The Shifting Sands

January 26th is a significant date as it is Republic Day in India and also Australia Day.  Both are important as they represent the establishment of and independent modern India and the start of the process of establishing Australia in its current form. Republic Day fell one day after the Prophets birthday.  The Muslim community expressed their religious independence by flying the Islamic flag: A secular society being one of Ghandi's founding philosophies for the Republic of India Islamic flag near Chor Bazzar on Republic Day Independence has many forms for many people and it is somewhat fitting that, along with large Soviet style military parades in Delhi, there was a large Enfield motor cycle rally in Mumbai.  For many people, nothing captures individual independence like a motorcycle, Easy Rider style, and an Enfield is the Harley Davidson of India Royal Enfield was the name under which the Enfield Cycle Company made motorcycles, bicycles, lawnmowers and stati

There is always a little anticipation about getting back on the rock after not having climbed for a while.  It had been several months since our trip to Badami and, despite my best intentions, I hadn't done any climbing on my last visit to Thailand. There is the normal performance anxiety over how much you have regressed since your last outing but in Mumbai there are other uncertainties. The new shop For those of you who have read earlier posts, you will recall that to access the crag you need to walk through a recently developed slum.  These people are new migrants to Mumbai and apart from those families who live on the streets, reside in the most basic conditions.  Last year, I had noticed a gradual encroachment up the hill towards the base of the crag.  The leading edge was the cutting of trees and branches for firewood, following by a gradual progression of the open toilet followed by an expansion of the shelters.  My concern was that the trees that shade the crag and

One of Lucy's ex-teachers, a Kiwi known to her students as Coach Tash has produced an excellent clip on You Tube featuring Mumbai trains.  It really gives you a sense of a key part of life for the people who contribute to the 7.5 million passenger journeys undertaken each day. As you can see I really have my work cut out in opening the first modern metro line in the City!

Our nephew Jack at Jack Corner One of our favorite places in Mumbai is Chor Bazaar, a grid of shopping precincts ranging from "bric a brac" to push trolleys, metal trunks, hardware, tools and car parts. The area is pedestrian only, when I say that I mean that there are no cars but you need to be always conscious of the high speed motorbikes treating the street like a slalom course. Ada making friends with the local wildlife There are goats everywhere as the locals are mainly Muslim and, without making generalizations  they always like some mutton. This adds charm as goats are my favourite animal both alive and dead.  They are intelligent, personable, hardy, eat anything, produce great cheese and are good to eat. Bollywood poster central Among the bric a brac shops you can find second hand watches, old movies posters, furniture, glass ware, toys, sun glasses and religious artifacts and iconography.  One of Kate's favou

Caves seem to be in vogue for the White family in 2013. With my Mum still in Mumbai, we decided to complete a long overdue visit to the Hindu Caves at Elephanta, an Island between Mumbai and the mainland. Although I have lived here for two years, I hadn't walked below the Gate Way To India and the ferry trip provided some good views back the the Gateway and the Taj. The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of King George the V and Queen Mary to Mumbai, prior to the in December 1911. However, they only got to see only a cardboard model of the structure since the construction did not begin till 1915. Project management in India hasn't improved in the past 100 years! The Taj and the Gateway and the same ferries that greeted King George and Queen Mary in 1911 and I don't think the on-board toilets have been cleaned since then either The ferry was very slow, I think I could have swum faster.  That said, given the pollut

We had a “quiet” New Years Eve.  When I say quiet I actually mean that we didn’t go out to a late night party.  The girls were sick so Kate and I went around the corner for an early meal and a glass of wine which was very pleasant.  I clarify the definition of quiet because Mumbai is never quiet and New Years Eve in Mumbai gets the volume dial “turned to 11” to quote David St Hubbins from Spinal Tap.  I can understand fireworks that produce colorful star bursts but the most popular party device in India is a fire cracker that sounds remarkably like the standard issue demolition charge block used by the Australian Army.  There no bright colours, no OOOHHHs and AAAAHHHs just a loud bang.  This combined with the cracker strings that sound like machine gun fire results in the suburb sounding like a residential address in Syria for most of the evening. New Years Day is also a good time to wash your cow The next day I thought that a trip out of Mumbai would be a good w