i was woken up at 1:30 pm today by ritu (who works for AVSAR) & nubhes. i may be mostly over jet-lag, but i never let a chance to sleep-in pass me by. considering the day before started at 6:30 am (yoga class at our local mandir/temple) and didn't end until 4 am (yaya bollywood!) i think it was reasonable...
anyways, we left the flat and went straight to "status," our fave grease-spot, to pick up frankies for the ride (yes, we have tasted the REAL bombay frankie roti roll) to malabar hill. the three of us (nubhes, paul--our flatmate, and i) finally arrived at nubhes' uncle's house, and we were greeted by pretty much the whole family, including shrey & aadi (1.5 year-old twins, who are both ADORABLE). we stuffed our faces with samosas, eggplant sapchi, and chai, said goodbye to ansha deedee (nubhes' cousin who now lives in NJ), and set off to the haji ali dargah.
the haji ali dargah is a mosque and tomb off the coast of mumbai. it was built by haji ali, a wealthy muslim merchant/saint/mystic, in the 15th century, who renounced all worldly possessions before making a pilgrimmage to mecca. legend has it that he died along the way and his body floated back to mumbai... we walked on the narrow pathway to the mosque, which is only accessible during low tide. it was a sort of pilgrimmage, as we were only three among what seemed like thousands of women in hijjab, men in caps or bandannas, and their children. when we arrived at the mosque, we took our shoes off and ducked inside to see the tomb of haji ali. we stayed inside only for a minute or so, as there were tons of people, and i felt somewhat disrespectful sans headcovering. we watched the sun set over the rocks on one side, and the moon rise over the other. it was strange, because i found the scene absolutely stunning, but also unsettling. the harbour & parts of the architecture were beautiful, but some walls were quite dilapidated. and literally the entire walkway was flanked by beggars: women, children, but mostly disabled older men chanting allah, allah, allah...
we came back to the flat to take showers (home sweet home), and after watching a bit of the sweden vs. trinidad & tobago match, nubhes and i set off for "out of the blue," a restaurant in pali hill that was recommended to us by a co-worker of mine. over indian wine & "desi" fondue, we decided that this place was indeed "out of the blue." it was odd to see such a swank restaurant in the middle of pretty much nowhere...
the contrast between parts of mumbai, even within a block, can be overwhelming at times. ritzy restaurants and hotels not too far from slum areas, it's pretty much like that everywhere. it's something bollywood films tend to ignore. watching "fanaa" last night, even the rickshaws looked damn good. i'm not quite sure how they manage that, but i guess realism is not what they're going for anyway.
anyways, we left the flat and went straight to "status," our fave grease-spot, to pick up frankies for the ride (yes, we have tasted the REAL bombay frankie roti roll) to malabar hill. the three of us (nubhes, paul--our flatmate, and i) finally arrived at nubhes' uncle's house, and we were greeted by pretty much the whole family, including shrey & aadi (1.5 year-old twins, who are both ADORABLE). we stuffed our faces with samosas, eggplant sapchi, and chai, said goodbye to ansha deedee (nubhes' cousin who now lives in NJ), and set off to the haji ali dargah.
the haji ali dargah is a mosque and tomb off the coast of mumbai. it was built by haji ali, a wealthy muslim merchant/saint/mystic, in the 15th century, who renounced all worldly possessions before making a pilgrimmage to mecca. legend has it that he died along the way and his body floated back to mumbai... we walked on the narrow pathway to the mosque, which is only accessible during low tide. it was a sort of pilgrimmage, as we were only three among what seemed like thousands of women in hijjab, men in caps or bandannas, and their children. when we arrived at the mosque, we took our shoes off and ducked inside to see the tomb of haji ali. we stayed inside only for a minute or so, as there were tons of people, and i felt somewhat disrespectful sans headcovering. we watched the sun set over the rocks on one side, and the moon rise over the other. it was strange, because i found the scene absolutely stunning, but also unsettling. the harbour & parts of the architecture were beautiful, but some walls were quite dilapidated. and literally the entire walkway was flanked by beggars: women, children, but mostly disabled older men chanting allah, allah, allah...
we came back to the flat to take showers (home sweet home), and after watching a bit of the sweden vs. trinidad & tobago match, nubhes and i set off for "out of the blue," a restaurant in pali hill that was recommended to us by a co-worker of mine. over indian wine & "desi" fondue, we decided that this place was indeed "out of the blue." it was odd to see such a swank restaurant in the middle of pretty much nowhere...
the contrast between parts of mumbai, even within a block, can be overwhelming at times. ritzy restaurants and hotels not too far from slum areas, it's pretty much like that everywhere. it's something bollywood films tend to ignore. watching "fanaa" last night, even the rickshaws looked damn good. i'm not quite sure how they manage that, but i guess realism is not what they're going for anyway.
posted by emily at 2:04 PM
1 Comments:
um, i don't really have anything exciting to say, just haha re. our [okay, your] favorite late-night new york-indian spot, and hurrah for yoga [i'm taking a class too, only it's at the jcc -- a little different culturally, eh?], and i'm glad you're having such an interesting time.
and i miss you. so much.
[casey]
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