You're Never Too Old for a Field Trip

I’m sure all of you remember your very first field trip in elementary school. The excitement of getting to leave the school building behind, pile onto a bus, and spend a day touring an ice cream factory or going to a planetarium or even visiting a museum. Well apparently I at least have not outgrown this love for school excursions, as I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered that my entire social work class would be taking one this past Saturday. As a part of our History and Ideologies of Social Work class, we were to pay a visit to Mani Bhavan, the place in which Gandhi resided during his time in Mumbai. The house has been turned into a museum dedicated to the revolutionary man. Here are a few pictures I took during our visit.







(I was forced to pose for this picture, in case anyone is wondering why I look so enthralled by this sign!)

This is Gandhi's room.













I love this quote!





As excited as I was to be able to see where Mahatma Gandhi lived, I must admit that another part of me was excited about this excursion for a completely different and selfish reason. You see, a lot of my friends in the U.S. have been asking me “So what’s it like living in Bombay?” My responses seem to disappoint them, as I haven’t really ventured out into the more famous parts of the city. To be honest, sometimes I even forget that I live in the 3rd most populated city in the world. My little corner of Bombay often lacks the cosmopolitan flair one associates with this metropolis.

Govandi, the neighbourhood I technically live in, is a smaller neighbourhood about an hour north of Central Bombay, where traditional India is still very much the dominant culture. Being the absolute only Westerner in the area, I attract quite a crowd wherever I go. I have been able to minimize my conspicuousness a bit by adopting the traditional dress. For example, in Govandi I almost always don a shawl (or dupatta) just to run to the vegetable stall around the corner from my flat. While going out in traditional western clothes wouldn’t shock anyone here, it would stand out quite starkly against the backdrop of women dressed in full salwar kameez or saris. So, even on days when I do opt for a t-shirt instead of a kurta, I try to “cover up” in some form or fashion, just to minimize the stares, if nothing else.

So, part of my excitement about our field trip to the southern part of the city was also that it meant getting to venture into the more “touristy” areas, do some shopping, and forget my painfully obvious foreignness for at least a little while.

After our visit to the museum, a few of my friends and I decided to go to Colaba Causeway, a known street market full of vendors selling anything and everything to locals as well as the massive amounts of tourists. Immediately I saw the contrast between South Mumbai and Govandi/Chembur where I live. Suddenly, instead of being surrounded by Hindi-speaking locals drinking chai and hacking up a piece of their lung which they somehow feel compelled to spit in my path, I was inundated with westerners clad in tank tops and capris, consulting guide books and looking generally confused. Now, it was my salwaar kameez which drew attention rather than my incredibly pale complexion!

We spent the afternoon doing quite a bit of shopping, haggling over prices, eating good food, and just enjoying time away from the campus. I was happy to finally buy a few of the “typical” Indian souvenirs that I had been wanting to get, and took great comfort in the knowledge that my Indian companions ensured I did not pay “foreign” prices for any of my purchases.

After this trip, I have decided that I really do need to venture out of Govandi a bit more. Mumbai is a gorgeous city with lots of rich history and fun activities. True, a trip to South Mumbai does take a bit of advanced planning. But two hours of travel seems worth it when it means getting to experience one of the most diverse places on earth!