Bombay Bliss
On the 7th of August 2018, I typed my student number into an online submission form.
Six months later, I was on a plane bound for India. With no idea where exactly I was to go or even what I was there to study, all I knew was that I was on an all-expenses paid, two-week intensive course set in the middle of Mumbai.
It wasn’t until I arrived, along with seventy-odd other students, that I learned that I was enrolled in a sustainable development research program for first-year Arts/Law students. Somehow I, a fourth-year business student, slipped through the cracks…?
And I’m eternally grateful that I did. As horribly cliché as it sounds, this trip was life changing.
We arrived late in the night; from what I could see during the bus ride, the place looked truly amazing. Shack upon shack, peeling paint and tarp-covered rooftops, balconies spewing clothes and wet laundry. The smell was overwhelming: thick and sour and unpleasant to breathe in.
As the days went on, the more my initial reaction rang true: Mumbai was spectacular.
The metropolis of India, Mumbai is one of the most densely populated areas on planet earth, home to over 22 million people. The streets are in constant gridlock, horns tooting from every direction. Colour splatters the streets. The hubbub and chaos bustles all through the day and night.
My senses were constantly alive: every dish was an explosion of flavour. Every smell an attack - pleasant and putrid. Every click of a Marathi tongue was its own symphony - sharp and shouty, but swung melodically through the air. Every high-rise building surfaced from a sea of slums - almost like a mirage in the hazed atmosphere.
Everything was so all-or-nothing. Punchy. Confronting. Too much. Not enough.
I simultaneously have zero words and a million words to describe Mumbai. I feel short-circuited by its intensity.
As for the program, intensive is an understatement of its tenure. Almost every day we were based at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, where we were showered in an abundance of knowledge from NGOs, local authorities, campaigners, youth groups and doctorates in the field of environmental and social sustainability.
Indian culture is endlessly fascinating, and the development of urban Mumbai defies every capable human barrier. It’s unbelievable to think how their society operates at all - between the wealth disparity, gender gap, caste system, overpopulation, pollution - India couldn’t feel further away from Australia. Although it ignited a strong sense of gratefulness of my own life, I couldn’t help but admire the strong culture that flows through India. Flaws and all, there are facets of daily life in Mumbai that were enviable beyond belief.
Most evenings we spent exploring the local restaurants, our favourite being a questionable-looking shack called PureVeg that served up a dish called Veg 65 – fried balls of chickpea batter cooked in a sauce made up of, you guessed it, 65 spices. We’d order countless plates of the stuff with garlic naan and a curry each and eat enough to (almost!) forgo breakfast the next day. And all for about $2.50.
I thought after two weeks I’d be sick of Indian food, but I’ve been home five days and I’m having roti-withdrawals akin to a nicotine addiction.
There’s so much I want to share: so many things that surprised me about India, so many statistics that made me shiver, so many smiles that met mine. Initially when I told people I was going, the destination was met with so much distaste. Now having been, I feel fiercely protective over India, for it is spectacular in every way.
So, dear readers, watch this space. There will be many stories to come, and I hope that through your screen and with my words, I can make you fall in love with India nearly as much as I have.