June 1998<\/p>\n
Hello from Bombay,<\/p>\n
Here’s your man on the scene with a few more snapshots of life here in India.\u00a0 On Saturday, the kids wanted to go to the local “mall.”\u00a0 It is very upscale and classy, at least from a Bombay point of view.\u00a0 It is nothing like our glass and chrome, high ceilinged, wide walkwayed malls we know in the U.S.\u00a0 The stores are small (some smaller than our living room), and the mall walking areas are narrow (about 8 or 10 feet wide!)\u00a0 The stores are filled with electronics, CDs and tapes, fancy clothes, designer sunglasses, Casio keyboards, and other imported things.\u00a0 A couple of stores even sold food.\u00a0 I finally stopped at one to check out the prices.\u00a0 A small bottle of mustard cost the equivalent of $3.75.\u00a0 A small jar of name brand popcorn: $3.00.\u00a0 A box of instant macaroni (last time I looked in the US, the cost was no more than 65 or 70 cents) cost nearly $4.00.\u00a0 And a small bottle of spaghetti sauce, a whopping $7.50.\u00a0 I’d rather buy a gob of tomatoes for a rupee a piece and make my own.<\/p>\n
After the mall, our driver Hasmukh asked if I wanted to see the Gandhi museum which was not far from where we were.\u00a0 I said absolutely but the kids, my three children plus two friends, were not thrilled.\u00a0 Parenthood is not a democracy so we went.\u00a0 The museum was in a house where Gandhi stayed whenever he was in Bombay.\u00a0 There was a room containing his bed (a very humble mattress on the floor), some writing implements, a couple of spinning wheels.\u00a0 Kind of impressive to think that one of the truly great people of this century knew this house and those things.\u00a0 One room contained about 30 dioramas, each depicting a part of his life.\u00a0 He is really, really revered here.\u00a0 His picture is on all the money and many locations are named after him or after his associates.\u00a0 It was with obvious pride that our driver showed us the place and explained parts of the history to us.\u00a0 The house even had a Gandhi oriented library where you can do research on related topics.\u00a0 The kids ended up enjoying the visit.<\/p>\n
The next day, my son Eric and I went to the wedding of one of the local employees at work.\u00a0 We actually arrived after the wedding.\u00a0 It was a very Indian experience.\u00a0 So many people were there, and so very many flower garlands hung all over the place.\u00a0 We went into the main hall and saw a long line of people waiting to greet the bride and groom.\u00a0 After about 30 seconds a person told us to go with him.\u00a0 We followed as a sort of Red Sea of Indians parted before us.\u00a0 He led us right to the stage (Indians get married on stages) and the whole line stopped so he and I could greet the couple.\u00a0 Several pictures were snapped of us, too.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Eric didn’t know in advance that we were stopping at the wedding.\u00a0 I had just (with our driver) picked him up from another part of town after he had spent the night with a friend.\u00a0 I forgot to bring nicer clothes for him, so he was wearing a tee shirt and shorts.\u00a0 I mentioned it to the driver (and to another Indian acquaintance at the reception), and their answers were similar: “You are a foreigner (the acquaintance had actually said fair-skinned), so it doesn’t matter what he is wearing.\u00a0 You honor the couple simply by being here.”\u00a0 It is as much a mark of status to for Americans to attend your wedding, as the amount of money (plenty, plenty, plenty), you spend on the whole shindig.<\/p>\n
After greeting the couple we went to eat, Indian food, of course.\u00a0 Eric had just eaten and wasn’t hungry, but Hasmukh was a little panicked about it, (I understood why: so many people were watching us), and so I told him to just get some food and put it on his plate.\u00a0 I don’t care how much you eat or don’t.\u00a0 He did a good job.\u00a0 All three of our children are great sports and good diplomats and know what to do and when to do it, and almost always rise to the challenge before them.\u00a0 We were only at the wedding for 45 minutes, but they were rich, fun and colorful.\u00a0 I wish you could see the beautiful clothing worn by Indian women, saris and other sorts of whispy, drapy, graceful garb of all hues, bright and colorful, subtle, and shimmering.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
June 1998 Hello from Bombay, Here’s your man on the scene with a few more snapshots of life here in India.\u00a0 On Saturday, the kids wanted to go to the local “mall.”\u00a0 It is very upscale and classy, at least … Continue reading