Just as a warning, this one is pretty boring.
Monday, April 4th was destined to be a long day stretching into a long night. In the end, our itinerary became a visit to an art museum in the morning, a walk at Juhu Beach, and then a late night trip to the airport to pick up my sister and her boyfriend, who I’ll call Friend K. After a very quick turnaround at the airport, we had to head back out at 4:30 am on the 5th for our trip to the Taj Mahal.
Our first order of business was to head to the art museum. In Mumbai, most museums are closed on Mondays, so I was excited to find a place that was open for the day. It is called the Jehangir Art Gallery, and I’d heard good things about it. We took the hour drive down, parked, and went inside. It wasn’t exactly what we expected. I guess we took it for granted that it would be a museum, but it was, as the name suggests, just a gallery. Two hallways with recent modern paintings. Some of which was really weird. One room was devoted to paintings of bicycles. Another room was full of artwork that looked like it was done by Napoleon Dynamite. Remember his liger drawings? Yep….
So I was very disappointed. The gallery has rave reviews online, and is apparently nationally famous. But I was doubly disappointed because I knew it was Monday, and the rest of the museums in the neighborhood would be closed, and thus we had basically driven an hour downtown for nothing.
We left, unsure what to do next. The daily plans were slowly unraveling, and I was unsettled. But we decided to walk around the museum grounds as they were shaded and fairly empty, being closed. We admired the beautiful buildings, wishing it wasn’t Monday. All too soon, our lap was over and we headed back to our car.
I think we were all a bit sleepy, because we decided to just head back home and have lunch with my husband, who was just starting a new case and available for the day. We swung by our apartment, picked him up, making it six people in the car, and stopped at a restaurant we’ve always wanted to try. It was just off Carter road, and actually within walking distance of our house.
We walked down a set of stairs to the indoor seating. It was completely empty, except for a bartender who looked extremely bored. We pushed two tables together, sat, and looked around. The restaurant smelled awful, like cleaning supplies, but it seems like all of the restaurants in Bandra smell like that, so I quickly forgot about the odor. It had a wooden theme, and the walls and table were made of wood.
I had been very excited to try the restaurant because it had pumpkin ravioli on the menu. But I was disappointed with the results. The amount of pumpkin was tiny, and it was smothered in a heavy cream sauce that masked the taste of the ravioli. Boooo.
It was just a so-so sort of day so far. I think we were all tired from heat exposure, Mom and Auntie were probably a bit jet-lagged, and we all knew we’d have to be up very early the next day. So we decided to head home, finish watching 3 idiots, which half of us slept through the night before, and try our luck outdoors in the evening when it was cooler.
The plan went well, and, sleepy, but eager to go out, we decided to drive to Juhu, another northern neighborhood of Mumbai, and check out the beach. Along the way, my driver drove us past his neighborhood, and tried to point out his front door. It turns out he is on the first floor (which is one level above the ground floor). It looked like a small crowded apartment building, but it is really hard to judge the interior of a building by the exterior. I wish we could have stopped and gone inside, but I also don’t know if I want to see it, since it will probably make me sad. I know he has pet sharks, though. So that might be fun to see.
We reached the beach and were wowed. Despite the large number of people, it was somehow calming. It was so beautiful. The tide was down, and people took advantage of the extra beach space to set up endless cricket games.
The ever-present vendors sold new items- flying toy planes, large parachute men who actually flied like a kite, and, my personal favorite, balloons that are twisted into the shape of monkeys. Flying monkeys! So cute.
We walked along, enjoying the sunset and eying even more sights. Women constantly approached us, asking if we wanted henna stamps. A man with a monkey on the leash asked us if we’d like to pay to watch his monkey dance. He assured us that the monkey danced, “just like Michael Jackson!” My driver told us he just stood with a stick over his shoulders. I secretly watched when someone else paid. It definitely wasn’t dancing, much less Michael Jackson dancing!
As we walked, we noticed a woman sitting on a blanket. Next to her was a young girl, maybe just a teenager. The young girl was whimpering as the women held her hand and pointed a piece of metal over her skin. My driver told us she was getting a tattoo. A real tattoo. On a blanket on the beach. Now I really have seen everything.
We watched a small Ferris wheel, and realized it was powered by man! Two people stood on either side, and pushed it for the six people riding. Next to it was a round, elevated wooden board with a few plastic big wheel cars fastened to it. It too, was being spun by manpower.
Mom took pity on the beggar kids and handed out gum. Now, I’ve given my driver American gum before, and he said it was too sweet for him. So I curiously watched the kids’ reactions. Sure enough, they unwrapped it, tossed the wrapper to the ground, popped the gum in their mouths, chewed, and promptly spit it out on to the sand.
All in all, we peacefully walked up and down the beach, watched a gorgeous sunset, and decided to head home to have a quick break and dinner of leftovers before going to pick up Sister and Friend K.
Fez and I went to the airport while Mom and Auntie got ready for bed. I will admit I am becoming sick of the drive to the airport, but the worst was that we’d just have to turn around in a few hours and head back! Tonight was exciting, though, because there was a huge fight right outside our apartment building! Our driver was very excited, but the crowd was too big for us to actually see anything.
At the airport, Fez and I stood with the masses of people, waiting to see Sister and Friend K. Eventually they arrived, and my sister pretended to not see us. We goofed around until she ‘saw’ us and headed to the exit. There was an accident at the airport, so we had to wait nearly 20 minutes until the accident was cleared enough for my driver to pull up. We drove home. We joked, and told Sister and Friend K how we were naming all of the dogs. They seemed less amused than Fez, my driver, and myself. Near my house, my driver said, “make sure you get your camera ready!” Confused, I wondered what the heck he was stopping for, photo-wise, in the dark. But we pulled up next to the abandoned kiddie ride that my mom loved and insisted on taking way too many photos of the first night! Fez and I laughed, but I think Sister and Friend K were just confused.
We got home, made a nice bed (on the floor, I ran out of beds and couches) for sister and Friend K, and I got a second round of gifts! Cadbury crème eggs, plenty of oatmeal, and Clearasil. I love having visitors! We took turns showering, and headed off to bed for three hours of sleep before we flew to Delhi the next morning.
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