Some thoughts

I'm now in Mumbai. Mumbai is the Indian name, but the British couldn't say it properly (yes, we really are that stupid sometimes), so it was called Bombay. Now, like most places reclaiming their heritage - I'm thinking of Mt. Cook/Aoraki in NZ - the name has changed to it's native term. Bombay, sorry, Mumbai, is quite cool. I much prefer it to Delhi. Delhi was sooo crowded and the infrastructure is pretty poor, whereas Mumbai seems a bit more with it, if you know what I mean. I also love that it's next to water. I know Glasgow and London aren't next to the sea, but I get so used to cities being near some form of water and, what with Britain being an island, get used to having sea within the vicinity. My hosts here - Deepali and Gaurav - took me to the harbour after work. It was really cool just to wander and chill out and breath in the fresh sea air. Granted, the freshness wasn't quite the same as places like Tignabruiach and Skye and Scarborough, but good none the less :) Mumbai is still crowded though. The whole of India is crowded. I know it has over one billion people and it has the largest population in the world, but you cannot begin to comprehend until you see it. I mean, what's a billion? How can you picture a billion? I just sit in the car and gaze out the window, absorbing what's going on in the streets. Like tonight, I thought, wow, it's busy just now, there are people everywhere - but it's like that all the time! Everyone walks in front of cars and other people. It's like ants crawling around an apple core. Without meaning to call Indians ants, but the concept - to me - is the same. It just feels like everyone is scrambling over things. I think, because of that, there isn't the same awareness of personal space here as I feel there is elsewhere. For example: On both my internal flights, I got up when the seatbelt light went out and then my neighbours (in my row) got up and leant over and round me to get their bags from the hatch (I know it's not called a hatch, but I totally can't think of the name right now). Then, as if that wasn't enough, they proceeded to knock me with their belongings and kinda push out in front of me. The thing is - to them - that is normal. Just like it's normal to spit everywhere and burp and cough without covering your mouth. And so, because it's normal, I feel I can't give them a look of disgust, because they would think I was a weirdo. Anyway, I had had enough of the man beside me, with his burping and shoving, so when he tried to walk through me (I had made sure he was behind me) I turned round and asked if he could possibly wait the two seconds it would take me to lift my bags down. Polite yet sarcastic. Oh the joys of being Scottish!
Anyway, I've digressed. The thing about India, is that poverty is so obvious. I know there are more people here and therefore, one could conclude, that there will be more rich people as well as poor people, when compared to the UK, however, it's so in your face that it makes it seem much much worse. And the spectrum is wider here, of course. On the way to my hotel from the airport, we passed streets, where people were lining the pavements, on sheets and blankets, just sleeping. Many with babies. It's insane. I think that is worse in Mumbai than in Delhi. Part of me is immune to it all - you have to be, same as in the UK - but part of me feels a bit guilty. Especially when I get served a huge meal, that I can't finish and that the remainder will go in the bin, when there are people literally living on the streets. But, it's not by problem right? You can't help everyone can you?
On a lighter note - there are some direct parallels between "the poor" as we know them in the UK (i.e. those who rely on government help) and those way below the poverty line over here.. We were driving to one of the hospitals this morning and passed a large slum area and they have satellite! Yay! I mean, they use tarpaulin sheets as roofs, but they manage to fix satellite dishes to their homes. Where there's a will, there's a way! I don't even have satellite...