Safe Arrival – the First Two Pictures and a Little Anecdote
Now I have spent my first night in India. On this picture, you see the view from the balcony of my bedroom. It is on the 29th floor of a building full of luxury flats with many more floors.
Note the obligatory racetrack.
The construction site on the right is not the only source of tremendous noise. There is one thing I already know after the first night: it is rather loud in Mumbai.
Trains rumble, streets buzz, you can hardly hear the planes…
I should have provided an audio file and included the noise level.
The building I will be staying in for a few nights now and from where I took the photos is not on the picture. Even though it is only two years old, it is already rather in disrepair. I will be glad if it does not collapse before I leave in a few days…
And here is a little episode:
At the airport, a huge Toyota cross-country picks me up. On the car dashboard, a statue of St. Mary is sitting next to the “Elephant God”. I ask the driver if he is a Christian. After all, I know Indian people in Munich who were brought up Christian in India. In a very special way.
The answer is simple: the “Gods” on the dashboard are the usual extra provided by the car dealers. And since the vehicle has an Indian driver but is meant to pick up “German Experts” in particular, there is also a statue of St. Mary. Quasi as multi-cultural bonus.
This reminds me of the 1960ies and 1970ies in Germany. In those days, the Stadtbergen VW dealer also supplied a St-Christopher badge for every car. And on one Sunday of the year, you could have the vehicle baptized by the priest.
Apropos vehicles. The much-loved TWS (three wheel scooter) vehicles I know so well from New-Delhi were also something I saw crawl all over the place like mosquitoes as we came in from the airport. In the south of Mumbai, however, they are not permitted.
But now let us face new adventures!
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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