- We go from the land of fire to the land of water, magical Mumbai, India, where it's the middle of monsoon season, and we'll be hanging out with my good Judy, journalist Adele de Penha as she shows us her neighborhood of Bandra, before connecting with choreographer and culture creator, Hrishikesh Pawar, who shows us the culture, the beauty, and the pageantry of the Ganesh Festival.

Let's get wet!

[ Jet engines whine ] I'm Ernest White II... storyteller, explorer.

I believe in connecting across backgrounds and boundaries.

- I mean, look at us!

We're chasing the sunset!

- Join me and my friends... What's going on, boy?

♪ ...and discover that no matter the background, no matter the history, the whole world is our tribe.

♪ Come with me.

Whoo!

"FLY BROTHER."

- Major funding for this program is provided by... Marie Roberts De La Parra -- personal coaching, executive leadership, and self-empowerment.

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation.

Promoting racial justice, interacial understanding, and human healing.

MetalShake by Sweden.

Additional funding provided by the following.

♪ - Mumbai.

For centuries, this star of India has sparkled in the imaginations of aspirants from around the country and adventurers from around the world.

Second in size only to India's national capital, Delhi, Mumbai is second to none when it comes to overall economic output, sheer number of billionaires, and powerful importance at the forefront of the world's largest film industry.

But no matter where it ranks in official statistics, Mumbai is a city of excitement, where the vivid past and the vital present come together in loud, glorious tumult, where you either lead, follow, or get out of the way.

It's a city after my own heart.

I've got two friends with me here in Mumbai: Adele de Penha, journalist, educator, and hometown media maven; and Hrishikesh Pawar, dancer, choreographer, and lover of all things Mumbai.

And they both bring me into this organized chaos that we all love so much.

Glittering along the Arabian Sea on the west coast of India, Mumbai has long been a magnet for the country's ambitious and talented.

What started thousands of years ago as a Koli fishing community across seven islands has swelled to a megalopolis of an estimated 20 million people.

Throughout the centuries, Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim rulers of various Indian dynasties built stunning temples and monuments to their rule, before European powers swooped in and stamped their claims on the country's riches and on the city's name for a while.

Now the business and entertainment capital of India, Mumbai looms large as a bustling world city where cultures and traditions come to life.

[ Rain pattering ] If you haven't guessed, it's monsoon season.

A seasonal shift in prevailing winds from the east and west sides of India, the monsoon brings rain -- lots of it.

In Mumbai, the rains are generally heaviest from June through September, and we're here right in the middle of it.

♪ My friend Adele and I planned to take a walking tour of her neighborhood of Bandra, a funky, comfy little enclave to the north of central Mumbai.

Instead, we hop over to one of her favorite indoor and less-waterlogged hangouts, an artist-centered graphic design collective called Kulture Shop.

♪ Phew!

♪ ♪ ♪ - So, this is one of my favorite shops.

- Okay.

- 'Cause they work with Indian artists and graphic designers, and global ones as well.

And there's always something really interesting on the walls.

They have great t-shirts.

- Hey, guys, welcome to Kulture Shop.

- Hey, man.

Kulture Shop curator and design director Kunal Anand gives us a little culture shock.

- So, we work with around 75 curated graphic artists, and we're constantly growing.

All of Indian origin, because we're really interested in "What's that new India?

What does it look like?"

And it's something that's still not -- we can't really pin it down yet.

We're just observing it and mapping it as it happens.

There's exciting things happening out there, and sometimes goddesses and Bollywood and other stories might overpower some of the regular stories that are happening.

♪ ♪ - So, what I love about this store is that it's not just art for your walls, it's also cell phone covers and... - Practical art for... - Yeah, stuff that you can carry and wear.

- We believe that art shouldn't just live on the walls or in galleries; you can own it, you can carry it with you every day and appreciate it.

So we've spread most of the artworks on lifestyle products.

'Cause that's a great entry point for somebody who's never experienced art before.

Um, it's something they can own and live with, basically.

A lot of our artists also don't only make art prints with us.

They also produce kind of niche little products.

'Cause artists don't stop making.

You can't stop them from wanting to create and get their hands dirty and produce things.

This is another one.

We love the expression of multilingual type, because this country has so many languages to play with, and this is called "Bromance: Love Thy Brother."

- Okay, that's cool.

- So, that's "Dope" in Devanagari by Sajid Wajid Shaikh, and, um, we love this work because it kind of expresses a new pop culture in a new language, in a new style, that hasn't been seen before.

Our mission here is to support the Indian graphic artist and give them a platform to get their work seen and appreciated and not just in terms of a small design audience, but we really want to communicate to the public.

We found that a lot of the work was just sitting in sketchbooks and on computers and not being seen or noticed.

So, they kind of really needed the opportunity to get it out there to everybody to love it.

'Cause we really believe that art is for all.

♪ - Art, color, vitality, life can be found throughout the streets of Bandra.

Unfortunately, the off-and-on rain showers kept us relegated to the auto-rickshaws that are also a staple on the streets of Bandra and much of Mumbai.

Most of the 250,000 three-wheeled auto-rickshaws in the city run on compressed natural gas and are highly regulated.

They're not allowed to travel into the older sections of town and compete with taxicabs, buses, trains, subways, ferries, and personal vehicles to shuttle Mumbaikars to and fro.

I love 'em.

This is fun!

♪ ♪ I've known Adele for over 10 years, since we were both teaching English in the South American country of Colombia, and her friends and family have only ever shown me grace and hospitality whenever I'm in town.

We head back inside to dry off and talk a bit about Adele's home 'hood.

So, like, Bandra.

I mean, you have always repped your neighborhood hard.

What is that about?

- Well, my family's lived here for four generations now, as far as we know.

My grandmother used to tell us stories of... they lived in these little villages, these clusters of houses and they had fields around when she grew up.

That was in the, you know, early 1900s.

And, um, yeah, she used to tell me stories about going to the market with baskets of fruit and vegetables that they grew, carrying them to the market on their heads with her mom.

And, yeah, and now it's like this, you know, cute little chic place with, you know, crazy traffic and... - Somewhat gentrified.

- Boutiques and restaurants and stuff like that, and I can't imagine what... the kind of transformation that it's gone through.

I can't imagine what she felt about it before she died.

She passed away three years ago... - Oh, wow.

- At the age of 100.

- Amen.

- So, from that quiet, kind of, fishing, farming little town, it grew unto this suburb of Bombay.

- Right, right.

- You know.

- So, like, what makes modern-day Bandra special to you?

- Well, it's kind of become this place, I guess there are good parts about it and bad parts.

I guess because, um, of the large Catholic community that lives in this area and that has always lived in this area, the culture's a little bit different from the surrounding Bombay.

- Okay.

- It's a little bit more liberal, but I guess it's also great because there's a lot of food culture, a lot of restaurants -- they always open first here, and that makes it interesting because you've always got something new to try.

- Okay.

- ...people to meet, because, kind of it becomes, kind of, melting pot.

- Okay.

- Where you get to meet a lot of people from outside India, from all over India who come to live.

- It's kinda cool.

- Yeah, come to work in Bombay and such.

I guess Bombay is like that.

It's kind of like this microcosm, this sample of what India is like.

Because... because there's so much industry, so much of the media, you know, they have so many media houses here, so much of Bollywood here, that we get people from all over the country who come here to work.

And that's great because you get to rub shoulders with all kinds of religions and communities and people and, you know, get to know about them without any...

I guess it breaks down walls.

- Well, and that's what we're doing here.

- Yeah.

♪ - As soon as the weather dries up a bit, I head to town, or South Mumbai, the buzzing, bustling heart of the city.

- On weekends like this one, markets and plazas hum with shoppers and sightseers, watched over by nearly two decades' worth of architecture and urbanity.

♪ At the Gateway of India, an ornate reminder of the country's past as a British colony, a tapestry of Mumbaikars congregate to enjoy the sea breeze and street scene.

India is a country of some 1.4 billion people, representing anywhere between 400 and 1700 languages and dialects, depending on the source, and at least nine religious faiths.

♪ And this weekend, Hindus the world over are celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival honoring the elephant-headed god Ganesha, remover of obstacles, god of beginnings, wisdom, and success.

And the multi-day celebration brings the crowds to solemn temples, elaborate displays, and joyful processions.

♪ [ Drumming ] ♪ Celebrations in honor of Ganesha can last anywhere from 1 1/2 to 21 days, depending on the location, and are held in public spaces and in private homes alike with a mix of reverence and cheer.

[ Drumming continues ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ Music playing over ] Meanwhile, the city stirs, and Mumbaikars continue their incessant traversing of the megalopolis they call home.

♪ Whoo!

But traffic in Mumbai is definitely stop-and-go.

And this afternoon, I meet up with my buddy Hrishikesh, classical Indian dancer and choreographer, to learn more about the Ganesh Festival, and also his passion for this place.

So, what is it that you love about Mumbai so much?

- Oh, everything!

The spirit, the people, the work, the festivities, the food, right, from street to a fine dining restaurant, you'd find everything under the sky here.

Um, people who come in here, the kind of stories that you get to see, it's a very organized chaos, you know.

- That's an interesting phrasing.

- As a choreographer, I think the image of so many people walking in the same direction or trying to figure out what they're doing, as opposed to being static and not moving at all.

So, the city moves and moves and moves and moves, and it's wonderful to have that kind of a pace around you because that really sort of encompasses what life is to be in this city.

It's a spirit that people talk about when you talk about a city like Mumbai, for sure.

- So, it seems to me that car horns here are turned up to the highest possible decibel.

- Yes.

- So... - And so is the noise of the particular vehicle.

- Okay.

- You know?

So it's sort of, the horn is like a cherry on the top.

- All right.

And is it because people just can't hear it otherwise?

Because there's so much going on, there's so many sounds, just the sounds of the city and of life?

- I think it adds on to the sound of the city, right?

I mean, the first thing that you notice after you come to a country like India, when you step out of the airport is the noise of it, and then the people, because there's a whole visual that builds up.

And, you know, there's amazing consistency of sound as well, which is wonderful.

I think it sort of puts you on your foot, where you cannot just, you know, subduedly stand in the middle of the street.

- Right, right.

- There's just so much noise and chaos like a circus.

- Okay, yeah.

I love it, man.

I love this big circus that is Mumbai, man.

- It's wonderful.

Wonderful.

- So, India's got all these languages... - Yes.

- And, you speak which ones?

- I speak Marathi, which is my mother tongue, and it's also a state language, basically, that comes out of Maharashtra.

And I speak Hindi, and I speak English, and, of course, additionally to that, I speak German, but Marathi is my mother language that's spoken in the state.

- The state that Mumbai exists in?

- Exactly -- Maharashtra.

- Maharashtra.

- So each state has their own languages and then dialects, depending on what city you come from or what caste you belong to and so on and so forth.

- And so, then, you're a choreographer.

- Yes.

- How can you relate, I guess, the multilingualism, the multiculturalism of India to your work as a dancer and a choreographer, and as someone who's lived abroad?

- Well, something very important to produce your work is... [ Man speaking indistinctly, horns honking ] Like, you can hear the horns and they create, like, they create a music of its own.

And there's a conflict, right?

There's a human conflict of, "Oh, do you want to exist?

Do you not want to exist?

Why is it so...?"

There's constant reactions to that work.

And my medium of dance allows me to be artistically reacting to these situations, and it's wonderful to be in a country like ours because there's constantly things happening.

You have to be present, uh, even while crossing a street, sitting in a car, because you never know what's gonna happen from where.

So it's very, very inspiring to be in this country which has colors, which has dynamics, which has images, uh, so as an artist, you're never short of inspiration and ideas, because you're constantly reacting to somethings or the other.

So, yeah.

- So, like, this taxicab is the most interestingly upholstered that I've ever been in.

- It is.

- And then, we've got like, you know, the symbol of Hindu.

- Mm-hmm.

- And then we've got the swastika.

So, what does that represent?

What does it mean?

- Uh, swastika basically means something that you draw during all auspicious occasions, so it's got nothing to do with Nazi history, or it's got nothing to do with Germany as the World War history, as proclaimed by the world, or an image -- - Or nationalism.

- Or nationalism.

It's something that the Hindus believe in as goodwill and they would always draw this particular symbol for their pujas, for housewarmings, for any kind of festivities, along with "om," and along with the other sort of symbols that are created.

But it's got nothing to do with representing a certain kind of political statement.

- Right, right.

- As what it is picturized in the world.

- What it's been appropriated to be.

- Exactly, yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And so, then you've got... that other symbol is "om."

- Yes.

- Okay.

- Which I also have here.

- Oh, wow.

Okay, and that's the sound of the universe.

- That's right.

- Talking about sound.

- That's right.

- See, I know a little bit.

- It's an infinite... it's an infinite journey, as you call it.

- Okay, yes.

- Yeah, it's interesting.

- Nice.

♪ ♪ Once we reach our destination, Hrishikesh brings me to a temple where we choose from an array of offerings for Lord Ganesha, and where I learn the official footwear protocol.

- Shoes off?

- Yeah.

- Oh.

- Sorry.

You okay removing your shoes?

- Ah, yeah.

[ Both chuckle ] Can I have my socks on?

- No.

- Oh, God.

- This is what we do for ten days.

- Okay.

- You basically pray to the god for... for wisdom, good health, prosperity, yeah.

- Good things, all.

- All the positive things.

And he's also considered to be one of the primary gods.

So, every time we're doing something auspicious is when we will sort of praise him first.

- Oh, so like a TV show.

- Like a... yeah, yeah.

- With the head of an elephant, sometimes a broken tusk, sometimes two, most times four arms, and bedecked with jewels and flowers, Ganesha has been revered for his benevolence for at least 2,000 years.

♪ ♪ ♪ - Flowers that you offer to the lord when you go and visit him.

There are flowers... Lotus is his favorite flower.

So you also see, like, a pink lotus here, and you basically offer it to the deity.

And, um, there are other things which you require for the ritual, like camphor, some perfume, rosewater, some red and yellow tikka that we put, and then there is milk that we offer as well.

And then there are some flowers and coconut, of course, which is offered to him.

♪ ♪ After you pray, you get, like, a sweet, which you can relish.

- Ah, so I eat this?

- Yes, you eat it.

Like a prasad.

- It's not on my diet, though.

- It's called prasad and you get it.

- Okay.

- As a token -- so you have to offer it and then the god gives it to you is what the feeling is, so...

Cheers.

- Thank you.

- Okay.

This is good.

And they also give us, in exchange, they give us a coconut, which you can take home and then later on distribute it to your friends and your family.

So this is red coconut, yeah.

- Do you add lime to that coconut?

- Mmm, no.

- Okay.

- No.

You just give raw coconut.

Like, raw white coconut.

- Okay, that was a joke.

- You don't add anything to it.

- Y'all got it, though.

- Look, thanks.

Come.

- Okay.

[ White laughing ] It's a song.

- You add coconut to the lime?

- ♪ You put the lime in the ♪ coconut and shake it all up ♪ It's like a drinking song.

Hinduism is India's most practiced religion and the world's third-largest, with an estimated 1.2 billion followers worldwide.

Within a pantheon of deities and divine aspects, each representing the various virtues of life, it is here that the god Ganesha, also known as Ganapati and Vinayaka, is venerated with prayer and celebration.

♪ [ Bells ringing ] ♪ ♪ After the temple, Hrishikesh and I cool off down by the waterfront.

- Nariman Point is a place in Mumbai where people actually common.

It's a quintessential space open to the sea and, um, very, very popular during weekends.

So, people come here with their families, their kids.

Younger people, of course, come with their lovers, and you'll see right at the corner, a lot of people who've actually gathered just to enjoy the view and have their own sort of a time.

Also reminds me of the skyline in Chicago for some odd reason.

- Oh, yeah, kind of a lakeside... - You know, so it's like walking on the Magnificent Street and sort of enjoying that with the water body around it.

- Right, right.

♪ - Uh, people come here and enjoy, take pictures, enjoy the breeze because Bombay geographically also is very, very congested.

So, one of the first free points that you can actually enjoy the water, the freedom of the breeze, come with your families and really have a weekend getaway.

So if you have a look around, there are lots of families and friends and people and it's quite exciting.

- As these young Mumbaikars take in the views and breezes along the Arabian Sea, the rains of the monsoon offer possibilities for fresh starts and liquid abundance.

♪ Mumbai, city of many names, many sights, many sounds, many wonders.

A place of auspicious beginnings and lasting friendships, come rain or come shine.

♪ ♪ ♪ - Major funding for this program is provided by... Marie Roberts De La Parra -- personal coaching, executive leadership, and self-empowerment.

Courageous Conversation Global Foundation.

Promoting racial justice, interacial understanding, and human healing.

MetalShake by Sweden.

Additional funding provided by the following.

To join the "Fly Brother" travel community or to order your own copy of this episode, visit flybrother.net.

♪