Trip to India - Entry 13 – Jawaharlal Nehru Port

The port is probably the most complex to plan visit we will have on this trip. Just to get approval to go onto the port, we had to fill out a complex form detailing such things as our blood type, some sort of personalized identification mark (a scar, for example), blood type, and for the women, the name of our father or husband (Madhu tactfully left off the husband part on the form). The Expeditors representative who greeted us apparently was highly amused by the pictures we were also requested to provide. We were, of course, happy to amuse.

The initial prepared presentation ran a little long, but the content wasn’t really a problem – the primary problem was actually the heat. Somehow, the Expeditors guys manage to work in the heat and humidity wearing suits. I was wearing a light shirt and a skirt and still managed to overheat to the extent that the rest of my day was ruined and I had to sit in the bus for the remainder of our time at the port. It is an unfortunate circumstance to be in a country in which one must drink lots of water… but in which bathrooms are rarely regularly available.

On the way back from the port, we were able to stop and check out a mall. While I realize the importance of malls in terms of Indian development – it was still just a mall. And, I must admit, the volume of Indian food we’ve been eating took its toll and I gorged on McDonalds. But, before you judge me – the potato wedges are almost as good as Jojos. A lot of us also checked out the Shopper’s Stop – which, contrary to what one might think, is a high end store. It just reminds me so much of a Stop and Shop that it’s hard to take it completely seriously.

I was much too tired to do anything and have no idea what anyone else was doing, because I was sleeping. And so goes another day in Mumbai.