Mumbai

Mumbai

Things have been going by very fast lately.  Monday I went to Mumbai to go to the Oasis leadership meetings concerning plans for the next year(s).  Oasis brought all the leaders from each branch of their work into one room to meet for two straight days.  The meetings were long.  It was interesting to see the dynamics that surface in meetings like this.  Planning meetings always seem to take on a certain feel for me.  This one was no different.  There were things people agreed on, and there were things people did not.  There were times when one subject stayed on the table for a long time, and other times when things went really quickly.  Overall it was a good meeting.  I was good to see the leadership at work.

Each night in Mumbai was when I had the real experience time.  The first night Anita, Becky and I went down to some place where there was a lot of street shops.  The ladies convinced me that the kebabs the vendors sold were legit.  Of course I had to try them.  So I did.  They were delicious, we all got another, and another.  Then Anita told me I had to try Pani Puri.  She said it was “water”.  I said, “giddy up”.

Pani Puri is a little puff ball of sorts that is filled with some sprouts/corn mixture then dipped in a sauce then pepper water.  Anita had to go buy a ticket then give it to the guy making the pani puri.  The guy gave her a little plastic container and she said you just hold it out and he’ll put one in there.  There were about 5 others standing around with these plastic containers.  After everyone was in place the chef guy started filling, and dipping these treats.  They were supposed to be eaten in one bite since biting it in half would simply drain all the water out of the treat.  The bite was quite large, but I found a way to handle it.  I had 3 and Anita had 2 while Becky video-taped the foreigner trying to fit in.  It was a blast.

Later that evening I went out to get copies with Anita for the meetings the next day.  On the streets there were thousands of people gathered in small groups of 50 to 100.  All the groups gathered around drum circles or loud dance music and were dancing.  Some of the groups followed slow moving cars and dance behind them as they slowing moved up the road.  Anita told me this was a festival and Mumbai celebrates it quite widely.  There were firecrackers exploding from time to time, and loud music blaring around every corner.  It was kind of fun.

One of the most intriguing groups I came across was a large gathering of girls surrounded by the young men.  The girls were dancing in the middle and the guys were dancing on the outside.  Every 30 seconds or so someone would through red dust into the air.  This eventually covered everyone in the dancing circle from head to toe.  The street was stained red also.  I tried to walk around it but found that difficult.  As I snuck through the frenzy I saw a couple girls in the back who were being treated for injuries.  I assumed they were trampled by the mass of people.  It was a very interesting night.

The second night in Mumbai was possibly the most fun.  Vasu took Anita and I to the Gateway of India.  The site is the location where the British first landed on the subcontinent.  It is a massive arch looking out in to the bay.  Behind it is the Taj Hotel and the rest of down town Mumbai.  Vasu said it would be fun to go out on a boat for a quick shoreline cruise; so we did.  Vasu is the type of guy I love to explore a new city with.  He is filled with historical knowledge, and seems to love his city.  To told me the significance of every building that I could see from the boat.  He explained what the military shipyard contained and the history behind that too.  As we got out far enough we could see the entire Taj Hotel.  He reminded me of the terrorists that held it captive for 4 days.  They killed many, as the country held its collective breath for days.

On the boat we got a call from Anita’s cousin and were invited for dinner.  It was already 8:30 and it would take at least an hour to get back.  Indians eat late.  But I’m getting used to that.

We got off the boat and walked to the best street vendor for kebabs in all of Mumbai.  Anita ordered several items to take to her cousin’s house.  Vasu and I were getting tired, but that was ok.  We took the train back then got a rick to drop us off at her cousin’s house.  The rick got lost.  It was slightly humorous to me.  Eventually we did find the place and sat down to eat.

Anita’s cousin was very kind and spoke very good English.  Her husband was hilarious, loud, and also spoke very good English.  I had a great time eating more kebabs, sambar, rice, and talking with these new people.  I finished dinner by about 11:30 PM and went back to Vasu’s house to sleep.  Morning came early the next day.

Mumbai with Nigel

Day three was an eventful day.  Sujetha, Anita, and I accompanied a man named Nigel around the program sites in Mumbai.  This was the perfect situation for me.  Nigel was a consultant for a funding organization of Oasis.  He wanted to see how things were going so he could report back to the organization.  I was in a great position to learn how this process works.  I would also have the opportunity to see many of the programs in Mumbai.

The first place we went was a community where the operatives in Mumbai work with street children.  Because of safety issues I stayed in the car with Anita and Vadeep. It would have been unwise to take two European looking people into those neighborhoods together.  Instead Anita showed me to a sweets shop and introduced me to somosas, and a cashew candy.  Both were excellent.

When we left there we went to the government home.  This location was much smaller than the Bangalore counterpart.  It was cramped all the same though.  It housed only girls, and had a capacity of 40.  Sometimes however the home housed 200.  As we walked through we saw the bunk beds and the meeting room.  Oasis runs classes and helps with health care at this home.

When we reached the kitchen Nigel went in and started chatting with the girls who were cooking.  It was mostly small talk.  Then Nigel asked them if they had any questions for him.  They gave a fascinating answer: “I don’t know what to ask him, it’s because of white people like this that we are in this place.”  Obviously the comment was not referring to Nigel himself, but the observation was very heavy.  Are organizations that “rescue” girls from brothels doing the right thing?  Are the homes any better than the brothels?  Not from our perspective, but from the girls’ perspective?  Do we ever take the time to ask?

After this we went to lunch and then to Aruna.  Aruna is a program that reaches out to brothel owners, girls, pimps and the like.  They do not prosecute or run raids, they simply show love and compassion to the people in the brothel while they are still in the brothel.  This is a very interesting concept.  On one end of the organization we are prosecuting these people and on one we are simply loving them.  I think it is a great idea.  Some people do not.  Honestly I’m ok with that.

After Aruna the group drove around the red light district of Mumbai.  It was astounding how many brothels there were.  Every single building was a brothel.  At 4:00 there were already women outside waiting for customers.  It made me feel disgusting.  The brothels in Bangalore are quite a bit more hidden.  These are obvious and are wide open.  How can this be?  How can the government let this happen?  It is so obvious!

That night to take my mind off of what we saw we took a local Oasis staff to a shoe store to get some shoes.  He is a beneficiary of our street children program and is now running a half marathon to raise money for Oasis.  His story is incredible.  The least we could do was get his some shoes to run in.  It took a while to do so, but we got the job done.  Now Baboo is ready to train and run.  This was a good end to a very interesting day.

The Final day in Mumbai was a meeting with Nigel and some other Oasis leaders.  I took notes on the meeting for the stakeholders.  It was a good meeting.  I learned a lot about how NGO’s and funders interact.  The meeting was long, and by it’s end I was ready to leave and go back to Bangalore.  It was much less hot and humid and Bangalore felt more like home.  Unfortunately the plane was delayed and we did not arrive home until midnight.  Oh well.

The next two days I was a little feverish again.  Just like when I returned from Calcutta.  I stayed in most of Saturday, and felt better by Sunday (Oct 4). On Sunday I went to an event in Dodigunta where the chief minister of Karnataka was supposed to be.  He didn’t show up.  Prakash and Anita told me that is often the case.  The big-wigs send someone ahead to see if the event is prestigious enough for them.  If not then they give an excuse and done come.  That was ok by me I guess.

Overall I’m very thankful for the experience so far.  I have been able to see a lot of India, and a lot of what makes an NGO tick.  India has been good to me.  Hopefully I can offer something in return.