Mumbai

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Chunabhatti, I had read and watched documentaries about the small spaces people call home and it was here that I was to see it with my own eyes and stayed the night. When I had met Shivali's mum, I had also met Maasi and Mausi. It was a fun try trying to figure out who was who when I walked into the hotel room in Dehradun. 

Maasi lived in a one room dwelling, the bathroom, toilet included was size of a closet and the kitchen the same which was across from it. Maasi reassured me that her house may be small, however her heart is big. What a wonder that women is. Equally as wonderful and whose back window was opposite Maasi's front door was Mausi. Mausi lived with her husband in a 2 room dwelling, the top floor became my room for the night. The bathroom was also situated on the upper level. I admired the big storage shelf that I was finishing in Indians home.

Maasi had wanted me to stay with her, however my friend and her family always cared for my comfort, a comfort that sometimes secluded me from sleeping with the warm of the family, however I also did appreciate the privacy. It was planned that I would sleep on the couch but my need to stretch out got the better of me and so i end up on the floor. Samit, Shivali's brother was staying at a cousin/neighbour's place above Massi's place, it was the cousin's birthday, I was blessed to join in for the festivities. I truly enjoyed my night in Chunabhatti, it made the saying, home is where your heart is ring so true. There is so much love/sense of family/ community, it felt like home away from home.

When I had pondered the thought of possibly moving to India, I googled expats of India and came across Chef Seefah and have been a fan ever since. So when I found myself in Mumbai, I booked a place in Bandra West where her restaurant is. See fah is also one of my favourite colours, see = colour, fah = sky, see fah= blue. 

My accommodation was nestled in a tiny one way road and to get to the front door, twas a climb up a iron staircase, the angle of the stairs, made it almost ladder like. It was a mission to get my bags up there. 

The first floor was the dorms and through a doorway, was a staircase, they managed to fit a desk on the large step between the dorms and the shared area. This was my favourite room of the hostel, an open space, windows on every wall, A casual lounging area with beds being used as couches, plugs nearby for charging needing, books for extra entertainment, close by was the dining and kitchen, four large wooden bench seats for communal dining and working if need be. I watched several sunrises in the room and had some decent breakfast there too. The vibe at Cohostel is chill and homey. 

When I settled in my room and left to Chunabhatti, I got back the next day find the room with a few interesting characters, expected in a 6 bed mixed dorm. I was booked in for dinner at Seefah Restaurant. I started up a conversation with the friendly bearded man chilling on the bed across from me and eventually met his beautiful wife (I end up staying a night with them in Bangalore}. 

There is a theory that any person on the planet can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances, six degrees of separation, so when I met a Hindi speaking, white American in Mumbai, I would have never thought his brother in law would work for the same company as my sister in law and to find out they hung out on Lao, was crazy. Here we are, worlds away from our home countries, hanging out, he was so at home in India, he took me to have what he believed to be one of the best lassi. We all ended hanging at Subko, just a few shops away from the hostel, I loved the charm of this cute cafe.