With Shantaram in Mumbai

For those of you who have read the very large, yet totally thrilling novel called Shantaram than you will appreciate my fascination with Mumbai. Like me you will probably relish the fact that you are walking the same streets that Linbaba did on so many occasions. In the book the author paints the city of Mumbai as a place that is energetic, beautiful, fascinating and exotic. Though Ana Paula regrettably only spent two days there, I would personally use every one of those adjectives to describe India's metropolis on the sea. The city's energy and movement reminded me in some ways of New York, though its colors and style were purely its own. Since Bombay was such an important city in the days of the British they left behind many architectural gems like the Churchgate train station which many would recognize from the final scene in Slumdog Millionaire. 

On our first morning I laid and bed in our expensive yet totally dirty hotel and dug into another chapter of Shantaram which while in Mumbai transformed from a novel into a guide book. This chapter opened up with a description of a small locals only joint that served up the best dosas in all of the city. Dosas are kind of a cross between a pancake and a crepe though they are not sweet and are often served with a potato like mash, a liquidy curry and coconut chutney. Now being a fanatic of this book and loving the idea of reading about what would under any other circumstances be a far away place and actually being able to go there only minutes later. Well not only were we greeted with the best dosas that we had eaten in our short tenure in India but there was also a signed photograph above our table of the man himself which somehow made our lives seem that much closer. The fact that there was another table of Shantaram tourists across from our did little to dampen my enthusiasm.

That night we went to Leopolds, the famous tourist haunt where a good deal of the book takes place. Though, more recently Leopolds gained fame for being one of the locations where the terrorists struck back in November. This part of history was really brought to life when we noticed that directly above Ana Paula's head was a bullet hole in the wall. Despite this little artifact it was kind of difficult to imagine such a tragic event when looking around at all the smiling faces of tourists and Indians alike as they sat there drinking beers and listening to the music.

Bombay's charm is as much about the architecture as it is its geography. Like Manhattan the city is actually an island though you don't really get that sense until you look at a map. What you do feel is its picturesque setting right on the water. Sadly the sea is very much polluted, but sitting on the beach at sunset looking at the beautifully bright colors of the women's sarees and the children's balloons makes you realize how wonderful of a place Chowpatty beach is. Mumbai is also famous for being the capital of Bollywood which means that it is home to the largest fim production industry in the world. While strolling out side the Taj Majal Hotel, another of Mumbai's most famous landmarks, and also one of the terrorists targets, we were approached by a woman who asked if we wanted to be extras in a Bollywood film that would be starring Kylie Mynogue. Here it was handed to us on a silver platter our chance at stardom, my heart was racing when I asked her when the shoot would be happening. Suddenly our potentially life changing opportunity slipped away when she told us it wasn't until the next day and tragically our flight was leaving that night. So we headed off of the Elephanta Island, and then Crawford market, ending the day eating deliscious Bengali food. Then as we walked out on the runway to board the plane back to Bangalore I thought about how much I enjoyed this place. You see normally I'm not such a big fan of cities as I feel like in general there are more similarities than differences, but as David Greggory repeatedly points out throughout his 935 page book, there is no place on earth like Bombay.