I'm writing this on a grueling 25-hour train journey from Mumbai to Udaipur (in the northern state
of Rajastan).
After a few weeks wandering the south, I met up again with Avia and her new Israeli friend, Ya'ara in Mumbai. Though they weren't keen on sticking around this polluted, overcrowded city long, one day was all I needed
to see the city that had yet only existed in my imagination as the
setting of countless Indian novels.
A 13-hour sleeper train from Gokarna,
where I left a lovely beach, village and friends from all over the
world, took me straight to Mumbai. As soon as I stepped onto the streets of Mumbai, a naked toddler who couldn't have been more than
two years old, nearly ran into the street. I was alarmed to find her
alone, but soon realized the rest of her family was sprawled on
blankets just behind the concrete post. Welcome to Bombay.
