Mumbai!
This trip was all about Mumbai, this time with my 18-month-old sister, Riya. We were greeted by our names (Rohan and Riya) written in lights on the outside of my dada/dadi’s house (dad’s parents). Unfortunately, we went in June and July, which is the peak of monsoon season in India. But, on the plus side of going in June, we got to celebrate my 9th birthday in India!
We stayed at my dadi/dada’s house and saw the following family members over the course of the trip
- Kakis/Kakas (dad’s brother’s families)
- Grand-Mama/Mami and family (dad’s mom’s brother’s family)
- Grand-Masi/Masa and family (dad’s mom’s sister’s family) + fais (dad’s cousin sisters)
I also played with our neighbors, a girl my age named Aditi and her 3 older brothers, a lot, including cricket, Jenga, pick-up sticks, and so many other random games.
After hitting a McDonald’s to try the McSpicy Paneer (among other yummy variants), we went to a nearby resort to spend a couple days in nature. I loved reading books in a hammock and having some good food. We then came back to Mumbai and met some more family. Everyone was so generous and they would give me so much money for my birthday; I amassed 10,150 rupees (or about 200 USD at the time) in gifts alone (the advantage of visiting once every 4 years). For my birthday dinner, we had dessert first, followed by appetizers, and then dinner, for which I was too full from eating my fill of cake and samosas (balanced diet!). There was a sparkler candle that was so big and bright it burned a hole in the tablecloth!
We explored more of the city, including markets and the beach, where there was a stranded cargo ship sitting right there. I was also a little alarmed by the amount of trash present on the beach—you couldn’t walk 2 step without running into a pile of it. We saw a mandir, or temple, chock-full of pigeons (look at all those chickens!) and also did mehndi, or henna (just a little ‘RC’ tattoo)
After eating a dosa at the airport, we headed back to the good ol’ US of A. Side note, the dosa did create some upset stomachs on the flight (ahem mom), so maybe not the smartest idea. Side side note, do NOT eat sushi in India (ahem dad)
Overview
- McPaneer >> McChicken any day of the week
- Use plain tablecloths if you use a massive sparkly candle
- Mumbai, even with its super dense population, has pretty nature resorts and big beaches
- Some boolean logic fun
pain = (sushi OR chutney) AND stomach;
if (pain == TRUE): print(“✓”)
✓
Rohan Chhaya 