revisiting mumbai

Featured photo courtesy: Vyacheslav Argenberg — Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mumbai,India,_Chhatrapati_Shivaji_Maharaj_Terminus(Victoria_Terminus),_Railway_station.jpg

Flying into Mumbai, the old familiar odour hit my senses as soon as I left the airport. Nothing seemed to have changed in my five-year absence. The traffic was chaotic, the sound of horns trumpeted the vast city, and the heat and humidity glued my clothes to my back. In spite of these discomforts, I was glad to return.

A Taste of India Across the Sea

When I left India by ship from Mumbai, I cruised across the calm Arabian Sea to Mombasa on a week-long journey. Delighting in vegetarian curry on the trip, I thought it would be my last.

Pondy’s beachfront

I cooled off in a beach side restaurant because it wasn’t only the thirty-two degree heat that had me wilting, but the high humidity drenching my skin. I sat talking to a Mumbai visitor while the Bay of Bengal beckoned.