Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix

Christmas come and goes...
Sitting here, with couple bottle of beers,
I'm thinking...



Well she's walking through the clouds
With a circus mind that's running round
Butterflies and zebras
And moonbeams and fairy tales
That's all she ever thinks about
Riding with the wind.

When I'm sad, she comes to me
With a thousand smiles, she gives to me free
It's alright she says it's alright
Take anything you want from me,
Anything.

Fly on little wing,
Yeah yeah, yeah, little wing

The Nice side of Mumbai

It is the capital of Maharashtra, India.

It is one of the East India Company outpost in the South Asia Continent. It has quite a number of colonial period building, with architecture heavily influenced by the Moorish design and British design. One of the building is Prince of Wales Museum at South Mumbai. It is now called Chhatrapi Shivaji Maharaj Sastu Sangrahalaya. Actually, most of old building bearing British-influenced name has been change to Chhatrapi Shivaji. He was, something like, William Wallace to The Scots (I think!).

Personally, I like it here, around this place. Well, not to say that I'm starting to like living here. From living in Mumbai point of view, for this category, this area of South Mumbai is quite clean. And since it is Sunday, there were less traffic.

Anyway, PoW Museum is a museum of ancient exhibits of India. Well, there are some from Japan too and cool painting from Da Vinci era. For foreigner, it cost INR300 per person for entrance, against INR25 for local. And since I had with me my trusty Nikon, I had to pay another INR200 on top of my ticket. So, it was kinda expensive, for a museum trip! It cost me Aus$10 to enter Australia Museum back in 2006. Once inside, I was amazed with all those carving of rock, of Hindu's God figurine, Buddha as such. There's one section, the art gallery, remind me of DaVinci Code the movie, with Madonna and Child and Saints drawing on the wall. They even have a portrait of President Lincoln. And to my amazed, Japanese porcelain is soooo fine. Being Malaysian, I'm used to Chinese's Ming Dinasty porcelain, but let me tell you this, the Japs really know how to craft their porcelain back then.

Next stop I visited was the Gateway of India, a behemoth monument facing the open sea. Nothing much here except to tonnes of people, Chhatrapati Shivaji statue, horse cart and the fame, Taj Mahal Hotel. The one attacked by terrorist back on 26th November 2008. It is still very much under repair and as most of Mumbai's landmark or building, entering it, one must pass through metal detector and guards.

Nice hotel... LV boutique is located here, but it's kinda expensive compare to Malaysia's price.

South Mumbai, at least a clean place (by Mumbai standard of course), such an eccentric place.But still, from my point of view, this country is an okay place to travel, but not for permanent "living-in" place. They have about 1.2billion citizens already.

So why am I here, again... I have no idea.

I see...

150 years old railway station. What? That old? Apparently, yes, it’s that old, as mentioned by one of the local staff, as we passed by that particular building at Nariman Point, which is South of Mumbai. The architecture of most of the buildings there is influenced heavily on Moorish design and colonial period design. The railway station itself resembled the one we have in Kuala Lumpur, the old KTM station. This location, is where all the shopping centers are located. So he said. But, can’t verify the statement as I was there this afternoon for a meeting with the Client. Well yeah I can see some BMW passing by, shop selling Omega watch, Bottega Veneta boutique and such, but it is a part of Mumbai which is clean. Yup, clean…. The roadside is clean of rubbish. But, it is still hectic and havoc. Hey it’s Mumbai right. Perhaps one of the weekends I should venture into this area and do some photographing.

Anyway, while heading there, a journey of approximately 25km from Wadala, where my office is, I passed through some interesting landscape. It’s some sort of oil refinery. Interesting because, there are bullock-carts, pushing a big tank, presumably with oil inside. It might be a norm here, but where I came from, can’t see any bulls in town no more, except for those bullshitter!

Next was a sort of slum area, by the roadside. This area really can bring down tears… The way of life that these people practices. They stay in make-shift houses about 3meter high, made of whatever materials they can get or afford to buy, wood, cardboard, poly-sheet as roof and it’s a double storey house.

And I see dead people! Well, a dead person. Maybe its part of the local ceremony, the body was paraded, perhaps to the morgue or cemetery but what shocked me was, the body was place on a cart, pushed by someone and it’s just covered with white cloth! No coffin okay….. What a life!

For a week, I keep thinking, why the heck I accept this job in Mumbai. One need to be mentally strong to survive working or staying here.

Do I possess that kind of mental strength? God knows….

It pointed to Mumbai.

I’m 3000 miles from home. On a land, being hectic and havoc is part of daily ritual for most of the millions who called this part of the world, home. Not me though. This is just another unfortunate journey of my life, without my Pornster.

Mumbai. India’s capital of entertainment industries, Bollywood. A place where one will have to redefine the meaning of Rock and Roll. Where lots of citizen lives in slum area, some even with cardboard as wall for their shelter. Were people do shit on the road! And I have no idea why the heck I accepted this job. It’ll a two year stint here, constructing Mumbai Monorail. To make matter worst, I’m now working in a Consultant company, an environment I never dreamt of joining, since my Industrial Training days way back in 1998 (I was attached to a Consultant firm back then, 5 months of constant boredom!). Anyway, here I am.

Routine. Wake up every morning, 45minute travel time from where I stay and where I work. Passing through some of the slum area, on a concrete road, which is very bumpy and not so nice view along the way. Work in an OKAY office at one of the Monorail proposed Depot/station named Wadala. Stay indoor for the rest of the day from 9am to 6pm. Lunch is provided, so can’t choose much, just eat whatever provided. Reach home everyday around 7.30pm. And basically, can’t go anywhere since there’s nowhere to go nearby where I stay. Suck big time.

Well, that’s just my opinion after 2 nights in Mumbai. Maybe my view of this place will change once I get to see the other part of Mumbai, the nice place where all the Bollywood star hail.

As for now, all I’m seeing is Berakwood.