One of the most famous beaches in all of Mumbai – Bombay is Juhu Beach. In the evening the beach is packed to watch the beautiful sunset.

There are tons of street food stands surrounding the beach and numerous carts on the beach selling corn, roasted peanuts, shaved ice and fresh coconut, with gadget, photos, and even a biorhythm / horoscope readings with TVs.

This display of fruit, nuts and other traditional snacks was one of many. On a related note, almost an exact replica of this was at the Indian wedding as well.

People aren’t the only ones eating – this cow got to peacefully partake of the corn leftovers.

Just after the famous sunset on Juhu Beach.

Goa and Baga Beach at New Year’s Eve

After my friend’s Indian wedding, we spent the days following and New Year’s in Goa, India. The weather was perfect the whole time we were there and we spent a lot of time at the beach or at the pool.

It’s not only sunsets around here – we actually got to see a sunrise in Goa, too. Of course, it was the first full day we had in Goa, and every evening after that kept us out too late to see the sunrise at 7am.

We were staying at a timeshare resort in more than 5 apartments (there were 21 of us) and luckily for us, it was in walking distance to Baga Beach, where there was always action during the day and all through the night. This water taxi stop looked like it hadn’t been used much lately, but I’m used to the concept of a water taxi from Venice, so I would have done it if needed! Later we “taxi’d” in a boat from Anjuna beach back to Baga.

Baga Beach is kilometer after kilometer of beach shack and accompanying restaurant. There are a few public beach spaces, but I recommend renting a set of chairs and umbrella for the whole day so you can relax. We bargained so hard we had them down to 4 beds for 100 rupees (about 3 euro) for the whole day. Of course, they will get this money back later when you spend all day eating there from their bar.

Big tip: If there are more than 2 or 3 of you, I suggest asking for the bill after every round of ordering. The first time I did this (there were about 10 of us) we pointed out an extra 3 beers and a pizza that hadn’t been ordered, and were then taken off the bill. It’s easier if you can remember who ate what!

But people aren’t the only ones eating on Baga Beach – the cows come to the trash “area” to snack while they’re on vacation, too. No wholesome corn husks here.

Of course, there is the sunset. A popular activity on the beach was renting a jet ski for a few minutes, or going on a parasailing ride – you can see several of them in the background still making the rounds.

In the evening, the beach chairs are cleared, along with you if you’ve bought them for the day, and the real entertainment in Goa begins: the nightlife. Instead of chaise lounges, big, high-backed cushioned chairs are brought out surrounding low tables, and other tables are set for dinner and late evening.

There’s something about eating a meal with your feet stuck deep into the sand.

Because there were so many of us (21), we decided to spend New Year’s Eve on the beach but inside a “private party” and not outside in the crush so we could keep an eye on everyone. We were in good company because we had the likes of Shaan (a popular Bollywood singer) in there with us, and who knows who else!

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, the kilometers and kilometers of bars and restaurants on the beachfronts all had their own fireworks displays, so up and down the entire coastline you could see explosions and beautiful fireworks.

Here’s a video of a minute of that night (you might have to click through if you’re reading in a feed reader). In the background is “Deewangi” from the Bollywood movie, Om Shanti Om, and the most popular song of the time. (Read my post about Bollywood if you’re interested)

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I mentioned that when I first arrived in India, I was staying in a town near Surat, Gujarat, and we were in a village just outside of Navsari. On the other side of Navsari, the coastal village of Dandi was the historical site of where the Salt Satyagraha started when Gandhi broke the Salt Tax Act and taught fellow Indians how to make “illegal” salt from the salty shores of Dandi beach. This act is considered by many to be the beginning of the fall of British rule.

This monument stood next to a larger-than-life statue of Gandhi bending down and picking up the salty mud that he would later boil and extract salt from.

The inscription reads:
“Here On April 6, 1930, Gandhiji Broke The Salt Law Picked Salt And Challenged The Rule Of The Mighty British Which Ultimately Won For Our Motherland Freedom on August 15, 1947.”

I admit I couldn’t imagine exactly what it must feel like to Indians to be in a place where such revolution took place, and their country was never the same from that day. My whole life I’ve lived in a safe and protected environment. I did appreciate the parallel between the Salt Tax revolution in India and America’s revolt against the (British) Tea Tax in the form of the Boston Tea Party. Both acts sparked a longer-term revolution for both countries.

I apologize – I took quite a few pictures of the monuments and places that Gandhi spoke, but as you will see from the pictures below, we were there as the sun disappeared into the horizon, taking most of the natural light with it. The pictures are good enough for me and for my memories, but not for you, my readers!

On Dandi Beach, we were treated to a beautiful sunset and directly behind us a bright moon was already starting to reflect brightly. Families that had spent the day on the beach were readying to go home, and the random camel was still taking children around for trips on the beach.

The sun in India doesn’t disappear into the horizon cleanly like it does in San Diego, for example. It disappears in what it seems to be a few feet above the water line.

Wherever there are people in India, there are bound to be refreshments. On the waterfronts and beaches, this was especially true. One of the more popular refreshments that I saw in India is crushing whole sugar cane to make sugar cane juice. Sometimes they would add syrups, lime juice or ice but most of the time I saw it in its pure form, squeezed straight from the cane to glass.

You would see machines to squeeze out the sugar cane, with a glass or bucket on the other side of the machine to catch the liquid. Here he’s feeding the pieces of cane into the machine.

Sometimes the best way to enjoy sugar cane was to start eating it directly. Chopped into big chunks, you just stuck a piece in your mouth and started sucking and chewing the juice directly from the fibers, leaving you with a small pile of what you saw next to the machine. When they were very cold, they were a refreshing snack.

Have you ever tasted real sugar cane or sugar cane juice?

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While in India, we also inadvertently crashed another wedding celebration while we there. In my friend’s father’s village in Gujarat, there was another wedding taking place. This time it was the Puja Ganesh ceremony, a ceremony that takes place (sometimes several days) before the wedding. There were several hundred people at this ceremony and the food was also plentiful as seen below. The interesting part about this event, which I couldn’t photograph, were that there were hundreds of women sitting under this tent, at long tables facing each other, with a middle runway path for the servers to come through and give you food. The men had eaten before us, and I sat facing some women probably wondering what was so interesting about the food that I had to take a picture of it.

There were several types of beans and lentils, papadum, sweet potato bhaji, eggplant, and perhaps my favorite – a silver-wrapped cashew (kaju) sweet with fig filling. Yum!

Mehendi or Mendhi ceremony

Two days before the wedding ceremony, we went to the bride’s house where they were having the Mendhi ceremony. Mendhi was applied to members of the bridal party and family’s hands. On the bride, it was applied from fingertips to elbows and all over her feet and up to her calves. It took 5 hours to do the bride’s mendhi and she was very restless at the end, not being able to rest her arms or legs for fear of smudging the intricate designs. Can you blame her? Her husband’s name is “hidden” in the mendhi somewhere and it is his job to find it afterward.

I did the mendhi, too, and I loved having mendhi on my hands and the designs that they used. Not only do they apply lemon to it when it’s almost dry to darken the color, but heat plays a factor in how deeply it will stain your hands. My hands took to the mendhi quite well and I could see even a few light remnants of the design until a few days ago.

The Wedding

I had been to a Hindu wedding ceremony before where they explained all of the steps of the ceremony and blessings. This time around, there were no explanations and it seemed like an intimate affair between the bride, groom, their bridal party and another 500 people watching in the background and eating the food being brought around. The first Hindu wedding I had been to, I was shocked to see people getting up during the ceremony and EATING! But it’s normal and sometimes absolutely necessary since they can be very long.

Here’s a picture of the altar where they would get married later. If you’re going to be a guest at an Indian wedding, I recommend reading about the Hindu wedding traditions in case they are not explaining the rituals. S had some help from some of our friends there and I relaxed and watched.

Our friend, who normally is very beautiful, was stunningly beautiful as a bride. Don’t you agree? She answered the door in the hotel room, fully dressed, and I about had a heart attack at her transformation. I love how the massive amounts of details in her dress – from the head covering to her bindi, the numerous bangles to all of the mendhi on her hands and feet, her nose ring, her jewelry. She was gorgeous.

After the ceremony, then the real feasting began. In an area near to the sitting area, it seemed like a huge fair of food, with booths set up for each specific type.

The Indian Chinese food I mentioned in Desi Chinese, Ice Cream, Dabeli and Other Street Food was present, as well as Italian which is quite trendy (and expensive) in India. I steered clear since I was still ready to gorge myself on Indian food. There was a Jain booth with specially prepared foods, as well as my two favorite booths:

Fresh naan and rotis.

Fresh dosas being made on the spot. The dosa is perhaps my favorite new discovery and I loved eating them for breakfast.

Paan or pan is something eaten to freshen one’s breath and is commonly served at weddings. At the first wedding we went to, I was served a little packet of a fresh green leaf wrapped up and inside was a mixture of coconut, spices and candied/preserved fruit, closed with a toothpick and had a maraschino cherry stuck on top.

I had to spit it out.

See, I told you there might be something I didn’t like in India! It might have been those flavor combinations or that particular one, but I felt myself getting sick. Maybe next time. Aesthetically, I love looking at the pan stands and all the colors. Pan can also be bought dried and sometimes people mix it with tobacco or even coke (and not the soda). Oral cancer is unfortunately a problem in India and I can testify seeing as how much I saw men chewing and spitting it!

But aren’t the colors pretty?

Have you been to a Hindu wedding ceremony? Any experiences to share?

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The Importance of a Good Driver

We were lucky to have two excellent drivers through most of the trip. The first was a fellow villager who had his own driving business and took us around personally in Gujarat. He was funny and a little crazy, as I think you have to be to be an agressive driver in India. We always felt safe when he was driving and stop questioning what he was doing when he didn’t stop (or pay) at toll booths or stopped to help another driver out with a flat tire.

Though, I did have to snap this picture quickly – if you notice, we are heading in the direction of oncoming traffic on the highway. Yes, oncoming. Often crossing the highways, which are incredibly crowded, take some innovation and definitely daring. I don’t recommend anyone trying this at home. Directly after I treated myself to an ice cream. Note the little Ganesha statue on his dashboard. It must be working!

After we left Gujarat, we had another driver who took us around Mumbai. I kept seeing our driver’s eyes in the rearview mirror and finally it hit me: he had a striking resemblance to Snoop Dogg. He was the Indian Snoop Dogg! (Don’t know who Snoop Dogg is? Here’s Sensual Seduction, a favorite video of his)When I mentioned this to my fellow passengers, they were all in total agreement. A cool guy that spoke very little and often seemed to be affecting a lean in his driver’s seat, he was an excellent driver and an even better waiter. No matter what we’d do in the meantime or how long we’d take, he’d be available to pick us up after.

A driver can cost upwards of 1600-2000+ rupees/day for an A/C car that carries several people, and of course for multiple days you’ll be able to ask for the famous “discount” that will be given to you anywhere from 10-20% on the first try (usually with a calculator to make it seem more official) and possibly more if that’s your intention. I didn’t think bargaining for a driver was the best way to assure we’d have a stress-free day, and we ended up tipping our driver quite a bit at the end of the day because he really enhanced our experience. A good driver will know the routes to avoid, the streets that are already blocked and where construction is going on. Heck, he even waited when we found a coffee house and dashed inside for our fix. Nescafe isn’t bad but there’s nothing like a real shot of espresso.

Before I get any emails about contacting our drivers, they both spoke only Hindi and Gujarati, no English.

Bollywood

Our driver in Mumbai also gave us the added “Bollywood Star House Tour” since my friend wanted to see where the Bollywood stars’ houses were. Bollywood, a hybrid between Bombay and Hollywood, is the “home” of the Hindi language film industry, though there is no sign on the side of a hill somewhere. In India there are several film industries, divided by language, Bollywood being the biggest.

At first it seemed strange that even a driver would know where they were, but I realized that everyone knows everything about these Bollywood stars and they can’t buy a house without the whole world knowing about it. There are even websites with Bollywood star addresses on them. You come to recognize their houses, too – tall, 20-ft walls often with barbed wire at the top and several guards standing at the bottom, guarding the gates.

We saw both of Amitabh Bachchan’s houses. Not sure who he is? Besides being one of the most popular Bollywood actors (since the 60s), he is the father of Abhishek Bachchan, and therefore Aishwarya Rai’s father-in-law. You know, that stunning blue-eyed Indian woman often called the most beautiful woman on the planet. On a side note, I’m looking forward to seeing Amitabh’s debut in an international film in Mira Nair’s (Bend it Like Beckham, Monsoon Wedding) next film – the adaptation of the book “Shantaram” with Johnny Depp as the lead! My friend loved this book but I haven’t read it yet. We also saw Shah Rukh Khan’s apartment and Hrithik Roshan’s house which had several fans standing outside it.

Bollywood movies are typically characterized by a love story (usually with a family element of conflict) interspersed with large musical dance numbers and the couple will never kiss. I loved the old-school musicals from Rogers & Hammerstein (Oklahoma, Sound of Music, etc.) so I fit right in with the Bollywood fans. I started watching them several years ago when my (Indian-American) friends introduced me to them. More recently, Bollywood films are becoming more controversial and modern – including a kiss, the women are not wearing saris all the time, and action, sport and period-pieces are being explored.

If you’re interested at all in Bollywood movies (and music), their popularity is often tied to their soundtracks and vice versa. Songs are not always the traditional “cat singing in a long alley” that I’ve heard said about the female voices singing in Hindi (which I find beautiful, anyway), but incorporating more modern beats like bhangra, techno or R&B rhythms.

Some of the songs we heard over and over are from these movies (song names in parenthesis) – Om Shanti Om (Main Agar Kahoon, Deewangi Deewangi), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (Bhool Bhulaiyaa), Partner (Soni De Nakhre, Do u Wanna Partner), Jab We Met (Mauja Mauja, Yeh Ishq Hai) and Heyy Babyy (Mast Kalandar, Heyy Babyy). And Welcome (Welcome, Insh Allah, Kiya Kiya) is turning into a big hit for 2008. If you enter these movie or song titles into You Tube, there are a lot of videos available, or you can listen to Bollywood Music Radio online or, if you need your music now, I tried out Amazon’s MP3 (DRM-free, can be played anywhere!) Download service over the weekend and I was pretty happy with it – fast and cheap! I was even happier to find some of the songs I heard in India available online. I only brought back one CD with me (and 8 movies) so I’ll be stocking up now that I have instant gratification! I added some Bollywood albums and movies to my Amazon store, and I’ll keep adding as they become available – most of the ones I listed are still in theaters.

Colorful trucks

The trucks in India seem to have a higher suspension system than I’m used to, making the truck very tall for a short body, and the bumper coming to your windshield level. But what really struck me is how colorful all of the trucks were. The names of the operators were written on the side door of the cab, which was often cracked open to let some extra air in and perhaps to provide some entertainment during the long, boring trips.

Almost every truck or rickshaw / tuctuc car had this phrase painted on it “Horn Ok Please”

And by what I witnessed of the use of the horn, I would say everyone is Ok with the horn. I kept waiting to see one that said “Try the Horn…See What Happens” or “Screw the Horn” or even the simple “Horn NOT ok.” I never saw one.

The road is everywhere and everwhere is a road

Here’s a clip of one of our memorable car moments driving on the highway in Mumbai – Bombay. The music in the background (playing in the car) is from Heyy Babyy – Mast Kalandar. Thanks to Deirdre for the video software tip.

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