Second impressions of Bombay

From: Tommy Hermansen
Date: Sat Apr 14, 2001 10:57am
Subject: Second impressions of Bombay

Coming here for the second time was not as scary as the first time I landed here three months ago. The city is still smelly and noisy, but I’m getting used to this sort of thing now. On the sleeper bus from Goa I met Mark, an Australian working on a documentary on techno music and rave parties. We’re now sharing a room at the Volga II guesthouse in the Colaba area – nice rooms and very comfy beds. The bus ride itself was quite nice, but bumpy, and I had to book two beds so I could sleep diagonally across both of them to have enough legroom. Normally that would have cost me rs 700, but I got it down to 500 by some quick haggling with the hawker.

Today we’re going to the museums, and tomorrow we’re traveling to New Delhi together on a 22-hour train without AC. It’s around 35 degrees Celsius here now, no wind, and 80% humidity. We need to drink a lot.

In Bombay, everything is not always how they appear: Walking down a street yesterday I passed a woman in rags sitting on the pavement holding a few coins in her hand. I had a two-rupee coin in my pocket and decided to give it to her, poor soul. She gave me two bananas! She was no beggar apparently.

Finally please remember these wise words taken from the Goan highway billboards: “Every happy home is built with Rajashree’s 43-grade cement!”