— Gregory David Roberts
It’s a sunny spring evening in Montevideo, Uruguay, and I’m sitting at my desk with a mug of English breakfast tea—desperately wishing it were infused with cardamom and ginger.
A deep love for steaming, spiced chai wasn’t the only thing I inherited from the nine months I spent in India. I also discovered a love for long train journeys (which often grew longer, thanks to frequent delays), as well as a desire to live simply and appreciate small moments. Most of all, I developed an appreciation for timeless places.
By timeless, I mean those places that have an air of the eternal around them—a sense that their heart will remain unchanged, no matter the trends or years. During my time in India, I would sit and sketch in the shadow of the Jama Masjid mosque in Old Delhi, or beneath the Charminar monument in Hyderabad, and feel renewed with strength and peace—if these centuries-old buildings had withstood the crowds and chaos surrounding them, then so could I. And as perhaps it would be more expected, I found this peace in the mountains, too, on a trip to Dharamsala during my final week in the country.
As strings of faded prayer flags fluttered in the wind, and monks in maroon robes circled the path of the kora, it felt as though I had stepped entirely outside time.
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This summer, I was honored to write a feature article about this sense of timelessness in India for Ethiopia Airlines’ in-flight magazine, Selamta. In particular, I wrote about my favorite timeless rituals from Mumbai; rituals that, no matter how swiftly the city may change, will always be there for travelers and locals alike to enjoy.
The latest issue of Selamta just came out last week, so I couldn’t wait to share my story, “Timeless Mumbai”, with you here, along with a couple of sketches I did during my trips to India’s most populated city: from its early morning Dadar flower market, to the legendary Leopold Café, which was especially made famous in Gregory David Roberts’ epic novel, Shantaram.
Both places were favorite haunts of mine in Mumbai—places where you immediately feel enfolded in that air of the eternal.
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But there’s something I’m even more excited to share with you today from Mumbai—two pages from the art journal I kept during my first three-month-long journey through India.
I filled that journal with many different things—with sketches, of course, but also with whole pages of written notes, and once, with the certificate I received after completing a stone-carving workshop in Tamil Nadu. And each time I left a new place in India, I loved creating a collage of memorabilia to remember it by, gluing down everything from ticket stubs and business cards, to receipts from restaurants and guesthouses, to the ubiquitous “journey-cum-train reservation” slips from Indian Railways.
When I look at my collage from Mumbai now, I can see it all—eating simple meals and ordering chai at Leopold’s and Sahakari Bhandar, my go-to restaurant for pav bhaji in the city; watching Bollywood movies at the iconic Regal Cinema; and, my favorite, riding a boat around Mumbai’s beautiful natural harbor at sunset. By that single yellow ticket, I can forever remember paying 60 rupees (just about US$2) to board a ferry at the Gateway to India, sail out into the open water, and then stand at the helm of the boat as it began making its way back to Mumbai, the city’s skyline drenched in golden light. It was a small price to pay for the feeling of peace that ferry offered me.
In some ways, these pieces of memorabilia now feel like ancient relics, as outside of time as the rituals they represent. But in another way, they are very much tied to a specific point in time, stamped as they are with dates and hours and order numbers.
In my journal—even more than in my sketchbook—I’ve loved discovering how something as ephemeral as time can feel tangible; every timeless, eternal place represented by a very real piece of paper.
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as an Indian, your deep and heartfelt fondness for India delights me constantly 🙂 Best wishes from Jaipur!
Thank you so much for your kind words here, Manalika–I will forever be grateful for the kindness and generosity I was shown so freely in India, and I can’t wait for the day when I’ll be able to return 🙂 Wishing you all the best from Montevideo!
Candace –
Wonderful sketches; great story – thanks. My family and I had the good fortune to spend seven recent years in India and your post brought back a flood of memories. We lived in Delhi, where I would wander the streets of the old quarter at sunrise and watch the city wake up. We used Delhi as a base for exploring much of the subcontinent. We missed Dharamsala somehow (will have to go back) but would highly recommend Varanasi to you. It is not for the faint of heart – you either love it or hate it, there can be no in between – but the sights and sounds are amazing as you wander the narrow lanes or sit in a small boat on the sacred Ganges. Plenty of inspiration for your sketches, I would think!
Thank you very much for your comment here, Pete–it’s amazing to hear that you and your family had the opportunity to be based in India for such an extended amount of time…I can only imagine how deeply that enabled you to experience and explore the country. I also loved Delhi’s old town quarter, and think there will always be a piece of my heart forever wandering its narrow back alleyways, while stopping to chat with different vendors along the way 🙂 I also had the chance to visit Varanasi briefly while I was on the Rickshaw Run–we only had a night there, but I loved watching the sun rise from the river on a boat ride. Thank you again for sharing about your own adventures and journeys through India! It sounds like the country had as significant an impact on you and your family as it did on me.
Varanasi – boat ride on the sacred Ganges at dawn . . . https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e06a3c6d92d1b03f04af5180bf58a5b1f161a6832eeb5bce4fb3c5b39daa2be8.jpg
This is such a beautiful shot, Pete!
Hi Candace, I guess you’ll just have to start carrying your own cardamom and ginger with you to spice up your tea. Lucky you, being in spring while we, here in the Adirondacks, are approaching winter. I remember certain timeless places or incidents from my travels too, frequently moved to mind by a scent or a taste or even an action. I remember while in St. Martin at a local hotel watching an employee, not yet in uniform, out a back widow climb a palm tree, whack a coconut down, scamper down the tree, slice it open with his machete & drink from it. I wondered how many countless times that had happened. I remember while wandering through the Alhambra and thinking of the workmen who carved such intricate, delicate lacework, the time consumed in doing so and wondered what they were thinking as they created something so very special. Then there was the time in a Moroccan spice market and the time in the covered market in Istanbul with the many sights, sounds and scents. Seeing small, old fishing boats with ragged sails moored in some ancient harbor. My mind and heart are just filled with these varied experiences and I know just what you mean when you mention timeless India. It’s such a big country and, while I have never been there, love the Bollywood movies and forever will associate India with bright colors and lively music (totally ignoring the darker period of the Raj). Love the sketches. Enjoy the weather and continue your happy trails.
Dear Roberta–I have to confess that there are a few tears in my eyes right now as I finish reading your comment…those tears that come when you are deeply moved by someone’s story. I feel as though I have just been whisked around the world by the stories you shared, and every story came to life for me so vividly–most especially the tale of the man in St. Martin, shimmying up a palm tree in search of a fresh coconut. I think that next to the connections I’ve formed with people in each place, what I love most about traveling is everything you just shared–those vivid, visceral memories you will have for the rest of your life, and can return to in your mind at any time. Please know I’m filled with tremendous gratitude right now, to receive your thoughtful, evocative message from the Adirondacks, and that as always, I’m sending love and hugs from my current home in Montevideo.
This has made me so homesick for Bombay. I will forever love that city with my whole heart. xx
I am right there with you, Veena! Maybe our first in-person hangout can even happen there one day?? Here’s to Bombay and the beautiful hold it will always have on our hearts 🙂 xx
I love how you drew the fans! We’d always make fun of how fast the fans went around during the hot season. Haha! I’m so glad you posted this as it completely brought me back to living and breathing in the air of India. Keep sketching for all of us 🙂
Thank you so much, Lawrence! And I have to admit that I didn’t remember how fast the fans spun in the café, so thank you for pointing that out in my sketch and reminding me of such a fun little detail 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed this sketch, and that it could take you back to India for a moment!
Wow! I was so pleased to see in your ‘India Trip’ collage journal a receipt from The Salvation Army Red Shield in Mumbai. Why? You may ask! Because my parents used to run it and the one in Calcutta back in the 60’s!! I went back to stay a night there in 1999, but couldn’t recognize it as it had changed so much (unfortunately not for the better) I must bring out my Journal, including sketches of that 1999 trip to India. Can’t wait to return to India next month!! My sketch pads, pens and paints are already packed.
Dorothy! That coincidence is absolutely incredible–I can’t even believe your parents once ran the Salvation Army in Mumbai and Calcutta! While it certainly wasn’t the most luxurious hostel I ever stayed in, I still have very fond memories of it from my time in Mumbai (especially the breakfasts of bread, banana, and endless cups of chai) and I only wish I could have experienced it when it was under the care of your parents 🙂 Thanks so much for sharing that with me, and please know I’d love to see your sketches from India anytime! <3