Sunday, May 25, 2014

House Hunting

We quickly narrowed our house hunting venture to a relatively new area called Powai in the northeast part of Mumbai. The wealthy Harinandani family designed and built it around the lake.


The streets are wider with less traffic which raises your odds that you'll survive to live another day.


Plus Ty saw these stores and declared it was a sign from God, no less miraculous than the Star of Bethlehem, pointing the exact spot where we should look for our apartment.


There are still a lot of ramshackle houses, vendors, and streets but not anything like the neighboring areas.


With a number of nice high-rise apartments to choose from, the real challenge is negotiating a reasonable rent in a secure building. Those are usually massive in size (5 bedrooms whether you want them or not) to give off the level of prestige Indians value. Quality is rarely a consideration. Bigger is simply better here but we don't want big and that's a complication. And so the hunt begins! 




First Impressions

I had mixed feelings about moving to India. Not having heard much to encourage my expectations, I arrived very skeptical and ready to face all kinds of unpleasantness. What I found was a beautiful new airport and a city full of life all night long. From the first moment, I was captivated. There was so much to see and figure out! Constant horn tapping, masses of humanity spilling out from make-shift houses into the road, vehicles of all eras weaving into scant openings in traffic, and always, always people starring.

This is a typical scene in Mumbai which most natives still call Bombay. Newer high-rises coexist with all sorts of homes and stalls right up to, and often into, the streets.


I snapped a constant stream of pictures each time we drove anywhere.





Everything is fascinating! I think I'm going to love it here.