Twenty- five Seven

Welcome to Mumbai

August 25, 2012

Back in the day when Mumbai was Bombay, the photos were B&W, the taxis were black and yellow,the buses were B.E.S.T, the radio was Radio Ceylon and the streets were smooth and uncongested and Santa Cruz Bombay’s only airport was only a half hour ride away, going to the airport was like a picnic. Perhaps because air travel was rare we actually looked forward to drop off/receive someone at Santa Cruz. It was strange to see people dressed formally in suits, sporting flower garlands being surrounded by near and dear ones, smiling grimly into a camera before actually saying goodbye.

As the buildings became taller and the skies busier, the airport underwent a phase of modernisation and up-gradation and deteriorated into one higgeldy piggeldy mess.For several years it was hell for both the passenger and the receiver. There was no place to wait, flight arrivals were found out much like Chinese Whispers – asking the person next to you who asked the person next to him who asked the person next to him ………..And with the remodelling taking so long to complete each trip to the airport meant a new lesson in navigation! Thankfully all that is in the past.

Today’s airport is in comparison, sterile yet lively – with hundreds of people milling around, passengers trailing luggage on wheels, Meeters waving placards with names and Greeters co-ordinating transport movement with drivers in the parking bay. It all seems quite organised with airport security staff regularly clearing off people from the main exit point of the terminal and cleaning staff whizzing around on automated floor cleaners mopping up wet spots and picking up stray paper.

After several years of “up-gradation” the airport has finally become worthy of being called an airport of a big city.

When I had to make an airport pick up last week, I actually had time to observe things around me and found the most amazing shop called Caramello right outside the passenger terminal exit. This pleasantly air-conditioned shop which could be the miniest supermarket giving the maximum joy with goodies unseen in most Mumbai shops – ranging from supermarket ready to eat foods, toiletries, chocolates and cheese, ham from Spain and sanitizers from “over there”. Of course with a 400 g Toblerone being sold at Rs.600, it is not cheap, but as the lady at the counter informed me, the goods are genuine and taste genuinely different from the Crawford market fare. I was equally astonished when she told me that there are regular customers who come from all over the city just to pick up their stock of genuine imported stuff. While I was in no mood to test her claim, I did step outside to try the samosa of Kailash Parbat fame. It was good but I honestly speaking without the clamour and chaos of Colaba’s Pasta Lane, the samosa lacked some of its flavour. So I abandoned it and took my place with the others in the waiting space under the clean white canopies of Mumbai’s Legoland Airport.

I loved watching people sitting patiently on stainless steel benches looking hopefully at flat screens announcing flights or silent TV screens showing news. With a large choice of food and beverages to choose from and even a florist at hand to buy the welcome bouquet from, Mumbai Airport is no longer the welcome party’s unwelcome dream. For the first time really, I actually felt good about being in Mumbai and gave my guest a genuine smile of welcome as I saw him step out of the arrival gate.

No Offence Meant

Whilst settling my guest at the Taj Mahal Hotel’s opulent uber luxe Palace Hotel Wing, the Staff member deputed to doing the checking-in, re-confirmed very politely that it was a request for a “single occupancy room” giving me the ever so subtle fleeting look over. As a fifty + little old lady who is more than just pleasantly plump,dressed in a matronly cotton sari, I didn’t know whether to feel flattered or offended to be mistaken for either an escort or just a hooker.
Yellow Fever – in Black and White

August 24, 2012

With a surname like Smit, Jan was as Dutch as you could get. Known for their forthrightness and thriftiness,Jan was typically Dutch and tells this story with great pride.

“I was in Nigeria last month. And do you know I forgot to take my International Health Card. So at the Immigration I was given two options – take an injection or go back home. I told the guy, I refuse to take an injection because I’ve already had one. And I refuse to go home because I’m here on business.”

“I don’t care Sir! Rules are rules.”

“But I have an important business meeting.”

” But Rules are rules.”

Almost reaching a stalemate, I stared the black man in the eye till he finally said.

“Ok. Then you can pay me a fine of $30 and I’ll let you go.”

“I refuse to pay a fine. I’ve got the health card and I’ve been to this country hundreds of times before!”

“I don’t care Sir! You have to pay!”

” I simply refuse to pay, go back home or take another injection!”

“In that case Sir, I’ll have to put you in quarantine for 24 hours.”

“Ok!” and with that Jan went off to spend a night in a Nigerian Quarantine ward.

“But it was great,” he told us, ” I spent one night in the ward and saved a night’s hotel stay! And I refused to pay a bribe and refused to get deported and refused to get another shot!!!”

This story may sound strange but it’s true.

But everyone may not have the luck of Jan, so it is advisable to take a Yellow Fever Shot. Now in a city like Mumbai where literally hundreds of people are coming and going to various parts of the world, this vaccination is available only at two spots – one in the the South and one in the North.

The vaccination centre in the South is run at the clinic near the Seaman’s Club, a solid stone building in a leafy lane at Ballard Estate close to the Docks. The one in the north is a swanky new building near the International Airport.

The Myths

Yellow fever has been around for as long as I can remember and the myths around the vaccination against this disease have grown longer and longer with each successive passenger giving his own gyan. One of the major myths is that the vaccination is so painful that it is administered with an 8″ long needle in the middle of the stomach. If you see the hypodermic syringe and the thin needle used for a sub-cutaneous prick, your pain will immediately vanish.

Another major myth : If you don’t take the Yellow fever shot, you will be in quarantine for a month. Not withstanding the two floors reserved for passengers in quarantine in the new five storeyed Airport Health Organisation’s building constructed by the DG, Health Services under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Government of India is in no hurry to host you for more than 6 days so that is another yellow fever myth busted.

The Facts

Well it is true that you do need to take a yellow fever vaccine not only to re-enter Bharatmata, but also to enter some of the African and American countries. The African countries that require a yellow fever vaccine are literally from A-Z – Angola, Benin, Burkina-Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad Congo, Ivory Coast, DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Guninea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome et Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia; the countries in South America are Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, Equador, French Guyana, Guyana, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela.

You can only get vaccinated at a health Centre operated by the GOI so forget about going to a private doctor.

The process

We went to the swanky new Airport Health Organisation Centre near Sahar International Airport.

Prior to getting the vaccination, the passenger has to get a token i.e. be pre-registration. Registration begins only at the Centre on all working days from Monday-Friday except Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays, from 10.30-11.30.

Since only 70 people can be vaccinated on one day, most people come to the centre at 6 am to be first in line if not second.

Vaccinations are given only from 12.00-13.00 and an hour later the certificate is issued. So in actual fact you would need to factor in a whole day from 06.00-14.00 hours to get your shot. If you are not one of the lucky 70 early birds, you will have to come to catch the worm the next day and the next and the next. But this would normally happen only if you have particularly bad karma. In the normal course of events you should be done in three working days (as a worst case scenario).

You require :

A valid passport

A valid ticket

3 x 100 rupee notes for the vaccination

Lots and lots of patience.

To find out more details you can call 28392302 ( which I was told by the watchman outside will never be answered!!!)

Seamen Medical Nav Bhavan Bldg., 3rd Flr.
Ballard Estate, Ramji Kamani Marg
Mumbai – 400 038
Tel : 22612256
Time : 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.
Charges : Rs.300/-
Days : Monday to Friday (Closed on all Public Holidays)
documents required: original passport,3 nos rupee 100:00 denomination notes only(change , and 1000/500 notes not allowed)

I have been told that to get registered at the Ballard Estate centre one has to go after 6 the day before and put your name on the list. Also please do not go to Seaman’s Club which is in the same area – that is a hostel and not a clinic. I have also been told that this is a major nightmare.

Reality Check

It would help if you called the centre to find out if the vaccine is available. Many times you will find that there is no vaccine available or no doctor available
A mother’s blessings

August 24, 2012

I don’t know the origin of this email but one of my friends sent it to me last night. I loved the painted feathers though I wonder at the sentiment of a mother’s love. May be birds don’t fly away, but I’ve heard of cats eating up their young and an experiment when a mother monkey stepped on her baby to save herself when the tank in which they were kept was flooded.

But there must be some truth about the blessings of one elders going by the number of trucks and taxis in India with the message behind them “

“Aai wadilancha ashirwad” ( with the blessings of my father and mother).

On the other hand, do blessings really work?

PAINTED FEATHERS

When you can’t control the wind, adjust your sails!!!

This is so beautiful-make sure you read to the bottom.

The painters of these Feathers are outstanding,

But the message below the Feathers, “God’s Wings,” will touch your heart.

God’s wings

After a forest fire in Yellowstone national park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno’s damage.

One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree.

Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick..

When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother’s wings.

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise.

She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies.

Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast….because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

‘He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge.’ (Psalm 91:4)