The apartment

Our appartment here is very nice for being in Mumbai. Real estate is extremely expensive here, which leads to even greater differences when it comes to the standard of living. The most expensive areas are down south, while up north in Powai where we live, the prices are not as crazy yet. Powai is quite different from much of the rest of Mumbai as it is actually an area of the city which has been planned before built. There is this one big guy, Hiranandani,  who is responsible for planning and building most of the newly built areas around here and that is very evident all around as his name is to see everywhere here (I mention: Hiranandani Gardens, Hiranandani School, Hiranandani Street, Hiranandani Hospital etc.) You can read more about the area we live in if you follow this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiranandani_Gardens.

We live in a community called Lake Homes and our building is Lake Lucerne, you can get more info about this here: http://www.lakehomespowai.com/building_lakelucerne.html
It is very nice here inside the gates. Though this is still India so right outside the gates (as well as the view from our apartment) is to ”houses” of lower quality and a totally different world than the one inside these gates. Some would define these areas as slum, though I would not. I will get back to why in a later blog as this would take up some space and is a bit outside todays topic. Lets just conclude that there is a vast diversity here when it comes to living standards and few are lucky enough to enjoy the standard we have here.

Our appartment is at the 16th floor with a nice view of parts of the city, our local little lake and the mountains and forrest further in the background. We have three bedrooms with ensuites a living/dining room, kitchen as well as a servants area with toilet, which is where the maid has her headquarter. There is also a dry area outside the kitchen, which is kind of a built in balcony where the laundry machine is located.

The kitchen, with the dry-area

The kitchen is not quite as we are used to, but very good Indian standard. We not have a conventional oven, though a convection oven, which is a mix between microwave oven and a conventional oven so we can use it both for baking and typical microwave stuff. This is ok so far as we don’t cook a lot at home anyways, have already baked some scones and typical Norwegian rolls (grove horn) and it worked out ok. We have a gas stove and are lucky enough to have piped gas and not the very old fashioned free standing gas bottles that are most common here. Other than that the kitchen is quite similar to back home except from the granite counter top (which is very nice) and the large 20 liter water dispenser that is on the counter. Ohh, by the way, one thing that is not so similar is the water tap. It only has cold water...Think this might be because you are not really suppose to cook at home so no need for cleaning the dishes...This is however, not a problem for us as it is the maid that does the dishes anyways :) Also we have a large water filterer hanging on the kitchen wall as the tapped water is very much undrinkable and just brushing your teeth in it could make you sick for days! If you want to use the tapped water they recommend you boil it for at least 20 minutes...So we rather use the filtered water for most things, even for some of the dishes.

Our balcony, me like!

Our living area is very nice and big with a balcony and a view. It was also very nicely decorated when we moved in and all I had to add were a few candles! And people that know me are aware of my thing for decorating so it must have been nice if a few candles was the only thing I added. I am loving our tables here in the living room, they are dark wooden and very beautiful and practical with storage underneith. Had to do a bit more work on the balcony though, I am guessing people here are not as obsessed as us Norwegians about the concept of sitting outdoors and enjoying the warm weather... It was dirty and messy, but I did a good clean, purchased a set of chairs and table and toghether with some candle lights I think it got pretty nice, what do you think?

The living area, loving the furniture!

The dining area, room for plenty of guests...

The master bedroom is just wonderful! It is like being at a fancy, exclusive hotel room. Large and very nicely decorated. This is also where we have the flatscreen tv, there is no tv in the living area (which I must admit that I miss..). We also have two other bedrooms, both with their own bathrooms. One is like the kids room complete with a bunk bed and the other has a double bed and flatscreen tv waiting for visitors to come stay!

Guest room waiting for visitors...

The office

        

The kids room is also where the office is and this is where Espen claims to spend his working days (though I am not sure I totally believe him as I think some time is also spent in bed watching movies and different reality shows). When it comes to the bathrooms, these are pretty much like back home, except for the total lack of shower curtains/screens and the very little amount of hot water. Each bathroom as its own little hot water tank, which is switched on manually and this can be a bit frustrating if someone, like the maid or your boyfriend, accidently has switched it off and you don't realise until you are going to have your morning shower...

Master bathroom

Master bedroom/luxury hotel room...

   As you see we have a beautiful apartment here in Mumbai and plenty of room for visitors from back home :)

Two horrible events...

During these first weeks of our stay here in Mumbai, lots have happened. In addition to trying to settle in with normal life here and try somehow to learn the norms and expectations (among other things, I am now an employer for 2 staff), there have been two horrific incidents during these weeks; bombings here in Mumbai and bombing/shooting at home in Norway. These are both events that have been filling up the news channels here and both very shocking, awful actions.  



South Mumbai



The bombs here in Mumbai went off in the south and central part of the city, which are areas we usually don’t travel in our everyday life as we live in the north of Mumbai and I also work in the northern part of the city. Though we had actually planned to go down south the morning after the bombings, this got postponed as Mumbai was on high alert after this incident. Mumbai is also a very large city with a population of 20 million so even if we were in the area; chances would have been small that we got hit by the bomb. It does however feel close as it is in the city we live and I think it is such a horrible thing to do and the beautiful people of Mumbai do not deserve this.  



 

Oslo



We were still a bit shaken up by the Mumbai bombings when the terrible news came from Norway... A bomb in Oslo and shootings at Utøya. It was like a horror movie and really difficult in a way to understand that something like this could happen in the safe, small country of Norway. It is just so sad. I think that because of the scale of it and the distance it has taken some time for me for it to actually sink in. At the first day in the office here after this horrible incident, the ones that talked to me about it all said that for something like this to happen in Norway was just so unbelievable, that these things happen here in India and Asia was one thing (they are unfortunately more use to these kinds of incidents), but in Norway…I assume it says something about people’s perception of Norway as a peaceful and quiet country. And it still is when you look at the way the people back home have reacted to this with tears, roses and love, which makes me really proud of my home country.

After these two incidents, and particular the last one, the smile has not been present during my drive to and from the office. This hour is my hour of silence and thoughts. And one can impossibly think happy thoughts when the images from this terror are still very much present in the mind. It is now almost a week since this happened and I hope and think that the mind has room for both this tragic incident and all the amazing things I experience here every day. In fact, I think I will try my best to move the first part to my heart and keep the memory of all the lives lost and hurt the 22^nd of July 2011 there.

I will continue to post more articles about our everyday life in Mumbai, though keep in mind that even if the stories can be funny and the experiences great, there is still a place in my heart that is occupied with sorrow.

Our first meeting with Mumbai



Enjoying our first cold beer at our

terrace in Mumbai



We have arrived in Mumbai, our home for the next 9 months.

We includes myself; a female 28 year old from a small town called Aurland at the West coast of Norway, working in a Norwegian international company where I started as a management trainee, continued as a department business controller and now have been stationed in Mumbai. Along with me is my boyfriend of 9 years, who fortunately was willing to share this experience with me. I am quite convinced this will be the most exciting 9 months we will have experienced…

One can definitely say that the plane trip from Norway to India separated two very different worlds. Luckily, I was both aware of and quite prepared for this as I had visited the office here in India some weeks ago. During this last visit I got to meet the people I would be working with as well as arranging for an apartment and go through with the FFRO registration (which all foreigners have to do when arriving on other than tourist visas and this can be quite a dreadful, time consuming experience). I believe that this pre-visit really helped a control freak like me to better plan for the move and settle in when I arrived for my assignment.



Loooooving the food here!



These first 1,5 weeks have been quite busy and contained many impressions and experiences that it takes time to process, and which makes the mind a bit tired by the end of the day. I aimed at starting this blog immediately after arrival, though I was defeated by all the great impressions Mumbai has to offer a newly arrival in such way that my mind was not up to much else then relaxing with a cold beer and rest after the completion of a day at the office and arranging for other necessities at the apartment. But now I am slowly getting on top of Mumbai and will be fighting back to regain my energy and share my first experiences in this great city with you.

Mumbai is busy, dirty and at this time of year: wet, but I am LOVING it! I walk around all day with a smile on my face, thinking that I am just so lucky to be able to experience this. I think that the main reason for my loving relationship with this city is the people. They are just incredible. When I see the standard of living and poverty here paired with the great smiles I meet all around, I wonder why so many Norwegians, who never have to be worried about getting food on their table or clean drinking water, look so miserable??

I believe that the clue to not just surviving Mumbai, but also enjoying the city and leave with a much more open and gratifying mind is to appreciate all the positive moments that are present here – every day. Sure, there are many negative, terrible issues here that should not be ignored or forgotten, though I believe that to make the most out of the time here, the focus should be on all the good things that the city has to offer.

Our apartment is ½ hour drive away from work (that is if there is no traffic) meaning I get to spend at least 1 hour in the car on the “highway” everyday. This hour I spend observing… And smiling… To tell you the truth, I really enjoy my one hour car ride every day. There are so many fantastic experiences along the “highway”… Men taking a rest in the back of mini-trucks with their legs sticking out; bicycles looking like they originate from the 18^th century transporting 20 layers of egg on their rack; cows pulling wooden wheelbarrow-looking carriages; the goat living on the 2^nd floor balcony in one of the houses in the slum we pass, the family of four on the motorbike; the kids living under the bridge wearing their school uniforms and old fashion type backpack on their way to school in the morning (India has great focus on education and aim to get all children, rich or poor, through school); all the women/mothers wearing their beautiful saris, looking fantastic no matter how they live and level of poverty; the passenger on the motorbike holding up an umbrella in shelter of the heavy rain while driving in 50 km/h (tell me, how does physics work here…? I thought this would lead to them being lifted from the motorbike and fly up in the air, but doesn’t seem to be a problem); and off course the normal chaos on the roads here with cars, bicycles, motorbikes, rickshaws (3 wheelers that are very popular as taxis here) and even people walking on the highways. Now with the heavy rains you also get large holes in the road here as well as flooding in addition to people changing tires on their cars off course in the middle line out of the five on the highway. All together this makes for one great hour out of my day J

 



After getting to work today I must add another thing to attractions along the highway: monkey! This morning there was a monkey up on two legs watching the traffic from the concrete curb on the side of the road, he seemed so chilled and comfortable with the situation that he almost blended in with the people at the bus stop just next to him. I am starting to get a feeling that these nine months will include new surprises and fantastic observations on a daily basis!

As this is my first entry in the blog it is about my very first experiences here in Mumbai. There is however so much more to write about, but I think I will try to write separate articles where I address other issues such as the apartment, food here etc. If you are interested in more updates on how our life here in Mumbai evolves, feel free to subsribe to the blog below and I will keep you posted :) Also all comments are appreciated!