OUR SERENDIB

India highlights: Mumbai

As you can see, I am dragging out the rehashing of our wonderful vacation as long as possible.   But, with no further delay, here are some highlights of our travels to India.

1. Mumbai aka Bombay

Our first stop was Mumbai.  We stayed at the beautiful Taj Hotel in the Colaba area of Mumbai.  I really loved this area because one can walk around and see the sights rather than rely on taxis or trishaws; a nice change for Jim and I.

Here is a slightly fuzzy night photo of the Taj but nice nonetheless.

This is a view of the Taj (center) and India Gate from the bay:

Here is another perhaps not as flattering view of the Taj.  There was a lot of construction in the area.  I imagine it will look quite nice once it's finished.

Here are some street scenes (notice the nice wide sidewalk):

It was the weekend so luckily for these guys there wasn't much traffic.

I love this photo.  He was a little bashful.

I asked this guy if I could take a photo after I bought some of his peanuts.  He so graciously sat there and withstood the smoke in his face so I could snap this shot.

Here is Linda making her first street purchase.  This little purse was a much more practical buy than the "big balloon" being sold by many on the street. 

Here is me in front of India Gate!

We also visited a Jain Temple:

The Jains where masks over their faces...they are extremely sensitive to the lives of all living creatures.  I believe this is to prevent any small organisms from entering the mouth.

Next stop....Udaipur!!

Vote!!!

Happy Independence Day?

As you may or may not know there were two bombs in Colombo today.  The first was a grenade attack at the Dehiwala Zoo and the second a suicide bomb at the Fort train station.  These attacks are nothing new but the frequency in which they are occurring is.  No doubt the increase in attacks is due to both the end of the cease fire and the fact that it is the eve of Sri Lanka's Independence Day.  Everyone has been urged to stay in doors tomorrow and to avoid public spaces at all costs.  This, it seems, is not uncommon; every year people are advised to celebrate independence in the comfort of their own home.  As far as I know, the only people marching in the parade tomorrow will be military.  In fact much of Colombo will be on lock down, roads closed, public spaces strewn with tanks and machine gun toting soldiers.  And yet, the bombers will still bomb because machine guns can't seem to stop those already willing to die.

Reporters without Borders recently rated Sri Lanka 156 out of 169 worst countries for freedom of speech.  Elected Ministers commit crimes without impunity such as the recent case when a Minister and his cronies entered a local TV network and started beating the station director.  Although the staff fought back and actually took the Minister hostage until the police arrived, the Minister is still a Minister and no charges have been brought.  This is insanity. 

The damage done from years and years of bad decision, cover-ups, betrayals, intimidation, political cronyism,  and marginalization cannot be stopped with bombs and, some say, cannot be stopped with compromise.  In the meantime, decision making is a joke, transparency nonexistent, and oversight overlooked.

I'm not really sure what will come of this country in the near future.  Nearly everyone with any bit of education dreams of leaving if they are not already gone.  Many families are spread across the globe. Parents want nothing more than to see that their children find better opportunity elsewhere.  Don't get me wrong, some still see this island as Paradise.......and it is, although greenery, mountains, and ocean within a close proximity is not quite enough to earn it this moniker.  What will restore this island to Paradise are the amazing people who are working very hard every day to make this country a better place. 

I just hope with all my heart that somehow things works out for the best; in the meantime I'm trying to figure out some way to smuggle some Sri Lankans into my luggage.