The Interview: Part One

And so it begins…A random interview, in a random coffee shop, two cats, copious amounts of lemongrass, and a pungent stranger….

SS: Im so excited to go to India… The colours, the smells… everything will be so amazing! What was it like arriving in India?

Catriona: As for the first day in Mumbai, I have to admit that I was very overwhelmed – the smell, the sights, the feeling of garbage seeping into my skin, the constant horn honking - very intense. As well, I thought our hotel would be a lot nicer for 100.00. I guess I just assumed that it would be a palace because we were in India.

Kathryn chuckles.


Kathryn: Of course Catriona’s first reactions involve the comforts of the hotel!!  I was just thankful that the driver picked us up from the airport. It is always a creeping fear in my mind when I travel that something crazy will happen as I walk out the gates of customs into the new unknown abyss. Catriona and I rushed out the glass sliding doors of the Mumbai airport and watched perfectly well behaved taxi drivers and hotel pick up drivers wait patiently and organized in a line. I was expecting serious, possibly scary, chaos at the airport. I imagined that people would be grabbing our arms to get us into their cabs. What a relief! I didn’t care what the hotel looked like as long as there was a good lock on the door. Thankfully, there was.

SS: I’ve heard that Indian people are super hospitable. Is that true?

Kathryn: I was surprised at HOW helpful the staff at the first hotel was. They sent a young man named Doseph to help us with our bags, he called us ‘mam’ the whole way up the medieval elevator that smelled of some strange cleaning product I had never experienced. He freshened our room by spraying some chemical jasmine air freshner in the room, and told us to relax while he arranged our luggage. I wasn’t used to having someone do everything for me; it definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone. We got called ‘mam’ or ‘madam’ the whole trip, it was a little weird, but I eventually just got used to it. Im pretty sure Catriona enjoyed the extra helpful staff right from the beginning!

Catriona laughs.

Catriona: Ha, totally! I am super comfortable with people doing things for me! No, I guess that I just see it as a part of their jobs - we may see it as a crappy job, but to them it is an actual career, and they take pride in doing their work. Imagine if you went into your accountant’s office and started doing their work for them? That would not go over well, would it? I do not see it as me being a spoiled brat, is that what you are calling me?

Kathryn rolls her eyes and pats Catriona on the leg.

Kathryn: Yes, that is what I am implying...:)

SS: Sounds like you’re a little high maintanence, Catriona! So, doesn’t Mumbai have a  population of 24 million? How does…

Catriona butts in. I am not high-maintanence! I just think I am more realistic.

Catriona looks over at Kathryn and gives her a sly grin.

Kathryn: Oh whatever Catriona!  Ok, what were you saying about Mumbai?

SS: Well, I’m just wondering what it was like being in such a massive populated city? Obviously you had some crazy experiences!

Catriona and Kathryn look at each other and both say “THE DRIVING!”

Catriona: Ha, yes! Driving in a rickshaw was insane at first! I guess after a while we got used to it, but WOW!

Kathryn: I would be scared shitless to drive in India. I have nightmares about being forced to drive a rickshaw through a city in India. I would seriously shit my pants.

Catriona: Ahhhh! I tried to drive in Thailand once, and I actually lasted about five seconds. I found that I was way too hesitant and that is what kills you. You need to go with the flow and ride with the chaos. Remember that day in Mumbai when we tried to cross the road at the "crosswalk"? We could not understand why they had crosswalks if no one ever stopped for you; we then realized that if automobiles stopped for everyone at a crosswalk, the whole flow of traffic would get messed up. One morning we played leap frog across the road, and I thought I would be lucky to only lose a leg, but now I see that everything works to the very second.  It looks crazy, but it works! It is the same with the loud honking.  I remember the first time I went to Asia, I could not understand why people were so rude and kept honking at each other, I then realized that honking was not associated with anger (like we associate back home), but it is how you let someone know that you are coming up behind and passing. I remember Phillip (our professor) mentioning the honking in India - if you can hear honking you are safe, if the honking stops, that means trouble. So true!

Kathryn takes a sip of tea and looks thoughtful: I came to the realization that ‘cross walks in India’ are for aesthetic purposes only. I don’t really understand why they bother painting them on to the roads, but I guess the city planners think it makes the cities look modern? What a tease for the vulnerable western traveler. Luckily, you learn pretty fast that Mumbaikers aren’t planning to stop for you no matter how long you stand there patiently. Hey, that might have been a good experiment—‘stand at a cross walk in India and see how long it takes for someone to stop for you'.

Catriona: Totally! You’d die waiting for a car to stop. Hey, the driving isn’t specifically just Mumbai either. The driving was crazy in Ahmedebad! Remember that crazy rickshaw driver we had, Kathryn? I don’t get scared easily, and I was losing my mind on that ride.

Kathryn: How could I forget that?! Our rickshaw driver was a maniac! Im not sure if he was trying to impress us because we were foreigners or what. The rickshaw driver swung in front of cars, other rickshaws, bikes, and any obstacle at high speeds, he continued to drive on the wrong side of the road. I was swearing bloody mercy as we nearly met our fate at every corner, turn, or long stretch. Thankfully, Catriona and I were on the same page this time. We told him to pull over—he was confused because we hadn’t reached our final destination, but we paid him in full and walked off in an unknown direction. I, personally, was shaken and running on adrenalin after that.  I could have used a few hours of silence in a temple. Somehow, we managed to make it back to our hotel.  

SS: That’s Crazy! So it seems like there is a lot of poverty in Mumbai and other parts of India. Is it really like Slum Dog Millionaire? Did you see a lot of shocking poverty?

Kathryn : The poverty in India didn’t surprise me, really. I have spent a lot of time in Central America and have seen everything that could possibly shock my system. Of course you do see families lying on the side of the highway begging, and that is always a hard vision. We never spent a lot of time looking for the horror of poverty that I am sure you can find in India. There are a lot of slums in Mumbai and we actually took a tour of the Dharvi slum, which is known as the largest slum in Asia. The day before I was thinking of not going because I was envisioning a tour where tourists walked around and took pictures of unfortunate people and places; that was not something I wanted to see. Catriona actually bailed on going on the tour last minute.

Catriona sighs.

Catriona: So the slum tour, yes, it sounded amazing, but to be honest, I thought it

would be a bit overwhelming. Walking around in Mumbai alone, was enough. I just felt like the actual slum would be extremely claustrophobic, and I would feel bombarded. So much of the city looks like a slum that I felt that I would just be seeing more poverty and to maybe an even worse degree. Kathryn went on the tour; I was happy to hear that it ended up being a positive experience.

Kathryn: A group of about 7 of us went and we had no idea what to expect. I remember looking at our Professor, who joined us on the tour, and he was a ball of nerves. We all walked across a bridge and met with our guides who explained the purpose of the tour and went over the Indian concept of ‘slum’. I learned that, to the people who live in the slum, the term ‘slum’ refers to a community rather than a congregation of poor people. These people are seriously hard-working; they are doing all the hard labour jobs such as recycling and melting down metals. You will also find out that honest workers such as police and hotel workers are a part of the Dharvi community. Our amazingly well-spoken and educated 18 year old tour guides spoke with such dignity about their home--the slum; I felt hopeful listening to them speak. The slum was the first time I felt like India was a vision from my imagination. I smelt clove incense burning in the streets, saw children running and playing, and heard the bustles of people living their lives. I think everyone who visits Mumbai should really do this. It really changes your idea about the poor in India; many people who are considered ‘poor’ are working extremely hard to keep their community thriving. I wish Catriona had of joined us that day; I feel like she missed out.

Catriona: Right…..I did not realize that it would be such a well connected community. I envisioned it to be completely heartbreaking with people in complete despair. It totally makes sense though- if more than half the city lives in a slum, teachers, health care professionals etc. would live there, so there would be schools and various amenities. I guess it is its own city within the city of Mumbai.  I kind of have a different outlook on poverty after seeing so much of it. It does not look so much like “poverty” anymore, yes they are poor, but when over half the country is living like that, you do not see it as poor anymore, just regular Indian life. I remember one day we went to a kid’s shelter in Goa and I was really hesitant to go at first, I thought it would be too depressing, but it turned out to be a room full of smiling, laughing kids. I feel that a kids shelter in Canada would be more depressing somehow, that the kids would be sadder because Canada has a higher standard of living -  everything is relative. 

Kathryn: Yeah, visiting the kids at the shelter in Goa was definitely memorable. It is always rough to see all these little beautiful faces and wonder what their stories are. I think it is best not to always know the details and do as we did when we visited. We all just spent an hour cuddling and holding the kids. They seemed to really respond well to us, and we were happy to give them a little love. You can get a little overwhelmed acknowledging all the sad things that happen to kids who come from poorer backgrounds. Kids are so resilient everywhere in the world; they prove this with their beautiful smiles and energy. 

SS.…I agree. I would love to do some volunteer work over there. So, not meaning to change the topic or sound super cheesy, but did you guys see any Bollywood stars?

Catriona: Ha, ok! Enough about the kids, lets move on to Bollywood!

Kathryn gives SS a cold stare and says something under her breath.

Catriona: Actually we did, we actually went on a Bollywood tour. I have got to say that I was expecting a bit more glam on the Bollywood sets. Given, it was a Saturday and most of the stars are off for the weekend, but I thought at least I was going to see a dance routine. I am not totally sure what was happening on the first set we visited: vikings, a ghost, and burning plastic to emanate falling snow.  Our tour guide said that the burning plastic was not toxic, but I was a bit skeptical with the green air it left behind. The highlight of the tour was definitely the lunch.  The guide took us to a four star restaurant, and I ate my face off. So many delicious things: naan (all different flavours; green onion, garlic, peppered, plain), poppadoms, chutneys, pickles, yogurt and ten different kinds of curries. I am smiling just thinking about it. Kathryn what was your highlight of the Bollywood tour - the lunch or the strapping young Indian vikings?

The Bollywood set

Kathryn: I do enjoy a Viking here and there, but I would have to agree that the lunch was the highlight.  As far as the tour itself went—I envisioned us dressing up in Bollywood get up (like in a glittery dressing room) and taking pictures of each other all decked out, and maybe meeting some featured bollywood stars. I guess I let my mind wander. On the tour, we did visit this crazy westernized mall (a glass building, full of high end shops) to watch a Bollywood movie. In the mall, the view of the sprawling slums in the background was the ultimate shock—it definitely reminded us of the poverty in contrast to the richer classes! We went and watched an extremely romantic bollywood film about two lovers who drifted apart, and made their way back into eachothers’ arms. Needless to say, we laughed in all the wrong parts (the film was in Hindi, but the characters said several cheezy comments in english; this helped us figure out the basic premise of the movie...)