A Tale of Two Cities - by Wyatte

In the span of a week, I feel as if I've experinced two Indias. Mumbai and Bangalore stand in stark contrast to each other in pretty much every aspect you could think of.

When we first arrived in Mumbai, the oppressive heat, extreme poverty and "pungent odors" were noticed. The sheer amount of people packed in the streets and buildings evoked a sense of claustrophobia that I would consider worse than New York City. Much like NYC, Mumbai has its beautiful side with the Gateway to India, the Taj, Victoria Terminus and Mumbai University Library.

I asked my fellow people to describe Mumbai in one word. This was their responses:

"Cultured"

"Stuck"

"Maze"

"Jewel"

As much as I noticed Mumbai for all those negative things, I noticed the lack thereof when we arrived in Bangalore. There are hardly any poor people begging on the streets, people are more friendly and in general, the cleanliness is much better. The moderness of the city is also not lost upopn us and although we have barely touched the surface, you can tell the difference right away. One thing we have especially noticed here is that they stare a lot more, especially at Katie who as of right now is still the only female with us.

Their one word responses describing Bangalore:

"Amazing"

"Modern"

"Home"

"Eyes"

I will update later and see if these first impressions hold up over the next month as we experince more of Bangalore and other cities like Delhi.
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