I was starting to feel out of my depth. Imagining had been one thing. But walking right into the reality was another. We were walking through what appeared to be an enormous warehouse, lit by dull white lights. Thousands of people were camped out not just in the warehouse but outside of it was well, lying on blankets upon the ground. The sound of coughing thronged endlessly around, bouncing off the rafters and echoing out into the night as people tossed and turned on the floor.
Ashish was trying to find a spot beneath a fan, but all of those spots seemed to have been taken some time ago. We eventually got lucky however and settled down with our things. I took a bag of clothes out of my rucksack and used them as a pillow, but the ground was harder and more painful to lie upon than I’d imagined. Oh well, I thought. I’ve only got about 3 hours anyway…
I was woken – as I was told I would be – shortly after 5am. We were being shooed and swept out of the warehouse. I got up and looked around at the hordes of people herding themselves out of the place. Ashish was refusing to wake up.
Once I’d managed to rouse Ashish and we’d departed the warehouse bleary eyed, we made towards the canteen where rows upon rows of benches stood beneath pagodas in the field. Breakfast was as incredible as it was cheap. I wish I could have taken pictures of it. But photography was strictly prohibited everywhere on the site. I had a bowl of rice baked with vegetables, along with a tray of chickpea curry and brown roti. It was beautiful. And with the food came chai. Strong and sweet. I sipped it from the little tin cup it was served in. Ashish and I were both so tired that we needed to get another immediately afterwards.
Then it was time to go and listen to the Master. We trundled back into the warehouse which was being filled once again by thousands of people, filtering in from various bustling queues. I sat down amongst them. But once again I had great difficulty crossing my legs. This, coupled with the cramped conditions and my excruciating stomach ache only made things more uncomfortable. I still felt more than glad to be there however. I listened carefully to the master as he spoke in Hindi, looking out for words I recognised. Ashish translated a bit of what the Master said, and explained the gist of the talk.
After listening to the Master, many hundreds filed out of the warehouse, but many others, myself and Ashish included, simply lay-back on the floor and closed our eyes. The tiredness of my body, my seething stomach and the intense heat weighing down on me was all consuming. I did not want to move. I could have lain on the spot for an eternity.
I later thanked Ashish for taking me to this place, but told him I couldn’t do another night. I was going to get a hotel. Ashish it seemed, had also had enough and said he was willing to share a room with me. After an excruciating couple of hours trying to book a hotel at the train station, we got a room at a place called Hotel Medina.
Now, I didn’t mind Hotel Medina that much. Sure, the area wa sa little rough around the edges and they could have provided us with toilet roll, but it was nothing that couldn’t be coped with. Ashish was heavily displeased with our new quarters for both similar and different reasons.
After a failed trip to film city – which failed mainly because they wanted to charge me 3000 rupies to walk down the street – Ashish and I headed to a shopping mall, and more specifically, a restaurant called Haldiram’s for dinner.
Haldiram’s, Ashish told me, is a popular restaurant chain in India. I can’t remember the name of the thing I ordered… probably because Ashish ordered it for me because I didn’t have a clue what anything was… but the bread they brought me down with it was bizarre. It was inflated like two massive balloons. Balloons made out of bread.
Back at the Medina Hotel, Ashish told me a bit about dating in India. He said that dating over here has become a growing thing adopted from western culture, but that mostly people still go for arranged marriages. He told me that young Hindus in India usually try out dating but eventually get bored of it and ask their parents to make them a match. Ashish doesn’t want to get married though. He likes his freedom.
Ashish has but one full day left in Mumbai before he flies back to Delhi. He told me that through his work he could get a discount on one of the grander hotels of the city. He normally wouldn’t, but since there were two of us, he said it would be a good deal.
I obviously agreed.
