From Jaipur to Mumbai Gajab ka chai leke aa gaya mein… bahut gajab ki chai… phiki chai.. garam garam phiki chai... omlette.. bread omlette, garam garam pakore… abhi tale garam garam pakore... I am glad to be back in AC 3 tier. I am in the bachelor’s paradise (or hell). My compartment is full of chirpy young women full of life. There are students of gemology heading for an exhibition. A lot of dumb charades, wonderful singing and antaksharis! Long time! My charadious cells are rusty. The time is getting well spent :) Bombay:

What could be as ugly as this?

Mumbai was an awesome stop. I met numerous friends some of whom I had not seen for many years now and some that I knew only for hours. I stayed in Colaba, right off Marine drive and spent my time talking mathematics, watching plays at NCPA, eating wonderful food (Haji Ali

Juice, Bachelor’s juice centre, Vinay’s food stall, Bade Miyan to name a few) and going to interesting sites like Haji Ali and Elephanta caves. Many great suggestions by Hardik bhaiya, Shaunak and Pawan. Bombay’s soul is in its wonderful people (from man at the juice centre to the taxi wallah). And of course the local trains :) “Dadar, dadar, dadar!!!!” It was great seeing it

up close. It was sad to see Haji Ali being in the state just a little better than my ancestral home in Rajasthan. At least some revival is underway.

The trip to Elephanta caves was also great. I took a rocking steam boat with icky vomiting weak hearts (let us not talk about my childhood) to the island.

The Rocking Boat

We clamber on a rocking boat, A rocking boat, A rocking boat.

We clamber on a rocking boat gently over the ocean.

The smiles light up on the rocking boat, The rocking boat, The rocking boat.

The smiles light up on the rocking boat As the Gate goes down the horizon.

Some ancient song I wish to sing

In a tongue which I have never heard, But hums behind the gruelling whirr

Of the floating rocking boat.

The ocean sprays in merriment, The islands behind the clouds do peek,

As we slowly approach in the rocking boat The island full of mysteries.

Some ships chug smoke as we speak About the wars which are yet to be, While children shouted excitedly,

About the dry machines of bombardment.

In all this joy, the clouds come down, The perspiration now sits on frowns Lasting only till we hit the dock

And are spouted out from the rocking boat, The rocking boat, The rocking boat!

From the jetty I walked up the winding long steps to the caves crowded by sellers of various fares, food and monkeys. I pride myself of having protected my bhutta from angry attacking monkeys; it was wonderful performance full of wit and agility much to the entertainment (and claps) of the onlooking crowd. Later of course I took cover under the bhutta seller who used much more sophisticated technology than mere wit called the slingshot. The caves had extremely interesting illustrations of various sections of Shiv Purana ranging from Ravana’s episode of using his intenstines as a sitar to the descent of the Ganges. I spent a jolly good time looking at the various sculptors and cursing the crude Portuguese who destroyed much of this because they could not carry it back home. Probably the most remarkable were some seemingly Roman figurines in one of these works. I pointed it out to a guide, to which she quipped, “Why is a surprise? Don’t you know about our trade links?” Of course I do! And here I noted something. Probably this came as a gateway to the Western part of India while Mahabalipuram/ Kanchipuram/ Kannyakumari in the south. These were probably developed as forefronts of Indian art, architecture and culture. Of course the religious relevance can’t be ignored but I fail

to accept that religion was the sole reason for developing these places. Religious notions only form a single facet of Hinduism.

Siva playing the three roles of the creator, preserver and destroyer. It is not possible for a camera to capture the soul of this sculpture; the central one held my attention for quite some time. It was as if my limbs had given way and my mind had been captured.

Ardhanarieshwar

Very poorly captured. The sculpture is believed to describe an incident where Parvati is expressing her anguish at having lost a game of dice from Siva. The bull figure underneath Parvati is Nandi. (slight right near the bottom) Now notice the figure beside it (near its head). Look at its hair. Does it look like the hair of any other Indian styled sculpture that you have seen before? Not! It does not look Indian at all. There are a few more instances here and there in the caves. To me this is indicates strong connections between India and the outside. Of course the maintenance here too was not great. I pointed this out to the guide and she said

“What do you expect us to do with Rs. 10?” Is the Rs. 10 the optimal price? I highly doubt it. Whatever be the price I do not think the preservation can depend on it, it is very important. Speaks volumes, doesn’t it?

A small dam near the caves The representative of Hinduism to foreigner

Marine Drive