying the place. A different model to any I know of in adelaide, most of the children plan to go on to University. Nice set up but not for the poor..

Getting out of Mumbai

Kerry arrived for a visit and we managed a weekend trip out of Mumbai. Had planned to get a train but tickets hard to get so ended up on a bus(bad move). The bus was reasonably comfortable but it took about 4 hours of lurching before we finally left the city, by which time Kerry and I felt v nauseous. Fortunately no vommitus from anyone on the bus, which amazingly didnt stop for a wee break during the 12 hour trip. No sleep, arrived at Aurangabad to visit Ellora caves (really temples) feeling worse for wear.



Headed out to the world heritage listed caves and suddenly felt energised, beautiful peaceful countryside and the most inspiring temples carved out of solid rock over hundreds of years. The Buddhist temple has amazing acoustics. A guide in the temple started singing a chant and it echoed around the temple beautifully bouncing around the walls. Incredible to thing that the people that started digging out the stone, their children's children etc would have been digging away for generations before it started looking like anything but a hole in the ground. Persistence huh. They must have had some kind of powerful foresight.



Headed next day to Nasik, spiritual city with holy waters and hoards bathing, washing etc by the river. Very pretty, mixed with very dirty, as is the way. Train travel back was very relaxing, despite the crowd, chugging through the countryside and chatting with people in the carriage, many sitting around the floor. A young women with bright green eyes chatting, told Kerry she looked 'very unusual'. Very sweet.

Womwn's Centre Workshops

I have just been involved in 2 days of workshops being run by the centre which is hosting me. The Centre for Rural Development sits with the Research Centre for Women's Studies. The workshops were marking the first anniversary death of the woman who established the centre and played a significant role in the women's movement in India. There is a strong spirit of activism in the place, and they have been dealing with major issues of selective abortion of female foetuses, family planning rights, lack of access to education and employment, family violence etc. Over recent years the women's movement in India has begun working to redress caste based disadvantage.

Lectures at the workshops covered a broad range of issues, including Dalit literature, support networks for prostitutes, and the corporatisation and corruption of health care. (there are advertisements everywhere here for 'full body scanning') They are sure to find something wrong with you that needs fixing if you can afford it. I found the workshops really interesting and it was useful to be able to reflect on some of their practices and issues and how they relate to the issues of disadvantage in Australia and disability rights approaches. I have met up with academics from a number of schools here and from Uni of Mumbai. Have arranged to give presentations to students in the school of educational technology, the centre for rural development, special education, and the Centre for the study of Social Inclusion.

The Ganeesh festival finished a couple of nights ago. All the really big Ganeesh statues were wheeled to the beach by large processions, lots of fireworks, smoke and noise. In the evening the beach was jam packed with people as far as the eye could see. Everyone seemed a bit flat once it was over.

Yesterday I was on the road with people from the Unit here visiting the Uni of Mumbai which has a large, pretty green campus not too far from where I am working. Attended a workshop in plush surrounds but had to navigate peak hour traffic back to SNDT. I should have walked, though the absence of footpaths makes that a challenge. the traffic seems to be almost total gridlock. It is amazing how resilient people can be, and the way they find to make do with what is. If road rules were observed no one would go anywhere. To make the roads carry about 10 times the potential traffic, lights have to be run, wrong sides of road and footpaths used, and horns used as the mechanism to make sure all this action is communicated quickly and crashes avoided. (though I have seen a couple of crashes)

One families Ganeesh

Travelling to Juhu with Ganeesh

Crowds at Juhu emersing Ganeesh

After a full week in Mumbai I am feeling settled into a nice routine. No longer feeling ovrwhelmed by crowds. Have moved into a relatively quiet area in Juhu which is near the beach and the University where Im working. I can walk the beach to work in about 40 minutes, but mostly catch a bus or rickshaw. I have discovered that not all of Mumbai is jam packed with people, animals etc. There are some wealthy areas that have intact roads and footpaths and are less intensely crowded near where I am staying(no cows). I also discovered the central area of Colaba, which has lots of historic buildings, art galleries, parks and the Gateway to India a huge gate marking the arrival of brits in India. (see pic)

The Ganeesh festival is ongoing, with another 3 days to run. There will be a short break (15 days) and then a festival for Ganeesh's mother begins.. I wandered deep into some very tight and crowded back lanes last night and ended up very trapped by Ganeesh revellers carrying their offerings in large groups with incense and some kind of red chalk filling the air, groups of men drumming and women dancing. It was great except I started getting mobbed by young kids grabbing my hands and jumping round excitedly. When eventually I felt the need to get out of there it was a very slow process as there was no passing the processions which travel very slowly and filled the lanes.

Begging is a bit of a problem at times. Initially I was giving some small gift on occasion but ended up getting mobbed from all directions. I am now just offering a prayer which seems mostly to end the exchange. I was hasstled quite severly on the way back to my hotel Friday night by 3 young men who ended up trying to tackle me by the legs while one tried my pocket. Not a very nice experience as I ended up having to get quite forceful before they backed off.

Settling into the workspace. I have got internet sorted now and my host Veena is arriving back at the Uni tomorrow so will start introducing me around officially. Te University is interesting. Classrooms are set up like when I started school in the early 70s. Same wooden chairs and desks I think and just as hot as I remember, pre aircon. The staff in the Cenre for Rural Development are warmng to me I think. 3 of them were a bit worried about how I am getting around and decided to catch the bus with me on Thursday. I think they were worried as Id caught the wrong bus the day before(the only nubers I can read are on the back) and had to walk a bit. Very nice of them. I have been reading some interesting stuff in their library and like the way they position social extension (community development) as being one of the 3 functions of universities. (teaching, research and development) I think we may have once described the University role like that in Australia.

One highlight for me has been the lunch in the caf. Ive tried about quarter of the menu and haven't gone wrong yet. I have also become addicted to their sweet hot milk coffees. There are about 20 young people working in the caf cooking and serving tables. one big difference between countries is the number of people working in a job. There are lots of young people being pretty gently inducted into the workplace. Ive noticed lots of watching and being told how to do things. Even getting my hair cut there were two young boys wathcng on, being called to lean in and watch closely at particularly interesting points, then going back to sweeping or rearranging scissors. I think we could learn a bit in this space.

Next 3 things

Families singing in groups down the road, taking Ganeesh with offerings to the beach on carts with candles, incense and food. Everyone excited, yelling laughing and chanting in the evening.

TV commercial asking peope not to litter with a skit of someone throwing a peel out the window of a car and hitting a westerner. Seems quite absurd given the total environment here. There arent any toilets for people to use so there is bound to be some mess..

Having my haircut more carefully and meticulously than ever before. Even trimmed my eyebrows and ears...

three things

There are so many things going on in Mumbai I think it worth just picking 3 things a day.
First train trip from Khar where I am staying to Central Station CST.

Saw my first monkey at the station tied to a rope heading up the stairs with a small boy.

Man on the tracks dragging along a dead dog by a rope.

Shanty houses built over swamp everywhere, with people living along the tracks hanging clothes on wire, living under tarp.

rally near hotel

Arriving in mumbai

Getting off the plane feeling pretty knackered and out into the hot bustle (28 degrees midnight, 4am Adl time) while queuing to get a ticket to go into a queue to get a prepaid taxi voucher I saw Sunil again. He gave me his card and very nicely said to give him a call if I ran into trouble while in Mumbai. I headed to a cab, little black thing, maybe 60s Austin. I had to hold my door handle to stop it falling in my lap all the time and we stopped every few minutes while the driver jumped out, opened my door, grabbed the water bottle under my seat and refilled the radiator. (can you believe it) I had google earthed the hotel I had booked and thought it near the airport, maybe 10 min. I was wrong. We drove and drove. I was feeling pretty sick. I didn’t mention but my beautiful son had been home sick from school coughing his guts up all over the house for the past week. I had asked him to try not coughing on me to no avail. I knew it was coming on the evening before I left, and felt pretty bad on the plane. Now I was aching and coughing and very tired... The incredible crowds on the road, seeming lack of any road rules and constant beeping and dodging of all except the unconcerned cows and dogs everywhere; sickness and fatigue all contributed to an overwhelming feeling of OMG what the hell have I got myself into...

I have travelled a fair bit in some pretty rough places, but a long time ago. I really wasn’t expecting the degree of culture shock and had made some wrong assumptions about the wealthy side to Mumbai I had read about. I did know 60% of the population live in slums, but I didn’t realise how pervasive the crowding, and poverty would be.. getting finally to my hotel in the middle of the busiest most cluttered narrow streets filled with dogs people sleeping and begging on broken footpaths, piled with rubble and rotting stuff.. i finally crashed into my room feeling very insecure and wondering how the hell I would last months here..

Uneventful flight. Spent the 3 hours in transit at Changi airport chatting with a young engineer from Mumbai, intermittently interrupted to take photos of travelling couples (mainly Asians) wanting to be photographed sitting on a bridge over a fish pond we happened to be sitting by. The pond contained massive goldfish and was surrounded by what I took to be gaudy plastic multi coloured flowers. After chatting for a while and taking the odd snap, Sunil pointed out the plants imperfections (catipillar holes) and that they were real. , i’d forgotton what plants can look like when smothered in heat and water.

Sunil describes Mumbai; the only place to live as everywhere else is dull. Sunil also let me know I was arriving at just the right time as Ganeshi festival is starting tomorrow. Ganeshi he explained being the elephant headed god which scored its head when a jealous god had cut off his head in a rage over a tiff with someone else, and feeling guilty quickly stuck on the first head he could find. Time was of the essence for this type of surgery... Hense the elephant looking god. The moral of the story is something along the lines of new beginnings. You hang a ganeshi or pray to Ganeshi when something new starts like a new house or car Sunil explained. Sunil says he LIKES the gods stories but isn’t too much of a believer. Having been in Mumbai 2 days can see why he likes them. The Ganeshi festival runs for 10 days. Last night(Sunday) sitting outside a small diner with the street filled with cows, incense, families, women in saris, people, people, people.. and processions of carts of young men playing drums, women dancing, fire crackers banging and Ganeshi being wheeled along, bright and colourful, and lovely surrounded by flower candles and incense. AMAZING!!!. Having had moments of severe doubt about spending time here I suddenly felt this was the best place to be.. I didn’t mention It was a balmy night (of course) and I was eating probably the best food ever from this little shack..