Mumbai
What a hectic crazy city, at a glance it looks totally chaotic on the surface, but dig down, spend a little time down a side street in a local spot and there is a different picture. Things are happening, everything works and is organised. The streets are cleaned, the garbage is removed and the traffic keeps flowing – everything seems to run off a hooter. That make this world go round.
Coming from a service industry myself (the restaurant business), I have been constantly amazed by the level of service across all walks of life, from a small street shop of 1 square metre to a little local sidewalk restaurant with 5 tables or to the massive 5 star hotels, service just oozes out everywhere, it just happens and come so naturally (a few of my fellow countrymen should make a trip here and see what service is about). As with every city, there are faults and lots, but I am in no position to comment as I have just had a thimble full in this week, after my journey of 5 months that will begin in November, only then will I really be able to give a balanced opinion.
It’s monsoon season at the moment, rain squalls move across the city on an hourly basis, they look like massive curtains dropping after each scene at a concert, but this does little to suppress the heat, all it does is increase the humidity as it rises in waves of the sun baked roads. The air is so humid and thick, you find it difficult to breathe. Every morning on my training run, one can hardly breath, you actually feel like you are biting off chunks of air rather than breathing it in. Running the streets, dodging taxis, cars, bicycles and the odd cow, the constant deafening sound of hooters just seem to push you over the edge, the hooting just never stops. But on top of all of the madness and mayhem, no one ever seems to freak out, get angry or shout at each other, everyone just calmly hoots their way through the day. I find it in a way such a peaceful attitude has been adapted in order to cope with the heat and madness of the city, it just does not help getting worked up about something, as it’s not going to change anything excepting upsetting yourself.
