99% : Life on the other side of the back gate of the building...

May 15th

Bina continues to do well. Much to our relief, there is no side effect of the higher dose ( 200mg vs 120 before) or third Chemo. She says, she feels happier than she remembers feeling for a long time and surprisingly, she says her brain feels like a fog has lifted off and she can think more clearly . Her focus has improved, so is her appetite. I tried to ask Dr. G for explanation and have found none. What ever it is, we are happy and grateful to take it. It is so much easier and fun to take care of a happy patient ( note to myself.. :)

On my adventure side: I am ashamed to say that  I was afraid to venture in the neighborhood just behind the main building where my brother lives. He lives in Juhu, off the main road, in a relatively fancy building where ( typically)  the 1% of Indians live. I just opened the back gate and walked around the neighborhood where "others" live.  I was not sure what to expect. I went early in the morning to avoid the crowd and the heat. This is where 99% of Mumbai lives ( unless they live in worse slums).

The old Bunyan tree dates the neighborhood and there are many more trees like this all through the area. I walked through few of the streets very early in the morning. People were just waking up and streets were quiet. May be i will venture there in the evening one of these days.

The streets are narrow but very clean. To my surprise, this was not the slum I was expecting. I felt ashamed ( again) of my mental stereotyping people. This is normal people living normal lives, they are just not able to afford the unreasonably expensive homes in Mumbai.  I am sure these streets will be crowded later during the day but at 6 am , this is what I saw. The stray dogs live alongside humans  in India. This lady was feeding them, I asked her if they were her dogs. She said no they are street dogs but she feeds them daily because , " someone has to take care of them.".  The dogs looked healthy, clean and well behaved. This is the same story on the beach too. Mumbai is a habitat for dogs, crows, pigeons and humans ( may be in this order ;) 

A little further ahead, I saw a temple of Balaji ( one of the south Indian Gods, perhaps dating pre-aryan invasion) , a Mosque and a church all within couple of blocks . There were posters  for selling Corn Flakes in English, Urdu and in Hindi.  Out of the few people I saw on the street,  I could easily make out the Muslims, Hindus and christens. Their homes were next to each other and so were the places of worship. Poverty and necessity makes the acceptance and humility possible and perhaps helps people unite and help each other.

  

Stairs going up to people's homes. There were many narrow alleys with many narrow stairs leading up to people's homes. Notice the stack of shoes. Indians do not take the street shoes inside the house. 

A street leading up to a relatively affluent house  of a Christian lady. She had two German Shepard's and air of superiority ( may be because of her education or her riches or her dogs)

I am so glad I did this adventure, It has opened my mind  more(  i thought i am pretty open minded person to begin with) or at the very least confirmed what i already suspected. Going in there during normal rush hours will be another adventure I might take on soon. Stay tuned....good night