Mumbai: Gateway of India (Arrival)

(Continued from Blog-in-Progress (BiP): Incredible India!)

Featured Photo: “Gateway of India”  Mumbai, India—2011

The earth below was scorched, barren, and vast, stretching to the horizon; a landscape like I’d never seen before. For well over half-an-hour, we’d been flying over an orange-brown desert, spiked with tangled mountains pushing up as if seeking air above the desolate ranges. The image might just as well have been on Mars as here on Earth.

I zoomed in for a closer shot and could discern a dried-up riverbed with some cultivated patches of green, along with a few buildings and roads, suggesting human habitation.

I glanced at the flight map on the seat-back screen in front of me and saw we were flying over Afghanistan. Based on news accounts circulating at the time, I recall thinking, “Osama bin Laden—mastermind of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon—along with his henchmen could be hiding in those mountains.” Although it was ten years after the 9-11 tragedy, bin Laden was still at large, reportedly in Afghanistan, and still being hunted.

Coincidentally, just a few weeks later, I would be in Strasbourg, France on the day the news of bin Laden’s death broke. He had been discovered and killed by US Special Operation Forces in neighboring Pakistan. The headline in the French weekly New Observer described: “The World After bin Laden. 2001-2011: The Failure of a Murderous Utopia.”

Another bulletin flaunted the triumphant face of US President Barack Obama and reported on: “The Secret Story of the Hunt for bin Laden.”

It seemed remarkable these were not the only newsworthy stories that day. The Paris Match published “a historic issue,” with a cover photo of Prince William—the future King of England—and Kate Middleton, riding in a royal carriage as they smiled and waved to the cheering crowds on that “most beautiful day” of their “dream wedding.”

But bin Laden’s death and the royal wedding came later. Back in mid-April of 2011, I looked out the window as my flight continued beyond Afghanistan, past Pakistan, and on to India. It would be my first trip there, providing an opportunity to meet with the Indian Pharmacopoeia to pitch my company’s proposal for developing globally harmonized testing standards to help ensure consistent quality for medicines around the world.

My entry into India was through Mumbai—formerly known as Bombay—where I was scheduled to meet with my host: a work colleague in our offices there. He would then accompany me throughout my visit to the strange and wonderful world that is “Incredible India.”

I was fortunate to fly business class as I did manage to get a bit of sleep. The 8,000-mile non-stop flight from the US east coast to India’s west coast lasted a mere 15 hours. And with the time zone 9-1/2 hours ahead of my own, I had literally lost a day when I finally landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport.

I passed through immigration—flashing my recently obtained visa—then gathered my luggage and exited the airport into the warm, humid night air. I was greeted by a chaotic scene: hordes of people and row-upon-row of cars and vans. I wove through the crowds, marched past drivers offering their taxi services, crossed several lanes of traffic, and was eventually able to pick out a chauffeur holding a sign with my name on it.

Seated in the back of a comfortable van, I silently thanked my host for arranging transportation to my hotel. As a westerner completely unfamiliar with the country’s culture, customs, and roadways—including driving on the ‘wrong’ side—I found a dedicated driver to be invaluable for getting around in India. After a maze-like journey through the streets of Mumbai, we arrived at the Trident Hotel, a quiet resort tucked away in the Bandra Kurla business district of the city.

But something didn’t seem quite right. Looking out from the front door, the hotel seemed to be an island of luxury amidst large, dusty, fenced-in tracts of land, with buildings under construction, or perhaps abandoned; I couldn’t really tell. I checked in at the front desk, walked through the beautiful lobby, and rode the elevator to my well-appointed room.

I opened the curtains and looked outside. Beyond the inviting infinity pool, alight with royal blue tiles, lay the scene I’d witnessed earlier.

I was still unable to make sense of the well-lit, protected compound to the right and the darkened construction site to the left. The view was better the next morning, but still somehow unsettling. With the ongoing construction, it seemed as if concrete and metal had been scattered haphazardly. Tin-roofed huts were visible, and I could make out a few men wandering around the rubble.

I showered and dressed, then descended to the lobby, walking past the extravagant flower arrangement beside an inexplicable sculpture of two seated figures…

…and joined my host in the same van, with the same driver from the night before. En route to my company’s nearby offices, I once again traveled the streets of Mumbai, now stirring with activity. What I’d seen of the city so far seemed to be a hodgepodge of impressive office buildings (occupied by busy workers) alongside unremarkable structures in some state of either creation or decay (inhabited by less-fortunate folks). Still, there was lots more to see.

I recalled a line from Frommer’s travel guide to India: “Mumbai will not leave you unaffected.” Some visitors experience a “fantastic whirlwind of chaotic, exuberant energies.” Others see only a “frightening, disorderly mess,” and are “appalled by the pitiful faces of the poor, shocked by the paradox of such wealth and poverty.” For those who take the time, however, Mumbai offers a chance to “experience modern India at its vibrant best”—a city filled with resilient, energetic people; with many one-of-a-kind attractions; and some of the finest restaurants in the country.

Over the course of a week-long stay in India, it turned out my experience would be consistent with that wide-ranging depiction—not just in Mumbai, but in all of India. This city was indeed a gateway to the entire country…and I’d not even been there 12 hours!

(To be continued…)