Where to start?

Mumbai rattles my brain. It takes three hours to go anywhere, thanks to gridlocked traffic and 22 million people. Everything is so loud. Buildings rise, rise, rise.

Traffic, traffic, traffic.

On every street corner there is western dress, western food, and western influence. I see at least three to four foreigners a day. Sometimes I feel that there is a lack of a distinct Indian culture in Mumbai. It is instead a mixture of India and the West. Commercial enterprises like movies, Starbucks, McDonalds, Zara's (the clothing company), and Facebook all contribute to this lessening of an identity. Or maybe it's creating something new altogether.

On Friday, I ventured to a part of Mumbai called Santa Cruz. A couple of women from work asked me if I wanted to go with them to visit a nice silver jewelry market. On my way home from there, I had to pass through an old part of Santa Cruz. The lanes were tiny, and the rickshaw had to squeeze through massive numbers of people who were filling the old market. The shops on the side of the road were situated in very old homes. The buildings were all only two stories tall; storeowners lived on top of their shops. It felt to me like the REAL India, like what you find in Old Delhi, or certain parts of Guwahati. In this part of Mumbai, the old culture was alive and well.

Some silver I bought from the Santa Cruz market. All my photos of the old homes turned out poorly because it was during the night. 

This past weekend, a friend of Arnav's graciously invited a group of her friends (and Arnav dragged me along) to her home in Panchagini. This town is what is known in India as a "hill station." These are high-altitude towns that were founded by the British, in the days of the Raj, to get away from the heat, and dirt, and clamor of the big cities. (For those who have been there, think Monteagle, Tennessee.) Today, affluent Indians often have second homes in these hill stations. The house we visited was beautiful—it should be in an architecture magazine. With six bedrooms, there was lots of room in which to play Monopoly Deal, eat delicious food, and dance around to Hindi music. The house was situated at the edge of a cliff and the view was beautiful.

Panchagini is about four-five hours away from Mumbai. On the way back we got stuck in standstill traffic. It took us two hours to go nine miles, thanks to an overturned truck. Apparently, it had been there for 24 hours, and no one had moved it out of the way yet. Heads-up India—get the truck out of the way!

Arnav and I, I was asked to do the "American pose."

Below are various views from this beautiful house. 

 

 

As for my internship at Russell Reynolds, the people are so welcoming and have taught me a lot. I am doing a lot of research, creating high-female exec profiles, researching healthcare companies, and the list goes on. Every Monday morning we have a Skype meeting with the Delhi office. This week we spent 10 minutes talking about how Narendra Modi, the new Prime Minister of India, is going to change the economy and how it will effect our company's operations in India.

On Sunday night, I attended a family dinner hosted by Arnav’s aunt and uncle. The family talked about Modi and how he is changing things. He has been in office for twelve days now and he has done a lot. Many agreed that if he keeps going at this rate, India will change. The sense around the table was very, very positive as to the direction he may take things. Interestingly, Mumbai is very business-oriented, and people don't like New Delhi (the capital) very much because they see it as corrupt and inefficient. If you are a millionaire in Mumbai, you look at a millionaire in New Delhi and don't have respect for him or her, because you automatically assume that he or she made their money from an insider government deal rather than in the business sector.

Going home from work, I always take a cab. This cab driver I had recently was very proud of his English and loved to show it off. After asking where I was from, he responded, “Me, Gujarati, Modi.” Modi is from an area of India known as Gujarat. People there are quite proud of Modi. It is so great to hear that someone like a cab driver is happy with the current prime minister. He went on to say, “I love Modi.”

Who knows if change will actually happen in India. It’s too early to speculate. But it is nice to think that a leader is perhaps going to get rid of the corruption in Delhi. I encourage you to look him up on Google and read the various news regarding his deacons. 

Next blog I am going to write about the culture of maids and drivers in India. I may also write about the monsoons—it is incredibly hot here, and they say the rains are coming any day. When they do, my bosses at work tell me they will call me and tell me whether to come in. Apparently, you sometimes can't make it to work through all the water.

Sending waves of heat your way,

Hannah Dobie