Ganpathy & Golds Gym

sometimes i feel like im in the future. cause its exactly 12 and a half hours ahead of where i started. ill email people before i go to bed, knowing that their day is just starting. but forget the night and the day part, its all happening right now. besides, if europe is the past, and america is the present, then asia is the future. so maybe there is more to this than just time zones. i moved into this sublet in bandra on this little lane off of hill road. apparently sublets are rare and people are flipping out that i found a spot for 2 months. its great cause theres an old outdoor vegetable market down the block and even a helper lady that comes here 2 hours a day and helps me cook and clean the place. and its weird to say but i actually really need the help here, to figure out what to eat each day, etc. plus she speaks zero english so im forced to use my hindi, which i feel like should be farther along that it is. but i try not to be too hard on myself cuz i keep thinking about that simpsons episode where bart goes to france. remember, he discovers the two guys he is staying with are putting antifreeze in wine or someshit and wants to rat them out but cant because he cant speak french. then he's like ive been here depuis deux mois, et je ne parle rien de francais..! and voila, hes fluent. thats how i feel. like im absorbing it faster than i realize and ill be spitting it out and dancing the dance before i know it. hehe. or at least ill know enough to understand if people are talking shit about me. i found a golds gym down the street and its the same kind of gym culture as back home, a bunch of meatheads hanging around checking themselves out in the mirror. with banging bollywood beats. but its cool, no matter how fly they think they are, i KNOW i am way flier so it doesnt matter. today was the beginning of ganpathy, the festival of Ganesh, the elephant head god. apparently his mom (who was a god too) told him to watch the door while she took a bath. and then his dad (yep, another god) came in and pushed him out of the way. in fact, his dad was so pissed that his son would tell him what to do that he cut his head off. right afterwards, he felt bad but i guess he threw his head away or something because the closest thing they could find was an elephants head. so they attached that instead. and now hes the god of good luck and opportunity. so yeah during ganpathy people go nuts and erect huge statues of ganesh and carry them all over the city, singing and dancing (i LOVE that everyone sings and dances, i feel right at home) for a week straight. then theyll immerse all of them in the ocean. like, 4000 of them, in a huge procession. not very eco friendly. but i mean he's a god, so he's probably got that part figured out. thats gonna be nuts. my friend and i thought it would be a good day to go check out the festivities in dharavi, the largest slum in asia. something like 2 million people live in a couple square kms. both of us were brown and able to walk around without too much fanfare. its one of those places ive heard so much about over the years that i already had an impression in my head, and of course it was vastly different than the reality we experienced. everyone was so kind, offering us to come in, take pictures, pray to their ganesh, or just talk with us. no one begged. no one was aggresive. it was a mish mash of energy bursting at the seams. color, sounds, kids, temples, stores, meat, old ladies, drums, bricks, paint, speakers, games, water, prayers, trains, icons, music, hindus, muslims, love, life, with NO privacy and ALL family. we ducked into a shack cum movie theater and saw a pirated tamil film for a few minutes. we sang sing is kinng with a group of marathi kids who were throwing colored dust at each other. we watched fireworks and were blasted drum processions in narrow alleyways. we stood on a rooftop and let our jaws drop at the sheer scale of this place. and even tho they had nothing, they asked for nothing. any day im sitting in my room wondering why i came here, all i have to do is wander but a few miles to see the craziest and most inspiring shit ever. one day im in the office of the biggest producer in bollywood, the next im navigating the alleys of one of the poorest shanty towns. and i finally got to finally hang with some kids my own age the other night. hadnt really noticed that my nights were spent alone and days spent trying to adjust to the way of living here until i just chilled and talked with some young searching souls like myself, it made me feel like home for a few hours. there was lounge electronica playing from ipod speakers and a delivery guy who brought us wine. a black light and smoke filled the room, and there was an epiphany moment when we realized that all 6 of us had lived in NY at one point or another. and now were in this psychedelic den in mumbai. something brought me out here and im realizing that that something is changing from day to day. i like to think i have an idea where im headed, but i feel so alive and inspired in the NOT knowing that i wouldnt trade it for the world ... i mean, how boring would life be if we saw everything coming? besides, its not about where you end your journey in life, but about the journey towards that end that matters the most...