India: A Sojourn South

The Southern most tip of India, Kanyakumari

Sighing a breath of relief after we had to race to the station in Mumbai, owing to Mark’s clerical error, we made the platform just as our train came into view we were able to sit back and relax, we had no other choice really, we were going to be stuck on a train for the next 30 hours after all. Taking in the ambiguous culinary options on offer and washing them down with a chai are among your only recourse. But heading to the south of India brings with it a sort if wind change in operations, things immediately seem to be more relaxed, the food changes, the people seem to be laid back and it is instantly noticeable how many more women are involved in civic life through your interactions with store owners through to station managers. Kerala is, as locals will proudly point out, the most educated part of the country, not that that mattered to us as we pulled into Varkala, we were just looking forward to hitting the beach.

Mumbai: Maximum City

Marine Parade, a favourite for sunset

“More dreams are realised and extinguished in Mumbai than any other place in India” – So said Gregory David Roberts in his famous novel Shantaram about India’s largest city. Officially home to roughly 19M inhabitants, although estimates vary, locals will tell you there are upwards of 22M people in Mumbai. It’s a city with an energy that can be sensed as soon as you punctuate it’s outer suburbs which turns into a heaving mass in the inner city circles, before giving way to a somewhat regal aire in the downtown Fort/Colaba area. The latter being steeped in history with evidence of its former colonial master, also, enriched with craft beer, fancy eateries with no tuk tuks and no cows. It’s for this reason Mark really wanted to make sure Martina checked it out.