From Timeout Mumbai: “In 1995, the Shiv Sena, a far-right Maharashtrian political party, changed the city’s official name from Bombay to Mumbai, the Marathi name for the city. It was the centerpiece to eradicate British Raj-era place names in the city, which included renaming the Victoria Terminus as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. ‘Mumbai’ is derived from Mumba, a name for the Hindu goddess, Mumbadevi, and aii, meaning ‘mother’ in Marathi…”
Another busy day for the HKS India Trek. We returned to Northern Mumbai to visit with the founders of 1298 Ambulance, a private enterprise looking to bring Western style emergency response to India. The founders studied in the US and UK and after a series of unfortunate events saw a need to start an ambulance service. Prior to the creation of the company, residents of Mumbai had to drive themselves to the nearest hospital; ambulances were used primarily for transporting cadavers. Shaffi Mather and Sweta Mangal, the founders, described the hurdles in gaining financing and government support.
The name itself is a symbol of their fight against corruption. To request service, callers must dial 1298. When the group originally tried to get an easy to remember number similar to 911, the government official demanded a $4,000 bribe. They refused and the official assigned them 1298, which he thought would be difficult to remember: they now advertise it with pride.
That completed the academic portion of the Mumbai segment, so we left for a tour of Elephanta Island. The island has an ancient temple to Shiva, carved out o f the mountain. Our guide, Mr. Dan, reverently took us through the temple explaining the various friezes. Two interesting facts: Shiva is never worshipped in a human form, so in temples he is represented by a cylinder with a domed top. On the anniversary of Shiva’s marriage water flows from one of the walls in the temple, but scientists have not been able to figure out from where it comes.
We also did a short bus tour of Mumbai, hitting a couple of out of the way spots including the hanging gardens in the Bollywood equivalent of Westwood and the Parsi Tower of Silence where the dead are left out to be eaten by scavenging birds.
Off to Bangalore early in the morning where we're meeting with some people from Infosys. Our last excursion for dinner in Mumbai was a bit of a flop: tried to go for sea food, but ended up at a dry, vegetarian New York style restraunt called the "New Yorker". They had virgin margaritas. We didn't drink them...
The group with the Dial 1298 staff
Mr. Dan discussing a relief of Shiva.
Sunset over Mumbai from the boat.
well...now i know.
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