SHINY SHIRTS AND SYNAGOGUES - THE MUMBAI EXPERIENCE

The very first thing we learned about Mumbai was that it's very difficult to find yourself a bit of breakfast before 8 o'clock. The second thing we noticed is that it sure is expensive in relation to the rest of India. The third thing we noticed is that it more than makes up for any of the above with an addictive ambience that instantly makes you feel quite at home.



Mumbai is a modern, cosmopolitan city with many trendy bars and cafes at your disposal all slotted in between grandiose Gothic-style and Art Deco buildings. A walk around the tourist friendly Fort and Colaba areas will present many examples of this. Feeling remarkably spritely on our first day although recovering from an all night train journey, we managed to take in some of the following sights:







and my first ever visit to a synagogue where we chatted to a very wise rabbi...



Mumbai is also a slum, or at least more than half of the population live in one. On entering and leaving the city you become witness to a sad, grey ocean of tin and plastic roofing evoking a barrage of emotions, guilt and helplessness being but two.

On day one in Mumbai we also succeeded in landing ourselves some starring roles (as extras) in a Bollywood production being shot the following day - not quite as special as it may sound, many Bollywood scouts are sent out to gather troups on most days of the year it seems. We accepted, however, and finished our first day in Mumbai with a few beers in Cafe Mondegar before retiring for our beauty sleeps in preparation for our screen debuts.



An early start saw us board a bus to the studios and check in to the costume department to get kitted out. The obligatory, ultra chic, shiny shirts were tucked into fetching slacks and all set off with some of the shiniest darn shoes we ever did see. The show commenced and involved an awful lot of standing around, staying quiet, and generally being uncomfortable while the stars did their thang. A break for lunch, hours later, perked the crowd right up again as all the extras began to mingle. Another few hours in and we were giving it loads as dancing extras to a ground-breaking track entitled "DJ gimme some more", original or what?! A few well deserved beers in the extras bus on our next break proved exactly what was needed to pull the team through to the last take of a very long day. The journey back from the studio saw a bus full of singing, shouting, laughing and dancing extras, like we'd known each other for years. On to a club then for some more dancing before collapsing in gleeful exhaustion in the small hours of the morning. Big hi to Sarah and Barry whom we met on set... I hope settling back in wasn't too difficult, really nice to have met you both, if you're ever in Ireland...





Piotrek and Bartek's visit to Mumbai was the premise of our second visit to the city in the new year. We spent our time in a few of our favourite haunts having drinks galore and laughs a plenty. Thanks so much for everything lads, I hope the rest of your trip is an enjoyable and positive experience xx