Arrival in Mumbai

My mother and I arrived in Mumbai the night of Thursday, January 10th. This was the first time I had flown on a direct flight from the U.S. to India, traveling on a Continental Airlines plane which took us from Newark, NJ non-stop to Mumbai. Despite the nearly 14 hours of travel on this flight (combined with the four and a half hours flying from San Diego), I didn’t feel too tired upon arrival. Though I normally never sleep on flights, I was somehow able to grab a few hours of sleep, saving me from my usual somnambulant state upon entry into India.

The stale, musty odor of Mumbai’s Chattrapati Shivaji International Airport is pungent and unmistakable. The sweat of an entire subcontinent seems to greet you once you leave the confines of the jet walkway. A few small improvements are evident at the airport, including new bright, blue-trimmed signage (replacing the grim yellow-trimmed signs of the last few decades). In addition, a slew of construction activity gives one the impression that the airport is undergoing some major improvements.

The first few days of the trip were spent at a relative’s flat in the Juhu Beach area of Mumbai. This area appears to be one of the fairly well-to-do enclaves in the city, as the flat we stayed in is located less than 100 metres from Juhu Beach. The couple of days we spent here in this quiet neighbourhood served as a nice and gradual entry into the hectic and noisy urban life of India. Apparently the beach has been cleaned up considerably over the last year, at least according to my relative. I thought the beach was fairly pleasant for Indian standards, and Friday night we all took a nice walk along the beach, as I caught my first sunset over the Arabian Sea. This walk reminded me that despite all the cultural, physical and sociological differences between places like the U.S./Canada and India (and there are several), the unifying power of nature is still more powerful. Thus, a walk along the Arabian Sea on Juhu Beach is not so different from a walk near the Pacific Ocean in San Diego!

The intensity of urban India really came to life for me once again during a cross-town trip to a cousin’s flat in the northern part of Mumbai. We took a ride in a non-AC taxi to get there, which basically means that the windows are down during the whole trip and you get to inhale a continuous and full dosage of the toxic brew that is Mumbai’s air. I don’t think it’s possible for me to describe how terrible the air quality is in a place like Mumbai (or for that matter, in any of India’s large metropolitan cities). Diesel fumes from buses, auto rickshaws, scooters, cars, motorbikes, and ambient dust create this unfathomable haze that envelops the surface level air, as well as the distant horizon. Seeing the air pollution of Mumbai reminded me of one of the worst air quality days in the interior of Los Angeles during a hot mid-July day, but multiplied by at least 3 to 4 times. Needless to say, after this journey my lungs burned and I felt like I had smoked 2 –3 packs of cigarettes in that 40 minute journey. Now I know why people pay a premium for AC taxis!

My research will begin in earnest once I reach Bangalore after Wednesday, Jan 16. While I have yet to reflect deeply on the potential roles of revitalized public libraries in India for enhanced mass education and information access, I am again already reminded of the challenges I face. I just need to look at the state of other public infrastructure projects in the country to see how the idea of the public good and a social contract is so different in India than in many parts of the West. For instance, most of the major cities in India lack decent footpaths or sidewalks, and basic infrastructure like roads are crumbling under the intense pressure of a continuously burgeoning number of vehicles that enter the roads each day. Walking along a major intersection in India is taking your life into your own hands. Crossing a street becomes an existential adventure of negotiating the speed of oncoming vehicles and taking a leap of faith. Who needs to play video games when one can participate in a real life game of Frogger!

More to come later….