Other Mumbai and many Gods of India May 10th

May 10th Still in Mumbai

Bina continue to get better. She is in high spirits and is full of positive energy. We talk about childhood, about relatives and mainly about how much fun we has growing up and how our struggling parents were able to provide such a happy and inspiring childhood experience. Our fondest memories are from the times when our family had very little and our mom did everything to satisfy the needs of six growing and demanding kids.

Bina got all the tests done for the next Chemo which is scheduled for Sat, 13th. Her WBC count is good and so are the platelets.  Her ECG looked normal and so did everything else. The luxury life in India is such that the lab and the came home, took samples, brought ECG machine home, did ECG and delivered all the results same evening. ( only in India) GO Bina Mousi...:)

 Beach walk was beautiful. The fisher woman was selling fresh (almost) live fish and crabs.


 I walked over to another garden next to the beach wall ( in between fancy hotel boundaries and the public beach) All this time I had presumed that these places will not be open to the beach walkers like me , but was surprised to see government made little gardens where the people who knew about these ( perhaps local residents) were doing yoga and other exercises.






 It was a pleasant discovery and lots of interesting pictures. Found this charming home; perhaps a left over and neglected from the time  of the British Empire

Just along with the jhopar-patti ( slums) at the beach, are the fancy hotels like Marriott, Ramada Inn, Novotel etc.  In the evening we walked to one of these for dinner and that's where you see other Mumbai. 

We walked to the hotel Sea Princess. i have been walking pass this in my morning walks but never went inside. It was very fancy and quiet place. The buffet ( specially the desserts) were amazing. I did break down and ate the dessert and survived :) Nice thing about fancy places in India is that you get delicious Indian food along with all sorts of Chinese, Italian, Mexican and other Western food. Everything is Indianized  with some Masala and everything is delicious. It is too bad that I have to be extra careful but  i am getting bolder everyday :)] While feasting on all this delicious food and living in the moment, it is hard not to think about people just outside who are living in the slums. India is a place for practical training on being grateful all the time and being compassionate for people just outside my bubble
This blog is getting too long, have to say good night...