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..