What a great Beetle and great title

There is a great festival in mumbai at the moment called Kala Ghoda ( Black Horse in Hindi) and this is part of an outside art exhibition. Some of these exhibits are great. Enjoy…………

A wonderful old Ambassador, still being made in Kolkata. This one is a bit special

This pyramid is compiled of purely glasses

Reminds me of the Mumbai traffic jams and the hooting

Also made purely of plastic bottles

(Chris and his family)

I have been travelling on Mumbai trains for the past two years.

I have honestly never seen a fellow Westerner on my train routes. There are many journeys,   but usually my “commuter journey” from Ville Parle to Mahalaxmi   which takes about 35 minutes is shared with possibly the 20 million people who reside in Mumbai and never a European. It’s a bit eerie in that respect. ( where is everyone! )

However yesterday I got on a train and there was Chris Wey ( a friend of mine) and his mother and father, a massive coincidence in itself , but Chris had also picked up a couple of “tourist strays” who looked lost and so he brought them under his wing.

So that meant from seeing nobody for two years of train travel, I had in total 6 Europeans in my carriage. It was a strange but  a magic moment at the same time.

Chris runs his own NGO in Dharevi  which conducts a whole range of tours in Mumbai, mainly in the poverty stricken areas. His team supports the local community whilst conducting this business and educo  support’s  Chris in his school projects . Check out  www.realitytoursandtravel.com

For me, that coincidence will probably never happen again.

And yes occasionally it is a small world………………………….

Well I was wrong (big time) .

The costs of traveling 2nd class verses 1st is quite considerable percentage wise  ( e.g. 6 Rs vs 50 Rs on the same train) so you might think we would be puting our feet up on plush seats and reading the paper. On a typical train ( its brilliant they arrive about every 2/3 minutes ) of 20 carriages there will be  15 2nd class carriages , 2/3 1st class , 1 woman only, and an invalid carriage. Today I used the train at around 6pm which is the rush hour ( there are only a few downtimes in India,around  2hours  2-3 pm)  . It was a cattle market to get on, get in and forget seats, we all huddle standing up. The biggest challenge is to work out your strategy to get to the train door at least 2 stations before your get off point.

Otherwise the mass of people will not let you through. In 2nd class I had a certain respect as I was always the only European on the train and they helped me through the crowd ( holding phone and wallet makes it difficult) But in first class, although I am still the only westerner on the train, these guys are all “top bananas” so I’m just one of them, and they don’t appreciate my train strategy. I ‘m a novice , an idiot and not special in anyway. That’s fine, but I have realized until the Railway decides that they need more first class carriages to make it work then things will not change and I will go back to 2nd class where to be honest I feel more confortable.

If they add more 1st class carriages then they will reduce the 2nd class capacity which is not my intention as that is already a rugby scrum most times of the day.      

Last week, traveling 2nd class, I arrived at Dadar, a wonderful area and market place and where you get the best value and cheapest deals. The station is also well known as the busiest and most aggressive in the city. To get off the train I lterally had to jump into the crowd similar to a ” rock star” as they were jumping on the train like maniacs. That was a bit scarey, but they caught me softly, did,nt think it was rude, and carried on their attempts to get on the train. amazing stuff.

The funniest/saddest thing is that when you are buying a first class ticket you can move straight to the front of the queue and just push in. That goes against every grain of British life and therefore I do not do that( although the time saving would be significant ) Can you imagine doing that in Europe. It would start a riot in my thinking. 

Anyway in summary

Mumbai’s railway systems are brilliant. 2 minutes trains and good segregation etc policy.

But the nation has bloomed to 1.2Bn , Mumbai is now at least 20m people, the trains our bursting of people at the seems. They are dangerous.

There is a need of a new plan otherwise there will many more casualties and lack of ticket value.

Its not easy            

                    .

Shilpa (left) and Mangal cutting the birthday cake after schoolJust more celebrations.........

First of all , a happy 23rd Birthday to Shilpa as we celebrated with cake today. For you avid “iaininindia” blog followers ( I know you are out there!) Shilpa was a student in Saibaba Path school and now she teaches for Educo which is a nice story. See previous “posts” on Shilpa.

Anyway today was her day. She is a smart and intelligent young woman ( great teacher)  who has a wonderful personality and a smile to go with it as you can see. She is breaking young men’s hearts as we speak I am sure.

Here is Shipla's corner ( soon to be named and mirror moved)

Today we decided to rename a corner of one of our classrooms as “Shilpa’s corner” Now as it happens, she is a great lover of mirrors and will always take the opportunity to have a chat with hereself and rearrange hair or dress or smile. The mirror we have in the classroom as you would expect is at “small child” level to teach them spacial awareness, personal hygiene etc. That doesn’t bother Shilpa as she squats to check the view all in one movement!

Once we have done this, I plan to confuse her by moving the mirror to the other corner and see how she reacts!.  Stand back and watch the fireworks begin ……

Anyway lets see. Happy Birthday Shilpa…………

Sorry about the quality of the pictures, it was mayhem……..

More mirrors appear to help Shilpa.....

Wow! This was Nandini on her wedding day. She could hold her own in Bollywood or Kollywood for sure.

Its been a year in waiting ( as I met Nandini about a year ago) but here is our sole UK Educo volunteer based in South London. Although her family originally hail from Chennai ( and she is going there in February to show off her two boys with Arti her husband) Nandini has an international back ground having met Arti in Germany, who is Finnish when studying ,so the children are set for a multi-national, multi-lingual career where ever that maybe.

And here is Nandini with her two boys. They are already crazy Apple App fans! . Just try to take it away from them.....

Nandini has been instrumental in setting up the “FUND A RESOURCE” program see www.educo.in and www.educo.ie which is designed to give people the opportunity to donate money to a specific Educo initiative in the Educo Saibaba Path school in Mumbai, e.g. a nutritious meal , books, overhead projector , sponsor a teacher and so on  which can make a real difference to the quality of the education we can provide. It also gives the generous sponsor an individual project of their own that they can follow and make a real difference. . The program has taken some time get going, however is now up and running and in full flow. So well done Nandini, keep the good work up and anyone reading this, have a look at the FUND A RESOURCE program its pretty cool.

Not a pretty site at 0541 after missing the start of the losers marathon. I upgraded myself to the elite , naturally!

Well the day finally came in Mumbai to get up at 4am and head for the start of the Mumbai Marathon, half marathon, Dream Run, wheel chair race, veterans, super veterans  et al……………

This guy was holding court telling the world that I had missed the start and was a loser,but I had a cunning plan.

The Marathon actually starts at 0540 which I think is a ridiculously early time and still dark ! There must be some logic there, but it beats me. I actually wanted to run the half marathon, but a fellow educo runner Niall, decided to  “rightsize” to the half, so I got the full bib for my sins in a “bib swap” . although I was never going to finish a full marathon with my dodgy ( currently DVT) leg.

You guessed it, I dint manage to reach the full marathon by the designated time and there is no way if you are a few minutes late you will be allowed on the course. Security is tight ( not like those slackers in Madrid). So having missed the big start ( 20,000+ bods) I either had to go home with my head and pride  between my legs , OR devise a cunning plan  to revert to the “elite marathon” starting  at 0725, a much more reasonable time.

So I started "elite" where were they. Did they go home or to church. most dissapointed but nobody around

I’m not sure if I should have been there but nobody stopped me. At the start there were the usual rather tall and slim African lads and lassies some of whom gave me a funny look !. I had the pleasure of seeing how fast these guys run and it is awesome. Once the starter blew his horn it was like a flock of birds taking off never to be seen again for the whole race.

There were about four stragglers including me who kept each other going through the first 5km and then I lost them. Perhaps they went home?. So I was on my own literally for the first 10.5km (my uniquely designed run) . In Mumbai you can start the full marathon, but actually double back to run your own half. The official half starts the other side of Mumbai so no chance of gate crashing that one.

Anyway once I had run the first 10.5km , I sneakily crossed the road and ran back the same distance. What a genius I am !   And for all you reading this who are not marathon savvy, that equals the official half marathon distance of 21km which was my original intended target anyway. The Mumbai route is also pretty much flat so that was a BIG advantage. ( Good plan Mumbai, Madrid you can learn from that) .

You see that road. I ran to the bottom of that, prob about 700m. It was a long haul back, but made my half legitimate

Its was much more fun on the return “Iain McDonald unique half” as there were plenty of people on their way back from Bandra where the official half marathon started. Its complex , don’t worry. And then ofcourse the elite boys and then girls pinged past us mere mortals at such speeds, it was actually beautiful to watch man/woman in full flight. Maybe next time when I get rid of this DVT I will give them some competition ( yer right!)

Having not trained for this run, it was very tough. They always are, but this was the toughest. I didn’t get a recorded time which was probably a blessing, but sprinted as ever to the line overtaking some losers on the way.  The Dream Runners were also out on the 24,000 ( 6km run/walk) so that was very colourful and fun to pass by.  We were fed biscuits and an assortment of colourful drinks which I could’nt take due to my medication, but I had plenty of water , local support, cool weather which was a big concern and general music , dancing and ambiance which you always need on these occasions.

Meenal and Educo teachers asking for autographs for the Desi Boyz star. Akshay Kumar had no chance

Educo had 15 participants in the Dream Run for the first time from our supporter/partners at HDFC as well as a handful of other runners who raised money for our schools in Mumbai. That was a brilliant effort by all of them and we really thank them for that. More details later on what we finally raised.

And finally thank you all my old friends and colleagues for supporting me as sponsors through this. Without your generous support, I would not have got up at 4 o’clock and done this.

Myself and Niall at a Pasta Fest last night. He finished in a good time for a fat Irishman!

You have to mentally count the money donated as you pass each km. It mentally keeps you going, so your part is in reality absolutely vital.

Your effort is truly appreciated and donations will be well spent. Just to remind you ALL your money goes to the educo projects and in this case appropriately to Saibaba Path school in Mumbai. If you haven’t seen this short 3 minute video then here is the link again.

And anyone who would like to donate now and make an old man with very sore legs and evil pains in his  feet a little better then just drop something into www.educo.in

I look forward to a bigger group of educo runners next year and a proper healthy run

Great support from our Educo teachers but standing on my tender foot was an interesting pain!

So in summary

Well done Mumbai for their regimental  control and organisation.

Well done to the Ethiopians and Kenyans who as usual stole the show.

Well done for the India chap who qualified for the Olympic timing ( in err Europe this time isn’t it)

Well done to the little children who supplied me water and biscuits in the dark and all morning

And finally well done to all you sponsors and supporters. I will keep you posted on how your money is wisely utilized.

A BIG THANK YOU GUYS…………

Time for a rest now ………..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Special guest Josie who will be 92 next weekThe great man John and his wife Anne

It was my fathers 90th birthday yesterday and he had a ball at a mid day dinner which last around four hours. The family had already done’  This is you life”  books, “Hello Mazagine”  skits and other stuff for John’s previous major birthdays so this time we produced n A-Z of his life which went down well. I also presented a gift of one years salary for a gardener to help him in his his half acre garden.

John holding court with a man 15 years his junior !

I cant afford it but it wont happen so I am safe!. I did the same thing 10 years ago and nothing happened, so fingers crossed ! .

John, enjoying his garden duties

As with all these family and friends events there is quite alot of stress organising and making sure things run smoothly which luckily I can report was achieved. So we are all proud of John. It would be great to reach that grand old age. The John McDonald Express Train ain.t the stopping kind so I see a royal telegram on its way in a number of years. Which Monarch will send it is the question ? ……………

Speeches and cakes

Finally the John McDonald Express Train took its toll.

They were also very close to the Nato tragedy last week where 26+ Pakistani’s unfortunately were in cross fire. Its funny and not to belittle the deaths of those soldiers and their families, but the immediate effect of Pakistans’s reaction is no beer for the US troops in Afghanistan, I know it sounds irrelevant, but these are little things that can make a difference to the relationship at ground level.

I also tried to explain to these guys the game of cricket. As you can guess I failed. I’ve told them to go to a 20/20 game and compare it with baseball and start there.

Finally the aircraft I flew on was a 787 which was a real thrill for me and great to walk around especially with my leg . Due to strikes at Heathrow we all had around 4 rows each and the aircraft looked awesome. I was placed over the wing and could not see anything other than this enormous, curved wing!

Movies were rubbish but who cares ………………

And when we went through passport contril it was a breeze ! As the BBC reporter said ” he will wait to find out when the next strike is and plab his flights fo that time !

AND CRYSTAL PALACE BEAT MANCHETER UTD , THAT’S AN AMAZING ACHIEVEMENT….WELL DONE DOUGIE AND THE BOYS….

I really cant stand this place. Ok its new and the building is impressive but all it really is, is a big shopping mall full of expensive shops with expensive products I would never buy . Such decadence is to be seen everywhere. All sorts of unnecessary gifts which breeds pure greed and generally a complete waste of money. I really feel quite uncomfortable here. Dubai airport authorities must make a fortune out of this place. I guess if I want a cheaper ticket ( which I do) I guess this is what I have to put up with. Honestly you have to be careful you dont spend money from boredom, which would have made the no stop flight cheaper anyway in the end.

I will now get off my high horse !

At least I have a free access to the internet for a while so thats a bonus ( although you have to stand at back breaking height)

I will be landing on Wednesday at Heathrow, I understand their is a strike from baggage holders or some group, so expect long delays after we land. Woo hoo ……..I can wait.

Good luck to Crystal palace tonight for their cup game against Manchester United ( and please dont say who is Crystal Palace? )

Off to have another long walk around terminal 1 again, I cant wait …….aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggghh

Cheers Iain

Today I treated the whole Saibaba Path staff to a viewing of “my new movie” . Its actually a very funny moviie even though most of it is in Hindi but with a generous portion of Hinglish something often found in Bollywood movies these days and especially where part of the film is based in England. In short , I could understand the humor and plot.

My cameo part and scene ( in my view is horrible and makes me look obese) lasts about 1 minute , involves 2 lines and bit of mumbling. But what the heck it was fun and its now fun joking around with the team. Its really funny as the movie was released last Friday and I have had text messages from people saying “was that you , that was amazing” . I’m the only westerner in the Movie so you can’t miss the scene. Two people today came up to me outside the cinema after the showing and said was that you ? . Tonight as I was arguing as usual with an Autorickshaw  guy who had no change, his next ride just happened to be going to the late show of Desi Boyz. I remarked that they should look out for me in the movie and my ride fee was paid immediately. I’m beginning to enjoy this film star status. Desi Boyz is the biggest movie in town at the moment so I’m “riding the ride” . Typical timing, I fly back to the UK tomorrow for a Desi Boyz promotion and an interview on The Johnathon Ross Show ( yer right) . So tomorrow is my only “strutting around”  day left.

The teachers will now all refer to me as Mr Brown ( my now adopted stage name).

But seriously folks, apart from my scene, it is a very funny movie and worth seeing. The cinema was in stitches for many parts of the movie. Akshay Kumar and John Abrahams are a really good “comedy combo” . And the music is pretty good as well. Sorry folks in the UK. Someone is getting Desi Boyz CD for christmas.

Bollywood is rivalling its Big Brother Hoillywood in movie revenue, if not quality just yet , but the gap is closing.

SO INDIA ……GO SEE DESI BOYZ  AND TAKE YOUR LAUGHING PILLS. YOU WILL HAVE FUN …………………MILES BETTER THAT THAT BODY GUARD RUBBISH