Miss Adventures

As I’m sitting here at about 3:15 on Saturday afternoon, the skies are overcast, the peepul and palm trees are swaying, and the rain is taking a short coffee break before coming back to work.

The monsoons have arrived in Mumbai, and it has now rained every day since last Saturday, when the showers finally broke. There have been occasional breaks in the weather, and the sun, though masked behind some cloud-like milkiness, even came out for about half an hour yesterday. But, then, the rains will just start again, like someone turning on the faucet: heavy, windy, and capable of flooding highways and homes.
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Now that summer has ushered in the monsoon, there seems to be hardly any justification for India to use sun-baked haziness as a reason to be blinded by Sania Mirza’s incredible mediocrity.

Anytime that the young Indian tennis star plays, it’s a national obsession - at least as far as Indian newspaper editors are concerned. Stories about Sania help break up the monotony of articles on Sachin Tendulkar’s waning abilities and soccer game results that are more than a day old (thanks to the time difference at press time). So, of course, when the 18-year old phenom played at Wimbledon’s Centre Court yesterday, all eyes - and media outlets - were on her.
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Bombay is extremely lucky. The rains finally started here on Saturday, albeit late. These rains were to start on June 10, then June 14. Then, mid-morning Saturday, a little thunder rolled in. And with it, a brief respite from the blazing sun. Can you believe that there hasn’t been any measurable daytime rain in the city since November 2?

The monsoon weather pattern is certainly curious. Right now, we’re getting premonsoon showers. These are the types of gentle rains that keep you in bed late on a Sunday morning. I’m nervous for when the real monsoon arrives, when Mumbai streets turn to lakes and umbrellas are useless. I hear that’s what happens. Though, people, especially fellow expats who after years here are still squeamish about India, sometimes exaggerate.

For months, expats had been telling me about how horrible the weather in May would be. I had heard that it would be unbearably hot, so hot that my nostrils would burn to breathe in the afternoon air. It was pretty warm on some days, though no hotter than a July afternoon in downtown Washington, DC. In fact, I believe that it was hotter on the U.S. East Coast last week than it was here. Thank god for those Arabian Sea breezes.

Too bad the rest of this country isn’t as fortunate. Central and Western India has been experiencing a horrible heat wave. In fact, temperatures reached 51 (123.9) degrees yesterday! I hope the rest of India doesn’t have to wait too long for some heat relief.

Bombay can be extremely noisy, crowded, and inhospitable at times. But, at other times, you stumble across these tranquil little neighborhoods. One such place is Walkeshwar. Adjacent to glitzy high-rise apartments and old-money bungalows, Walkeshwar is a fisherman’s village on the top of tony Malabar Hill. There, the stone houses are incredibly modest, the alleys are shoulder-width, and the families are probably packed two to three to a home. But there’s also this serenity that, to me, evoked a bit of dead-end lanes in Venice during medieval days. There was a meditative stillness.

The central focus of Walkeshwar is Banganga Tank, a large pool that is said to have evolved when Ram, searching for water, shot an arrow into the earth. The resulting trickle created this “tank,” which is considered holy to Hindus. It is used for funereal rites and, during the sweltering Bombay days, also makes a great swimming hole for the locals.

I didn’t so much stumble upon Walkeshwar/Banganga as seek it out. Anthony had visited there some months before when I was down with jaundice. And, a few friends had also told me about it. As the monsoon was quickly approaching - and another out-of-towner was looking to do some sightseeing - we went there last Saturday.
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As I mentioned before, it’s a little difficult finding your way around Mangaldas Market. But, now after two buying visits and a pit stop to show friends, I have mostly figured out where some of the best vendors are located.

The 6th Lane is the best place to start, specifically at Rangeela. The shop specializes in “Fancy Dress Materials” and for me that meant a shimmering, crinkled crepe in mango orange. Across from Rangeela is another shop whose name escapes me, but from which I bought some light, woven pastel fabric to make a spring jacket. I also picked up some irridescent purple fabric with block-printed silver, gold, and black flowers. That probably sounds hideous, but the sheath dress that I got made with it turned out fabulously.

It’s about two weeks since my last posting and about a week since I got my new clothes back from Master Tailor. I was reluctant to post anything until I saw whether the fabric experiment was successful or not. I am more than just a little excited about my new loot.
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