What an exciting weekend in India! It was Independence Day weekend so I had Monday off from work. There is something about weekends in Mumbai that make it ten times more fulfilling than weekends in New York City. Maybe because it is not filled with drinking every night, $20 taxi rides across town and hot, crowded subways. Well, there are crowded subways...trains here in Mumbai. They are certainly three times as crowded as those in New York but i just haven't built up enough courage to ride the local Mumbai trains yet...but i'm working on it. I'm not sure if the horror stories about local trains outweigh the experience..just yet.
I went to see my first movie (at a movie theater) in India this past Sunday evening and that was quite an experience in itself. The movie theater was upstairs in the mall. It almost looked like a run down building from the back and side but when i opened the door, i walked into a huge, extravagant movie theater. I was quite pleased. Especially when i found out that my friend had gotten us V.I.P tickets! In India, movies have assigned seats...as i discovered. We sat in the elite seats that were plush recliner seats. In all the years i had lived in America, i had yet to sit in a reclining chair at a movie theater. It doesn't stop there. About halfway through the movie, a big, englarged word appeared on the screen that said INTERMISSION. The movie paused and people started getting up. I turned to my friend and said "Is this real!?...intermission during the movie!?" Not only was it intermission, but about 4 men started walking around in what looked like McDonald's outfits carrying menu's and taking orders for food. I was intrigued! They even brought the food to you! So the movie we went to see was Aarakshan, a bollywood style movie about the corrupt education and caste system in India. The movie was entirely in Hindi but luckily and quite suprisingly, i was able to understand the entire movie from beginning to end. My friend turned to me several times and asked me if i understood what someone in the movie said, and i would translate what i thought they said in English. She was impressed.
I had given my driver the weekend off since Saturday and Monday were both holidays. Saturday was a holiday called Raksha Bandhan which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is also called Rakhi Purnima in other parts of India. During that day, sisters tie a rakhi (sacred thread) bracelet on her brother's wrist. It is meant to symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her. Although i bought a Rakhi braclet, i didn't give it to my brother. I plan to give it to him when i get back to the U.S.
On Sunday, i went to church with my co-worker, Nisha who was the same friend who treated me to go see the movie Aarakshan. She picked me up in one of the local taxis and we took a quick 10 minute ride to the catholic church. It was a very old, traditional catholic church. The Mass was only about an hour...there were about 100 people there. I told Nisha i had been baptized in a catholic church when i lived in London and that i had attended that church for several years. She was pleased. I am hoping to go with her to the same church every Sunday. Later that evening, after watching the movie Aarakshan, i was lucky enough to be invited to an event sponsored by Videocon, one of the largest companies in India. During that event, they presented award to Hema Malini who is a very famous Bollywood superstar who actually appeared in Aarakshan, the movie i had seen earlier that day! She is an older actress, but was the premier Bollywood star of her age. I was thrilled to see her and joined in the mob of people taking picture of her at this very formal event :)
I spent Monday, my day off going for a drive to Bandra and Juhu-two very popular cities in India. I found a map of each town, circled a few places i wanted to go and ventured there. Below is a picture of Mount Mary Church, a very famous church in Bandra. The kids were nice enough to take a picture with me!
I went to see my first movie (at a movie theater) in India this past Sunday evening and that was quite an experience in itself. The movie theater was upstairs in the mall. It almost looked like a run down building from the back and side but when i opened the door, i walked into a huge, extravagant movie theater. I was quite pleased. Especially when i found out that my friend had gotten us V.I.P tickets! In India, movies have assigned seats...as i discovered. We sat in the elite seats that were plush recliner seats. In all the years i had lived in America, i had yet to sit in a reclining chair at a movie theater. It doesn't stop there. About halfway through the movie, a big, englarged word appeared on the screen that said INTERMISSION. The movie paused and people started getting up. I turned to my friend and said "Is this real!?...intermission during the movie!?" Not only was it intermission, but about 4 men started walking around in what looked like McDonald's outfits carrying menu's and taking orders for food. I was intrigued! They even brought the food to you! So the movie we went to see was Aarakshan, a bollywood style movie about the corrupt education and caste system in India. The movie was entirely in Hindi but luckily and quite suprisingly, i was able to understand the entire movie from beginning to end. My friend turned to me several times and asked me if i understood what someone in the movie said, and i would translate what i thought they said in English. She was impressed.
I had given my driver the weekend off since Saturday and Monday were both holidays. Saturday was a holiday called Raksha Bandhan which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is also called Rakhi Purnima in other parts of India. During that day, sisters tie a rakhi (sacred thread) bracelet on her brother's wrist. It is meant to symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her. Although i bought a Rakhi braclet, i didn't give it to my brother. I plan to give it to him when i get back to the U.S.
On Sunday, i went to church with my co-worker, Nisha who was the same friend who treated me to go see the movie Aarakshan. She picked me up in one of the local taxis and we took a quick 10 minute ride to the catholic church. It was a very old, traditional catholic church. The Mass was only about an hour...there were about 100 people there. I told Nisha i had been baptized in a catholic church when i lived in London and that i had attended that church for several years. She was pleased. I am hoping to go with her to the same church every Sunday. Later that evening, after watching the movie Aarakshan, i was lucky enough to be invited to an event sponsored by Videocon, one of the largest companies in India. During that event, they presented award to Hema Malini who is a very famous Bollywood superstar who actually appeared in Aarakshan, the movie i had seen earlier that day! She is an older actress, but was the premier Bollywood star of her age. I was thrilled to see her and joined in the mob of people taking picture of her at this very formal event :)
I spent Monday, my day off going for a drive to Bandra and Juhu-two very popular cities in India. I found a map of each town, circled a few places i wanted to go and ventured there. Below is a picture of Mount Mary Church, a very famous church in Bandra. The kids were nice enough to take a picture with me!
So awesome to hear about your new experiences. Love the sightseeing and being amid all of the Indian culture. Wish I was there to experience it with your first hand but all the photos are really helpful :)
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