Pinto, our taxi-tour-guide for the mid-day, points out
the 'diamond necklace', the street lights of Marine Drive along Chowpatti Beach, to Gail from Nehru Park in the Parsi section of town. In the midst of that section, Pinto brought us to an inspiring Jain temple.
People were active everywhere with different aspects of temple life – these two are working on a headdress for Ganesha. Gail said to the younger, 'You are an artist,' to which she replied,
'No, she is the artist, I the apprentice.' The dome, with a particular mix of science and Hindu and Buddhist imagery, hovered three stories above the floor, where prayers were said, food offerings left, and a chanting group assembled.
Off to the side, people were preparing the grains for the dal and other pastes for the offerings. After a stroll in the nearby 1970's park, built atop a 30 million gallon water reserve,
where we spotted the circling vultures to the east, we headed down hill.
There, all but concealed by the jungle park, we saw one of the three 'Silent Towers' that title one of Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novels. We then stood, somewhat in awe, in front of the Mahatma's house (Great Soul, a name given by Indian people to Gandhi after his return from Africa in 1917) his abode when in Bombay (in the midst of a British enclave) from that return until
1934. It was from here, Mani Bhavan, that Gandhi launched the civil disobedience movement in 1932
which led to the collapse of the Raj in 1947. Only after seeing his room, and learning of his life-long meditation practice of spinning thread, did I understand the spoked wheel at the center of the Indian flag. (Hard to miss his portrait on every denomination of Rupee bill.)
We rounded out the day on a bridge overlooking the worlds biggest laundry, where most of the institutional washing in Mumbai is accomplished. Pinto pointed out that President Obama had stood both here and in Gandhi's room. The hat was my tip, acquired in Bangalore after losing my 'good' one, for 150 Rupees ($3.50).
the 'diamond necklace', the street lights of Marine Drive along Chowpatti Beach, to Gail from Nehru Park in the Parsi section of town. In the midst of that section, Pinto brought us to an inspiring Jain temple.
People were active everywhere with different aspects of temple life – these two are working on a headdress for Ganesha. Gail said to the younger, 'You are an artist,' to which she replied, 
'No, she is the artist, I the apprentice.' The dome, with a particular mix of science and Hindu and Buddhist imagery, hovered three stories above the floor, where prayers were said, food offerings left, and a chanting group assembled. 
where we spotted the circling vultures to the east, we headed down hill. 
There, all but concealed by the jungle park, we saw one of the three 'Silent Towers' that title one of Paul Scott's Raj Quartet novels. We then stood, somewhat in awe, in front of the Mahatma's house (Great Soul, a name given by Indian people to Gandhi after his return from Africa in 1917) his abode when in Bombay (in the midst of a British enclave) from that return until
1934. It was from here, Mani Bhavan, that Gandhi launched the civil disobedience movement in 1932
which led to the collapse of the Raj in 1947. Only after seeing his room, and learning of his life-long meditation practice of spinning thread, did I understand the spoked wheel at the center of the Indian flag. (Hard to miss his portrait on every denomination of Rupee bill.) 
We rounded out the day on a bridge overlooking the worlds biggest laundry, where most of the institutional washing in Mumbai is accomplished. Pinto pointed out that President Obama had stood both here and in Gandhi's room. The hat was my tip, acquired in Bangalore after losing my 'good' one, for 150 Rupees ($3.50).
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