Girl's Trip to Mumbai

In October, Priya and I took a girl's trip to Mumbai for a week. Priya was invited to compete at Squash Nationals where the top 32 U11 girls from all over India competed at the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai. We stayed at the Oberoi on Nariman Point, a hotel that overlooked the Arabian Sea and offered breathtaking views. 

Priya' tournament lasted 5 days and our hotel was conveniently located 5 blocks away from the venue. Every morning, at the crack of dawn, we walked along the serene beach to Priya’s match. It was such a peaceful time to experience the usually bustling city and it gave Priya a chance to clear her thoughts and think about her strategy for the match she was about to play.

Since Priya has never competed on the Indian squash circuit before she had to play a few qualifying rounds to get in the main draw, which she played with ease. Once she entered the main draw, the matches got a lot more exciting and were full of emotion on my end  as I cheered Priya on and felt every point as if it were my own. Priya played very competitively and in the course of the week she took her game to a completely new level. She faced some tough competition but she handled it with great form and grace. She ended up placing 7th in India for girls U11. We were so proud of her!!

During the week, Priya met some amazing athletes from Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and many other Indian cities. Many of her opponents watched her matches out of curiosity to figure out where this new competitor with an American accent came from. It was fun for me to meet the other parents and tell them our story. They all agreed that Priya is a real up-and-comer on the Indian squash circuit. 

After the tournament ended we spent a couple days exploring Mumbai. Mumbai was known as 'Bombay' until 1996, a name that emerged from the Portugal term "Bom Bahai" meaning good bay or harbor. What I find most interesting about Mumbai's geography is that it was originally 7 different islands that were joined by land reclamation.  

Since Priya has been studying Mahatma Gandhi at school, our first stop was Mani Bhavan, the home Gandhi stayed at on and off from 1917 to 1934 and from where he initiated his political activities. It has since become a memorial to Gandhi.

Gandhi’s association with the Chakra (a small, portable, hand-cranked wheel for spinning cotton and other fine fibers) began while he was staying at Mani Bhavan. Gandhi brought the chakra into larger use with his teachings, which stressed that Indians should not be sending their cotton bales to England to get woven, spun into cloth, sewn and then sold back to India at prices they could not afford. In order to resist against the British, Gandhi encouraged Indian men to spin (which was traditionally women’s work), weave their own cloth and wear clothing made from this homespun cloth. As part of the passive resistance movement, Gandhi would often spin in public. The chakra now symbolizes Indian quest for independence and is proudly displayed on the Indian flag.

The main floor of Mani Bhavan houses a beautiful library where many of the actual books Gandhi read are preserved in a bookcase. Here Priya is sitting in front of that bookcase. 

The 2nd floor houses a big photo gallery where photographs, letters and press clipping from Gandhi’s childhood till his assassination are displayed. One of the letters was one written to Hitler in 1939 urging him not to war and instead try passive resistance, an approach Gandhi followed.

The room that Gandhi used during his stay at Mani Bhawan was on the 3rd floor. This was Priya’s favorite part of the memorial. Through the glass partition we saw Gandhi’s spinning wheels, a floor bed and many of his personal belongings still preserved.

After leaving Mani Bhawan we went to the lush green Hanging Gardens, on the slopes of Malabar Hill in South Mumbai. The gardens greeted us with a hedged archway that led us to the beautifully manicured lawns.

Priya loved the animals sculpted out of hedges. Her favorites were the giraffe and the man seated on the elephant.

From the park we saw a view of Antilia, the 27-floor personal home belonging to businessman Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries. The home, which is valued at $1 billion, is considered the most expensive in the world. Antilia has its share of controversy; while some Indians are proud of the ostentatious home, others see it as shameful in a nation where many children go hungry. 

Right outside the Hanging Gardens we got a stunning view of Chowpatty beach and Marine Drive, a popular spot for watching sunsets and especially gorgeous when lit up at night.

This is Mumbai’s historic railway station (called Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus). The station building was designed in the High Victorian Gothic style of architecture by an English architect is the late 1800s who was commissioned to construct the station after a masterpiece watercolor sketch. The final design bears some resemblance to the St. Pancras railway station in London. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Finally we made it to the Gateway of India in Colaba, a monument built during the British Raj to commemorate the landing of their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary, when they visited India in 1911. The gateway overlooks the Arabian Sea and in earlier times was the first structure that visitors arriving by boat in Mumbai would see.

Across the street is the famed Taj Mahal Hotel, which was built in 1903 (during British rule) by Jamsetji Tata, an Indian industrialist. The story goes that he built the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city’s grand hotels of the time because he wasn’t white. The hotel is considered one of the finest in India and has hosted many U.S. presidents, dignitaries, royalty and Hollywood A-listers (i.e. Bradgelina). The hotel was rebuilt after the 2008 terrorist attack. Priya and I had dinner there one evening and we could really feel the British history and glamour that is interwoven into the hotel's fabric. 

Around the corner from the hotel we visited the newly opened Starbucks, the first in all of India. We had to give it a try so we stood in the line that extended outside the front door to try the chai latte.

That ended our exciting week in Mumbai. The next morning we boarded a flight back to Delhi and reunited with our boys. 

Amritsar - Part II

From Srinagar we flew 450 km south to Amritsar, the capital of the state of Punjab. We were especially keen on coming to Amritsar to see the Golden Temple, one of the most holy places of the Sikh religion.

Once we arrived in Amritsar, we could immediately feel the hustle bustle of the city, which was quite the contrast to the calm and slower paced feel of Srinagar.  Punjab, like Kashmir, is one of the few states in India that is home to primarily one religion other than Hinduism. Walking in the crowded streets of Amritsar I was taken away by all the color in the air -- not only from women adorned in beautiful salwar kameez and saris but also by Sikh men who adorned brightly colored turbans.

Geographically, Amritsar lies very close to the northwest border of India with Pakistan. In fact, we were only 30 miles away from where Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.  The closest border crossing to Pakistan is the Wagh Border, which until recently was the only road connecting India and Pakistan. Every evening before sunset the border hosts the Wagah Border Ceremony – a daily military practice that the security forces of India and Pakistan have jointly followed since 1959.

We were very curious to see this much-celebrated ceremony so we drove there our first afternoon. The last mile to the border we walked in the blistering heat amongst crowds of Indian nationals. Once we arrived we noticed that the Indian nationals had to wait in long lines to gain admittance to the ceremony. Meanwhile, International tourists went through a fast lane and were priority seated in a VIP section. We literally waltzed in with our U.S. passports and got great seats amongst rows of International tourists.

In this picture you can see the closed gate on the border of India and Pakistan where much of the ceremony takes place. In the distance is the Welcoming Gate to Pakistan. On our side of the border is India’s welcoming gate with a prominent picture of Mahatma Gandhi.

We arrived about 30 minutes before the ceremony began but for us the entertainment had already begun. Popular Indian music blared over the loudspeakers as the Indian nationals sung and danced in circles to show their immense pride in India. School kids of all ages joined in the fun. There was so much patriotism buzzing in the air that it was infectious! It felt like Indian Independence Day!!

Then the ceremony began. The ceremony started with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both sides, and ended up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nation’s flags. A soldier stood at attention on each side of the gate and, as the sun set, the iron gates at the border were temporarily opened while the two flags were lowered simultaneously.

The flags were then folded and the ceremony ended with a retreat and the soldiers shook hands before the gate closed again.

It was a really beautiful ceremony with lots of pump and circumstance. As we all know, India and Pakistan have a very strained relationship, plagued by hostility and suspicion, dating back to the partition of British India in 1947. After seeing this ceremony one almost thinks that maybe relations are getting better but in reality this is a completely staged spectacle. Michael Palin of Monty Python fame said it best when he described the ceremony as a display of “carefully choreographed contempt”.

After the ceremony we traveled back to Amritsar to visit the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikh religion. Once we get in the vicinity of the temple we parked our car and walked the last half-mile through narrow alleys bustling with vendors sitting on mattresses in their stores selling all kinds of fabric. The walk was not an easy one as we constantly dodged motor scooters and stray dogs to get to the shrine – but it was well worth it!

Once we got to the temple we had to remove our shoes, wash our feet and cover our heads.

By the time we arrived at the temple, the sun had set and the lit-up golden temple took on a regal feel as it glistened in the pool surrounding it. It was simply breathtaking! Unfortunately the crowd of people waiting to enter the temple was not deterred by the darkness or the long lines.

It normally takes two hours to navigate through the line and enter the temple but our tour guide knew the inside scoop on which line moved faster. Taking his advice we stood in line and made it in under an hour. Oddly enough, as we were standing in line, feeling very proud of our inside information, we noticed the occasional person entering through the exit line. We thought perhaps they were VIPs. We later learned that these supposed “VIPs” simply bribed the guard. Leave it to India – nothing is impossible with a bribe!

While standing in line we stared in awe at the temple’s beauty. The Golden Temple sits on a rectangular platform, surrounded by a pool of water called the Amrit Sarovar from which the City is named. The temple is simply breathtaking with its rich ornamentation full of marble sculptures, golden gilding and precious stones! It’s no surprise that the shrine attracts more visitors than even the Taj Mahal!

Upon doing some research I realized that the location of the temple has much historical significance. Originally the site of the temple was a small lake in the midst of a quiet forest where wandering sages came to meditate. Even the Buddha spent time here meditating. Two thousand years later, Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, came to live and meditate by the peaceful lake. After he passed away his disciples continued to frequent the site – and over the next 70 years, in the early 1600s, the lake was enlarged and the Golden Temple was built.

On numerous occasions the Muslims destroyed the temple – a recurring theme in Indian history – but each time the temple was built even more beautifully. The architecture of the final rendering draws on both Hindu and Muslim artistic styles.

This is an aerial view of the temple during the day. 

Once we entered the temple we walked through an ornate archway with intricate inlay work. After going up and then down a flight of stairs we passed through the Darshani Deori to enter an ornate chamber where musicians sang and played beautifully melodic music on the harmonium, sitar and tabla in front of their Guru. Onlookers were chanting and praying and seemed to be in a spiritual state. It felt so calm and peaceful to be in their presence. It was a beautiful experience!

The next day we visited the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, the site of the April 13, 1919 massacre of hundreds of innocent Indians by British troops – a major event in India’s struggle for freedom.

Spread over 6.5 acres of land, Jallanwala Bagh was a popular ground for holding meetings and protest during the Freedom Struggle in India. On the day of the massacre a large crowd of around 20,000 people had assembled at Jallianwala Bagh to protest against the arrest of two Indian freedom leaders. As they were listening to the speeches of their leaders, a British General ordered his soldiers to block the only exit gate and to fire 1,600 rounds of bullets on the unarmed and helpless crowd.

This memorial was extremely moving and seemed especially familiar as it is represented in the movie “Gandhi”. Akash watched the movie in school last year with his History class and vividly remembered the massacre and its impact on India.

The Indians trapped in Jallanwala Bagh that day were so desperate to escape the bullets that they jumped into this well and then drowned.

The memorial also preserved the remnants of this wall, which has actual bullet marks from the massacre.

At another side of the garden is an eternal flame of remembrance, named the ‘Flame of Liberty’, set up in commemoration of those who died at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The main memorial is in the shape of a bullet so that Indians never forget the violence that erupted on this sad day in Indian history.

This ended our sightseeing in Amritsar. A couple hours later we boarded a flight back to Delhi. While waiting to go through security we noticed a Sikh man dressed in religious clothing carrying a strapped curved sword. Very religious Sikh men wear this sword as one of the five items of faith to the Sikh religion. In this day and age, we never thought he would get through security but, sure enough, he breezed right through. Priya was especially shocked and exclaimed, only in Amritsar!

When we arrived back in Delhi the kids were thoroughly exhausted from our busy travels but came back with great memories of our trip. We saw so much that weekend; it’s not often that you get to visit meccas of two major religions in one weekend! 

Our First Excursion out of Delhi – Part I (Kashmir)

In honor of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday on October 2^nd, the American School gave the kids a five-day weekend. We used the extended holiday to take our first excursion outside of Delhi to Srinagar, Kashmir and Amritsar, Punjab.

Srinager, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, is situated in the Kashmir Valley and lies on the bank of the Jhelum River. The city is famous for its beautiful gardens, lakes and colorful houseboats. It is also known for its traditional hand loomed rugs, papier-mâché and of course, pashmina.

After spending a day in Srinagar I was struck by how different it felt from Delhi. It is obvious that this city has not been influenced by Western culture nearly as much as Delhi. The women dress mostly in traditional dress and about 20% of the women wear burkas. We did not see any franchises - not even a McDonalds! - and people seem to live pretty simply. It was obvious how large a role the Muslim religion plays in Kashmiri's lives. Our tour guide assured us that things have in fact changed in the last ten years since the Government allowed satellite TV into people's homes. Now that Kashmiris are enjoying Bollywood movies, the young women want to dress more fashionably and burkas are slowly giving way to more body slimming kurtas and saris. 

For our first couple nights in Srinagar we stayed at a hotel on the Jhelum River. This was the scenic view from our room. 

Once we got settled, our first round of sightseeing in Srinagar was to the Shalimar Gardens, an exquisitely beautiful group of gardens built by the Mughals in the Islamic style of architecture.  It was built by Mughal Emperor Jahangir to please his wife Nur Jahan, in 1619 and is now a public park that is frequented by many locals.

The gardens have seven terraces that take over an hour to completely walk up. Water flows down from the top terrace, which comes from the mountain tops, down to Dal Lak. We visited on such a beautifully sunny day that the gardens looked so lush. It is no surprise that these gardens are considered the high point of Mughal horticulture.

This is a picture looking down from the second terrace onto Dal Lake with the mountains in the background.

This picture was taken on the fourth terrace

 And this one was taken from the fifth terrace.

The kids were so proud of themselves when they got to the top terrace - and the top of the waterfall!

The next day we drove 2 ½ hours to Gulmarg (translation: Meadow of Flowers), a famous ski resort and the world’s highest 18-hole golf course. Gulmarg is considered the “heartland of winter sports in India” and is Asia’s seventh biggest ski destination.

The resort is especially famous because of its Gulmarg Gondola, the second highest cable car in the world. It ferries 600 people/hour to and from the shoulder of nearby Mt. Apharwat Summit.

Once we got to the mountain we went horseback riding to a waterfall that ends up at Alpahter Lake.

Akash hiked up to the top of the waterfall. We were holding our breath watching him because it was not an easy trek.

It was so scenic on Mt. Apharwat that we didn’t want to leave!

Needles to say, we were very tired when we arrived back to Srinagar that evening. The next morning (and every morning!) we were woken up at 5 am to the sounds of prayer chants from the local mosques broadcast over loudspeakers all over Srinagar.

That day we discovered old Srinagar. We visited Shah Hamadan Mosque, the oldest mosque in the world. Built in 1395, it has been raised to the ground due to fire and rebuilt three times, most recently in 1731. The mosque is an excellent example of indigenous wood architecture that draws inspiration from Buddhist, Hindu and Islamic architecture.

The architecture is so beautifully ornate that I tried to capture different aspects of it in the pictures below.

We then walked through the narrow alleys of old Srinagar, which are full of vendors peddling all types of food and fabrics.

The electrical wiring is absolutely frightful in places like this!

Next we walked to Jamia Masjid, the largest mosque in Asia located in the middle of the old city. It is known as one of the most sacred mosques in India and has the capacity to accommodate more than 33,333 people offering prayer at one time! It was built by Sultan Sikandar in 1400 AD. Later, the son of Sultan Sikandar, Zain-ul-Abidin extended the mosque.

This is the modest entrance.

The mosque is surrounded by wide lanes on all the four sides that seem to go on forever. One of the most unique aspects of the mosque is that it is built on 370 wooden pillars

The mosque has a perfectly square garden in the middle.

Since there are five prayers a day, whose timings change based on when the sun rises and sets, this handy digital clock in the mosque reminds visitors when to pray.

We couldn't leave Kashmir without doing some shopping so that was our next stop. Our tour guide took us to an old mill where rugs are hand woven. This is quite a rarity today as most rugs are machine woven. We got quite a lesson on how laborious the rug making process is -- it can take 1 1/2 years to hand weave a 9x12 rug!! The finished product is truly a piece of art!

We also visited a papier-mâché factory. Hand made papier-mâché is another dying art. The man who ran the factory prided himself in his craft, which consisted of endless hours preparing the molds and finely painting each papier-mâché product. Can you believe the elephant priya is sitting on is made of papier-mâché?

We ended up our day by taking a shikara ride on Dal Lake. Shikaras are a type of wooden canoe used to transport people along the lake. Drivers use oars that have a unique spade-shaped bottom to row the shikara. Like the Venetian gondolas, shikaras are a cultural symbol of Kashmir.

The kids loved the comfortable ride.

 The scenery was breathtaking!

Colorful houseboats lie along the banks of the lake.

We especially enjoyed riding down the canals filled with bustling bazaars.

There were so many amazing photo opportunities on the ride!

Our ride ended with the sun beginning to set. At that time of the day the reflection of the mountains on the lake was captured beautifully through my camera lens.

That evening we stayed in this quaint houseboat.

At the houseboat we were treated to homemade Kashmiri meals served in our living room. It was a real treat! Our stay on the houseboat was the perfect ending to an enchanting weekend in Kashmir!

Next we traveled to Amritsar, Punjab (Part II). 

Footnote: Traveling through the Srinagar airport was like getting security clearance to enter the White House! The airport implements a multi-tier security system and the first security check occurs 1 km before you even arrive at the airport. Everyone has to exit the car for a full body check (yes they do touch you everywhere!) and all the baggage has to go through x-ray screening. At this point we thought, great we are getting this out of the way before we get to the airport. That was not the case! At the airport we went through two more rounds of full body checks and three more x-ray baggage screenings. I'm not sure if the Kashmiri's don't understand the purpose of x-rays, or if there was a reason for the multiple security levels, but after our bags were x-rayed they had to be hand checked as well. We understand that Kashmir is a hotbed for terrorist activity but the security system seemed over the top. Perhaps there is fear that the people working at the airport were potential terrorists that can insert something in a passenger's bag after it's been screened. Who knows, but at least we felt safe on our flight!