I’m in Mumbai!  We had a tour and I have about an hour to attempt to write about today!  Not sure where to begin or how to write since my mind is swirling with words.

The day started with yoga! Our yoga space and session were really great.  I thought we were going to do our yoga session poolside, but when I got to the pool at 6:45am, Rajesh, the man who gives a new meaning to “Jack of All Trades”, was setting us up in the Pavilion looking out to the pool.  Rajesh had towels and water for us and was very excited to show me the space!  It was perfect except for one thing.  He had the AC blasting!  It felt like a walk-in freezer.  He was pretty surprised when I asked him to turn off the AC and to open up the glass doors looking out to the swimming pool.  In no time at all, the room was at a comfortable Mumbai morning temperature, very conducive to deep stretching, not too hot and not too cool.

A little more on our man Rajesh:

I could tell by the way he walks and stands and carries himself about that he was a yogi. So when I saw him yesterday (he was taking our drink orders at the pool), I asked him if he does yoga. He said, “Yes, I am a yoga teacher, but how do you KNOW?”

In addition to teaching yoga, he is also a life-guard, a professional dancer, a kick-boxer, a karate black-belt, a singer, a Thai massage therapist, and a professional in the art of mimicry!  I had never heard of the latter, but he explained that he does impersonations of famous Bollywood stars.   He proceeded to entertain us with various impersonations.  The funniest imitations were of a woman trying to show interest in a man and one of an angry woman!

Then we did some yoga!  He showed me a variation on Sun Salutations.  Beautiful…we did his version of the Sun Salutations together. Ha! I got my 39th Yoga Challenge photo at that point.  Then he offered to give me a Thai massage right there and then.  We found a space in the gym, using my yoga mat, and he gave me an impromptu 20 minute Thai massage.  Heavenly!

The first stop on today’s tour was to the Dhobi Ghats, where your India-made sheets, jeans, and shirts were probably washed before making their way to American or Canada… or wherever it is that you live!  The Dhobi Ghats are in one of Mumbai’s slums.  We walked through the slum and watched the washer-men and the school children and the busy lives of these very industrious people.

This man below is actually washing a family’s personal laundry. They have an intricate system of tagging the clothing so that the laundry is always washed and returned to the correct owner without error.

Prayer Flag-like lines of Laundry decorate the slums:

No, they do not launder the hotel sheets.  (I asked!)

I love the touch of the Silk-Curtained-Door:

And the school children of the slum were adorable like the little girls below:

We stopped at the Mahatma Gandhi Museum, which used to be the home Gandhi stayed at whenever he was in Mumbai.  It is a testament to how simply Gandhi lived, but also a testament to his greatness. The most impressive aspects are the library, which contains all the books Gandhi read, his spinning wheel, and his simple bedroom.  I was stuck by the story I learned about Gandhi and his spinning.  He said that spinning for him was like an act of prayer.  By spinning, he said he felt more connected to the poor and therefore more connected to all of humanity and creation.

Gandhi’s sandals (behind a glass case).  I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to stand in these shoes…

And lastly here are some images of the Crawford Market:

Yes, you guessed it!  Those apples are from Washington!

Spices anyone?  The vendor had us all sniffing each jar!

Street book stalls!

more later….