The morning started with a quick walk across the street to see Mumbai's Indian Gate. The actual walking was fine, but there were huuuuge balloons that were attached to these guys who kept wanting to sell their balloons to us. Apparently they lost the need for the particularly large and unuseful balloons. No upcoming birthdays. Sorry buddy. The arch was basically a bigger version of the Arc de Triumph with quite a bit of scaffolding. Our next stop was the courtyard of Bombay University and some adjacent courthouse. The funny thing about the courthouse was that it had so many legal files that were piled outside, in the courtroom and wherever else there was space. Literally just piles - no shelves, no order, just stacks of papers.
Must be terribly difficult to find Docket 24.A.19 People v. American Guy Who Took Pictures in Courthouse.The morning rush at Victoria Train Station was just that. Throngs of people arriving and departing, crowding the cars until they became over-packed. Just fascinating to watch. Yes, I've been to many train stations before, but this was unlike a European depot or Chicago's Metra. The design of the outside of the station was even more impressive. Think castle, grand palace.
We rushed ourselves to see the dabba walla in full swing. These guys are the Bruce Lees of food delivery. Minus the kung fu but with the same expedited seriousness. And hopefully with a tinge less vengeance. Sound simple? Not quite. After studying it as a somewhat official observer for a few minutes, I still didn't get how it works so efficiently. Here's the scenario:
-Mom/wife packs you a yummy lunch of your favorite curries and maybe even a note with Ganesha on it for good luck. The same guy you've seen day after day, year after year, comes and picks up the lunch in the morning, wearing his sailor-like hat, makes his rounds and congregates with all the other tiffenmen on the main thoroughfare across the street from one of the other main train terminals.
- Some local runners put the different to-go lunches on every inch of a bicycle, but more common are the long trays of about 4' x 6' that is carried on their heads, put into the luggage car of a train and then, upon the train reaching its destination, relayed to the team responsible for actually hand delivering the food.
The process is crazy, but they swear by it. I thought it would just be easier to carry your own lunch to work, but was told that it was too tightly packed on the trains to facilitate everyone bring aboard a sack lunch. Seems like a lot of work for lunch, but it's practical for them.
Crawford Market was our next stop. This bizaar mainly offered a wide array of food products. Eggs, watermelons, mangoes, apples, strawberries - the list goes on. Walking further brings out the more peculiar offerings: poultry, fowl, ducks, mangy cats and mice. No, not as a result of the filth, the cats and mice were in cages to be sold. Under the main covering was much of the same as well as the spice markets. I bought chicken tikka spices and a wetish but really good smelling spices. I'm excited to use them - or at least smell them.
We visited two more places before the end of the day. Another common service, similar in style to the dabba walla is the dhobi. These guys are the pro-bowlers of the laundry service league. Spread across a few acres, this service provides regular cleaning for much of Mumbai. But not in the typical fashion, of course. Large sacks of clothes/garments/etc. are carried to the outdoor 'operations facility.' The clothes are then beaten repeatedly against a tub-like stone basin containing water and a mild, natural detergent.
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