Tag Archives | Mumbai

Meeting Maximum Mumbai

By on February 28, 2010 in Destinations, India, Travel Tips

Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai, at sunset

First impressions of a buzzing metropolis

I arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) badly. I bought a ticket in Goa for an overnight “luxury” bus from Madgao to Bandra, leaving at 8 pm. Instead, I was bussed from Madgao to Panjim, shifted to a dirty, run-down bus that left at 10 pm and told the bus would not stop at Bandra after all. No explanation given. Continue Reading →

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Certain Psychology of Terror

By on November 29, 2008 in News/Events
Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai, Bombay, India

Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Mumbai, India

Terror attacks in India

When thinking you’re right makes you wrong

As I write this, police, hotel staff and and various specialists are combing through the wreckage of the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai looking for casualties, evidence, survivors and possibly terrorists in hiding. There have been so many shocking images coming out of Mumbai over the last three days. Bloodied bodies. Flames and smoke billowing from an historic and important landmark. Survivors climbing down drain pipes. Paratroopers repelling down ropes onto the roof of Nariman House. I found the most chilling image to be that of a smiling young gunman, toting an AK-47, as he goes on his murderous rampage. His smile seems so out of place, so remorseless, so certain. It’s the terrorists’ certainty that scares me, more than anything else. That certainty springs from a mindset deeply rooted in the dualistic notion of right and wrong.

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Jai Hind

By on November 27, 2008 in News/Events
Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, India

Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai, India

My heart is in India

I am writing this from the comfort of my quiet home in Canada. My cat is curled up beside me, purring, the heat and electricity are running, I have food in the ‘fridge, I can hear the heavy steel-on-sreel rattle of the street car. The world outside my window seems to be safe, predictable and ordered. But my mind is not here. My thoughts and feelings are tied up with the chaos and terror in Mumbai. Bombay. I have never been to the city, though I had plans to visit this winter. I don’t really know anyone there, except the India Tourism officer who was posted there after leaving Toronto last year. But friends of friends are there, relatives of friends, bloggers whose sites I have visited, who knows who else. The world is indeed a small place.

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