Mumbai Mumbai

I’m not even really sure where to start in regards to my last 10 days. Perhaps I’ll form two entries.

Flying into Mumbai you can clearly see the mosaic of slums dotting a good portion of the city and lining the airport. Like intricate tile work; blue and grey tiles squished beside one another. I have to admit I was nervous to be “traveling” alone and I sat about an hour and a half at the airport scared to join the frenzy of cab drivers pushing and shoving, trying to convince me to take their cab “350 rs. mam, good price”. They all assumed I was going to the tourist area – Colaba – and as much as I hate to fit into a generalization they were right. I wound up waiting for a “luxury” intracity bus which took me into the city for 100rs – however, getting them to stop at my hostel was impossible. After dropping the rest of the foreigners off at the Taj Mahal they didn’t believe that the other foreigner was staying at a run-down Salvation Army ‘Red Shield’ hostel parked at the back end of glorious Taj. I convinced them to stop and I walked the distance. The hostel wasn’t much to look at but had an aura of excitement. 8 or so bunk beds on a same-sex floor all filled with solo women travelers. The majority of the latter were just beginning on their trip in India. Exciting, thinking they knew everything and already pompously starting on the incessant analysis of the country which will plague them for the rest of their lives. There were, however, a couple of people just ending their travels. I spent the two days I had before moving up to the “suburb” of Bandra with two such people. We walked. Sat along Chow Patty beach, played with the beggars, drank roadside strawberry juices and shopped in dark dusty bookshops (as a side note – no Nese, I didn’t find anything really special but I’ll keep looking. I found out that to mail books home it’s insanely cheap. Give me a list of books and I’ll start sending them) On Saturday I took the local train up to Hotel Metro Palace in Bandra. The train was classic – the station identical to the ones you see in pictures - trying to show the crowded and busy-ness of a railway station in a billion-populated country. The train was packed but not overly so. Women in beautiful saris buying for a seat, the poor cleaning lady, leathered and svelte, perched by the opened door - broom and small dirty bottle of water in hand.


After handling the sweat, heat, beggars and touts of the tourist area Bandra was an oasis. Hotel Metro Palace…looked good from the outside but the inside wasn’t very desirable. IPPF had funded a member of FPA Sri Lanka to join us and he was an absolute kind-hearted and sweet man – very much a father figure – I know the feeling was mutual. The conference itself was held at the Taj Lands Hotel right on the sea. I love conferences. I love just sitting and learning - analyzing the people taking in the knowledge around me, trying to figure out the bias and gaps in the speaker’s presentation and why he or she came to work on that topic. We had gone to gain knowledge on male participation in SRH (sexual reproductive health) in order to create a manual or training module to implement in our region. So it was important to record and collect as much data as possible. The need for networking was also there and I felt pressure to introduce myself to important individuals at the conference. However I found myself most intrigued by the large number of academically trained anthropologist now working in SRH and in the 3 or 4 individuals my age employed by big names like WHO and living in exciting places like Gueneva. The conference itself, although international, defiantly had an Indian flare. Each presenter was introduced with a half an hour introduction listing their qualifications and achievements. The “inauguration” was held on the Taj Hotel’s garden’s to enjoy the “winter” weather while women in rich colorful silk saris tried desperately to control the billowing as the sea winds turned strong.

One more interesting fact (especially for Aman and Nese) I found out that I had been passing by Shah Rukh Khan’s bungalow each day as I commuted to the Taj for the conference! Hmmmmm. Unfortunately he wasn’t in town.

Personally I learned many things during the conference…two of which is that I really enjoy the topic of gender in reproductive health and sexuality and that I would like to do more work on domestic violence and it’s affect on SRH.

Anyway this is long enough. I’ll write again soon and tell you about the other half of my trip.

Love you guys.