Noon Report:

• Location: N 18° 55.85′, E 072° 50.64′
• Speed: Docked
• Course: Docked
• Weather: High Overcast
• Temperature: 27º C, 81º F
• Wind: NW 9 knots, 11 mp

8:45 saw us leaving the Theatre and onto the dock and waiting in (a much shorter) immigration line.
Basically they just checked that our document had a Mumbai stamp on it and waved us thru (It still took 4 separate document checks to get out of the port but “their house, their rules.”)

Our excursion this morning was: “Mumbai Museums.” Sadly the main museum that we were to see was closed for renovation so we visited a substitute – which was an excellent museum in its own right so we didn’t feel any need to complain.

On the way to the museum our first stop was the Chhatrapati Shivaji (main) Train Station – a massive Victorian edifice that sees almost 3 million passengers each day (though apparently not on Sunday).

Across the street from the station is the City Hall. Again, note the mix of styles.

Our next stop was the house where a friend of Mahatma Gandhi let him stay there during his most active years from 1917 – 1934.

Outside the Prince of Wales Museum we viewed the head of a reclining Buddha (in front of a rocket – a contrast between the old India and the new).

The first stop inside was the ancient sculpture gallery.
Our guide took us on a tour of the gallery talking about the several images we were seeing.

Once we had viewed the sculptures she turned us loose to explore on our own.
We started with coins and Jewelry.

Leaving Jewelry we found a Special Exhibit of the work of Andrea Anastasio. We were just going to peek in but we found her work so original and creative that we viewed the whole exhibit. Here are a few samples.

Next we wandered thru the Nepal section.

Back at the ship we had lunch then devoted the afternoon to reading and resting.
About 4:30 we grabbed a snack before our evening excursion “Bollywood Dance and Dinner.”

5:30 saw us back on the bus and on the way (after showing our papers several times) to the small theatre for the Bollywood Dance presentation.

Along the way we captured a few BWS (Bus Window Shots) of interesting sites around Mumbai:

The Bollywood Performance that we saw was not exactly what was advertised (they actually refunded part of our cost). We very much enjoyed it but others were a bit upset. What we were treated to was a tongue in cheek parody of “the making of a Bollywood film”.

(When I can get videos to post again I’ve got several shorts for your enjoyment. Until then, here’s a brief synopsis) Narrated by the “producer/director.” He walked us thru the necessary elements of a Bollywood film:

Male dancers (they dance)
A hero from a poor family who is just hanging out having fun – not interested in love (He dances with the male dancers),

Female dancers (they dance),
A rich heroine who has no interest in a relationship (She dances with the female dancers),

The hero and the heroine bump into each other and fall instantly in love (they dance),

But her father wants her to marry a wealthy man. The rich man and his henchmen beat up the hero and kidnap the girl. (Our hero lying beaten up on the floor has a dream sequence replaying the fight then …

a dream about the heroine pledging her undying love for him. (The hero and the heroine and the male dancers and the female dancers all dance),

(There’s a short interlude while they get several volunteers up from the audience to learn how to do some Bollywood dance moves – very funny)

So to win the girl back, the Hero and the male dancers challenge the Rich Man and his henchmen to a dance-off. (The hero wins – and wins the girl),

Everyone dances including a ‘Kathakali’ god.

And that’s how you make a Bollywood film.

Following that stirring performance they bused us off to a restaurant for a really good Indian dinner.

Then it was: back to the ship, show your paper (several times), head for bed because we’ve got one more half-day in Mumbai tomorrow.

Nite all,

R