Like they say...Inspiration comes at night ;) ...I didn't feel like enough of my India kahaani (story) was shared, so here's a bit more detail...
Arrival at Abu Dhabi: Got to my gate and met a few members of a famous band who I had company with through-out my journey to Mumbai.
Arrival at Mumbai: Lovingly, my Aunty (who lives in New Zealand and was visiting India) came to pick me up. A sudden rush of warmth came about me. 2 minutes in, those warm feelings shattered. Due to unforeseen circumstances, she told me she has to leave India in 4 days. My trip was booked for 13 days so I could travel around India with her. I felt like I was about to be sick. What would I do alone in India for 9 more days and it's my first time!?
I let go...I was tired from my flights. All I wanted to do was rest at this point. Got to the hotel, wasn't as I expected and I couldn't even sleep properly, but it ended up being my protection.
Mumbai Exploration: Went to Film City where a lot of the Bollywood films and serials are made. Found a policeman and took a pic with him for the bants lol. To be honest, it wasn't as huge as a lot of people make it out to be. It was pretty standard, unless you happen to see a Bollywood star by chance. The best part was seeing the 'mandir' (temple) that was used in the film Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. We grew up with that film, so physically being there seemed surreal.
The friends I made from the airport invited me to their show in the evening. I thought to myself, when are we ever going to get a chance to see a live outdoor concert of Harrdy Sandhu, or ever experience something like this in India? So I just went with the flow and jumped on a rickshaw! Told my friends we had arrived and we went through to the grounds. As we were walking towards the front where the seats were, it seemed to be blocked off so we were just about to go back, but then the security guards noticed our wristbands and let us through. That's when I realised my friends gave us the VIP tickets and that's when the adrenaline kicked in. Imagine you have no data, your reliant on your Aunt's data and your messaging your friends whilst they're on stage about to perform; it was mad!!! Then my Aunt's phone died LOL. That was just peak lol. Here's some footage from the spectacular night:
Got back to the hotel. Connected to WiFi lol, and then booked an early flight for the next day to Delhi LOL. Then booked a hotel in Delhi. My life was a joke at this point but I was loving every single minute of it!
Arrival at Delhi: Aunty wanted to go Chandni Chowk. At this point, I didn't even know Chandni Chowk was in Delhi. I only knew of Chandni Chowk from the film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. I thought I was living a dream. When we arrived it didn't look like a safe place, lots of stares and we seemed like outcasts so it made me feel uncomfortable. Then we ended up going deeper into the streets of Chandni Chowk and managed to do some shopping despite those feelings. It was a hell of an experience- shop keepers started to offer us cold drinks/chai/snacks lol. We had spent so long there that it had began to get dark, but that's when Chandni Chowk lit up; it looked so beautiful. All the colourful lights, so many people roaming the streets, some doing shopping, some going Gurdwara's and it really opened my eyes; I didn't feel as unsafe then, I felt alive.
Funnily enough, my friends from the show were also coming back to Delhi on the same day, and weirdly, the hotel I was staying at was 5 minutes from the hotel they were in! So we all got together and had dinner in the evening. At this point, the rest of my India travels was still undecided.
The next day me and my Aunty went to see the Red Fort, India Gate, and saw the Hanuman Mandir where there's a 108 foot murti of Hanuman Ji. We also went to a few famous bazaars of Delhi. By then, I had learnt how to bargain like a pro with rickshaw drivers because sometimes it would end up being cheaper than Uber!
Arrival back at Mumbai: My Aunt's flight was the next day so we decided to have a chilled one. We were just about to rest as we were exhausted from the last few days of our travels, until my Aunt's daughter-in-law called her. She asked if she was at the airport. Confused, she asked why would she be at the airport when her flight is tomorrow...Her daughter-in-law replied saying her flight is at 12am. It was currently 10.30pm. Our hearts were racing.
FYI: My flights were booked for the morning. I wasn't going to be staying in Mumbai either. I was flying to Chandigarh. But I didn't know if my flight was going ahead. 9 airports were closed. Chandigarh was one of them. And...this was due to tensions with Pakistan.
Boh Prem...
Jai Shri Krishna
xxx
Sorry to leave you guys on a cliff hanger...but Kahaani toh abh shuroo hui hai (this is just the beginning).
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