India Eight: In conclusion, Mumbai

We are very pleased to be staying at the famous Taj Palace hotel, overlooking the splendid "Gateway of India" On a "heritage tour" through the hotel the next day we learn that the hotel was built when the grand old man of the Tata empire was refused entry by the British racists who owned and managed, what was then the exclusive Watson's Hotel. Tata, in 1903 made it his business to outdo them and to teach them a lesson. He built the magnificent 5-star Taj Palace hotel, subsequently admired and loved by generations of politicians, movie stars, and all Mumbai afficionados. Apart from the "Crystal Ball room", extended conference facilities, several highly rated restaurants (The Zodiac, the most highly rated in Mumbai, where we have our farewell dinner) a gallery of top end boutiques, the most superb service, and many other features, there is now a memorial water feature in the great recption concourse to commemorate the 23 people killed in the hotel lobby at the time of the Al Queda killings in 2008.

There is constant movement of crowds around the Gateway, People lean over the railings and watch the yachts in the habour basin in front. We witness a long and nostalgic rehearsal by several naval and other military bands, for a big event, a week away. Like other places we have visited in India but more so in Mumbai, the traffic never stops and creates relentless frenzy day and night. Hooting and opportunistic shoving are the only ways to make progress in the crowded streets. In the major downtown district of Colaba, we see much evidence of British colonial architecture.The Victoria Terminus, The Prince of Wales Museum, the High Court. the University etc. One of our guides says the British have left much behind in Mumbai, but the best of all is cricket. The Indians eat sleep and live for cricket.We are told that when other sports teams return from international tours, they get a luke warm response at the airport But when the cricketers return, many thousands turn up.

We learn that Mumbai has a serious housing shortage and that accommodation is extremely expensive. An exception is the big fishing village ilocated,ronically, close to the expensive parts of Colaba, where the fishermen and their families make their living and, by some government proclamation, may not be removed. Our guide takes us on a walkabout through the squaled village. Everyone is working at the fishing business. Even very you children are sorting fish or shrimps from the day's catch. No photographs are allowed. They don't want to encourage "poverty tourism"

Several people in our group have read "Shantaram" and we decide to have a drink at the famous "Leopolds" located in a side-street behind the Taj. It's a very noisy young crowd. Leopards is smaller and less appealing than the descriptions in the book. We leave and start walking through the busy shopping and night-activity streets. There is a pulsating energy about this place and a sense of high drive in its people. As we brows in the various shops, the alert owners pick up our accents and start using the odd Afrikaans word. They say that they can give us prices in Rands. The direct SAA flights to Mumbai are establishing us very well in the tourism hierarchy here.

It may be its Bollywood vitality, or the sense of industrious progress and commercial vigor or just the Arabian sea air blended with Indian sweat. We don't know exactly why, but we all agree that we feel special fondness for this place

the Taj Mahal

I don't like to use the over-extended word "icon" and I like even less "iconic" But the magnificent Taj Mahal really is.
One of the world's most famous buildings the Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife Mumtaz who died in 1631. He had nine other wives, but when Mumtaz died he went into a steep decline, losing his health and will to live. She made him promise as she was dying that he would build a monument to their love. And did he make good on that! The perfect proportions and the exquisite craftsmanship have been described as " a vision, a dream, a poem, a wonder"

I'm a little scpeptical as we approach it, and imagine that these things are often over-hyped. But seeing it is so dazzling that the experience sucks you in. It's even more beautiful than the pictures and the thousands of people milling in the grounds all seem to be in a woozy daze of wonderment. We realize theat the famous (iconic?!) picture of Princess Diana sitting on the marble bench in front of the long water reflection gives us only the view of the Taj itself and neglects the substantial other buildings which make up the whole beautifully symmetric complex. That picture must also be one of the reasons why hundreds of peole at a time line up for the platoon of professional photographers who take endless pictures for them in the same wistful Diana pose.

As Shah Jahan was getting older, his third son, who was very ambitious to be the successor, killed off his two brothers and had his father effectively `'house arrested`' in the palace which, at some distance overlooks the Taj. Shah Jahan spent his last days admiring it from afar.

This story has everything. Heart rending romance, sibling rivalry, intrigue, murder and...great architecture!

In the footsteps of Linbaba / Shantaram

Leopold's!

India Seven: Some surprising bits of information...

Just in case you thought I was dozing in the bus.
I have learnt some interesting facts:
*that India has never invaded another country in her 5000 years of history
*Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus originated in India
*The "Place Value System" and the "Decimal System" were developed in India in 1000BC
*Ayurveda is the earliest school of medicine known to mankind.
*Sanskrit is considered as the mother of all higher languages. Experts agree that it is the most precise and therefore the most suitable language for computer software (Forbes Magazine July 1987)
*The world's first University was established in Takshila India in 700BC
*Chess was invented in India
I'm not going to bore you with the raft of other notable facts about this incredible country, but I do want to say that a visit here puts those of us who think the world begins and ends in the West, in our place.
The other thoughts in the back of my head are:
*Why is this then the dirtiest most squalid place we have ever seen?
*Why, in a population of about 1.2 billion are more than 400 million, one third, illiterate?
*Why are 42% of children under the age of 5 years mal-nourished?
Like South Africa, India is a country of unending paradoxes.

India Six: More Grand Tour of Rajasthan

We have been traveling through Rajasthan now for seven days through what is known as royal territory. On the seven stops we have visited "The Pink City" of Jaipur, the city of Rajput chivalry of Cittogarh, the city of lakes Udaipur, Jaisalmer the "Jewel of the Desert" and the majestic fort-city of Jodhpur.In each place we have been overwhelmed by the splendor of the architecture, the refinement of the art and what the CNN advertisements call "Incredible India" In each place we start the day by meeting with a specialized guide who lives there and is very well qualified to give us the history and background. All organized by the "palace on Wheels" A wonderful way to travel. Not for everybody this, but we love it.

We have seen the diffrences between the Hindu architecture with its separation of the royal ladies behind carved sandstone 'latticework' where they could observe the activities outside, but themselves never be observed. And then the Muslim style of building which is more monumental, but has the same separation of the genders. Only Royal privilege could override the strict rules and enter the harem. Women were captured as booty in wars and if they once entered the harem, they never left until they died.

Some of the big forts and palaces work purely as 'museums' and are not properly occupied. Others are mini city-states with thousands of people living and working there. Each city-state has a maharaja whose life is one of great luxury and style. Indira Ghandi stopped the payment of the hundreds of maharajas and their royal families. So now they have to do what titled estates in many European countries have to do. The have visitors who pay and patronize the 'palace shops' Everywhere the traffic is crazy. Inside the great walls in the small roadways and alleys tuk-tuks operate at break-neck speed alongside pedal-rickshaws and motor-bikes. Nobody moves slowly. They all work their way through throngs of pedestrians, pushing and shoving, blowing their hooters and scattering people. And then there is the crazy business of cows, just moseying along wherever they like, totally undisturbed and leaving their big piles of droppings wherever the mood takes them The cows, we are told, have owners and so are generally looked after. A bigger problem is the dogs. They are not owned by anyone and so have to live off the scrapps tossed to them by people who have very little to sustain themselves. So the dogs lie, listlessly in the sun, suffering from too little protein to have the energy for much action. Very sad.

It would not be a tourist and travelers paradise if there was not shopping. Most of the time we can push our way past the determined sellers who can be very persistent. And we pay no attention to the obvious tourist traps. But we are also taken to some places where we are told prices are good and quality is of the best. We visited one such place, located in a Haveli, a house built to have open airy spaces and courtyards. The very professional
star-salesman seats the twenty-or so visitors around the courtyard and then proceeds to have his many helpers to throw open one one sild/cashmere/pashmina bedspread/scarf/throw after the other. People gasp with the beauty of it. The women go into low-key hysteria. We all agree that the prices are indeed very reasonable. The salesman says if there is any difficulty with luggage he has an arrangement with a courier company, and anything bought can be delivered to your house "in ten days time" I see steam coming off the credit cards Most couples and families leave with several "presents"

Tomorrow we go to the Taj Mahal

Travel geography

India Five: Ranthambhore National Park

.I think I have been on my last ever early-morning game drive. For me they have often been over-rated and a disappointment. This one was no exception. We were woken before dawn and herded on to open game-drive vehicles parked at the station to go and see "the tigers". We were warned that it might be cold and "a bit bumpy.." Turned out to be freezing in the early morning with a driver who speeded through wind and the dark throwing us around like rag dolls. We hold on to each other and try to find protection under the issued blankets. As we arrive in to the actual park area we drive under trees, brushing past the low-hanging branches. Because it had rained during the night the trees were heavy with the water and each time we passed under a brach there was a shower over our heads. We become more and more bedraggled and colder. But the anticipation of seeing the tigers helps to sustain us, We see a few "spotted deer" who remind us of "Bambi" Like Impala with spots. By the side of a lake we see some interesting Kingfishers and two Herons. Then a little later, a series of Nyala-like buck and we stop at a small stone building where the guide kindly says we can have our "comforts.." An old man who is part of the park administration comes to join a small clutch of us chatting and shows us a photograph of a tiger crossing the path of one of the game-drive vehicles .."taken yesterday.." Yeah. Right. we continue to drive for a further despiriting hour and see very little else.
That's my gripe with these early-morning game adventures. I have an expectation and during the early part I will put up with any discomfort, waiting for the Big Sighting. But it most often eludes me. I realize again that my idea of game viewing is sitting on Johan and Susan's deck at Leopard Creek overlooking the river as the animals in their multitudes come down to drink. Me with a pair of binoculars in one hand and a cold beer in the other, Even the animals know that mid-morning is a more civilized time to be doing business