Operation Year of Freedom

Mumbai was an insane assault on the senses, emotions, and body.
We navigated our 3 days here with 3 organised tours, which in hindsight was a great idea.
Met on a street corner at 7.30am by our guide, we bordered a local train bound for Dhobi Ghat, Mumbai's biggest outdoor laundry.
It was an eye opener, and I'll never complain about a full laundry basket again!
Somehow, the laundry, which is estimated to be between 100,000 and 500,000 pieces per day, is picked up from and returned to the correct business or person with a basic coding system attached to each piece.
We were then taken to the 365-day a year flower market, which was a treat both visually and for our olfactory receptors.
The fish market that followed was slightly more fragrant in a less appealing way !
Our guide took us to a local cafe for breakfast, where we gave him carte blanche to order anything for us .. it was fantastic !
The last part of the trip was to a fishing village that traced back 800 years in Mumbai's colourful history.
The pride and sense of community were strong with local solutions to local infrastructure needs. Government services are limited, money disappears consistently into corruption sinkholes.
It was perched on the edge of a highly sought after, highly valued piece of real estate.
The village looks out to Mumbai's billionaire bay, an obscene eyesore and an expression of ego on speed.
The disparity in wealth is repulsive and seems completely at odds with the Hindu beliefs.
Corruption has been strongly evident throughout our time in India, but never so much as in Mumbai.
Few people talk about it for fear of being reported - and disappearing.

A night tour gave us a whirlwind few hours from a private car around many of streets with old British buildings beautifully lit up.
We visited a fishing settlement - a settlement is one step up from a slum.
What struck me most was the genuine happiness and smiles we saw of people sutting in the entrances while walking through the tiny lanes with open drains,
no one was interested in us and it was wonderful.
Seeing family life happen in the tiny spaces called home to 4, 6,8 more people was so incredibly special.
Walking through a narrow laneways and being stopped by a woman who knew our guide, we were invited into the front of her home of a single room.
We were offered a sweet pancake filled with coconut sugar, which was a treat.
Standing on the edge of the settlement with the sea in front, I saw Nathan miss standing on the biggest rat ever by a couple of centimeters.
Unfortunately, we also watched full rubbish bins being tipped into the sea.. Mumbai's biggest rubbish bin 🤐
Our last supper after 2.5 months in India was at Leopolds, of Shantaram fame, complete with bullet holes still on show from the 2008 terrorist attack.

India was hard to leave, it gets into your head, heart, and pores!

The incredible warmth and generosity from people who have nothing is humbling.
No where else we've been has the postcode lottery of life been more evident.
It's been an education, an adventure, a physical assault at times, and an incredible privilege.
Namaste 🙏 ♥️Read more