On the S-3
Wednesday, December 6 1989
Posted by brockp

Twleve noon on the S-3 to Igatpuri. The train has stopped and a light breeze blows in the window intermittantly. It is otherwise very hot. A horn sounds and then the clanking of metal wheels, then rumbling and more horn. A train goes by heading towards Bombay as this train begins to move again.

We pass over a ditch/stream of burgundy-purple coloured murky water. As I look out at some concrete blackened five story buildings (appartments) I see a grey-black pig munching on grass. Then there are the slums of corrugated tin roofs and patched walls. Many are painted with ads for commercial products: Sanyo, Black Belt Tee Vee Center...Then some green patches - squares of cultivated garden sprouting small plants pass by. Some piles of railroad ties, another train platform, the clack rumble pound goes on, India going by.

Lobby at the Lawrence
Sunday, December 3 1989
Posted by brockp

Hissing, flapping sound of a pigeon in flight, wings moving...door opening down the hall, horn honking outside, some other bird, or is it a dog ?

Now in the lobby of the Hotel Lawrence, Bombay, Brock sits boiling water with an immersion heater. A German guest exits the bathroom, "I see there is no water," she comments.

"Not 'til 9 o'clock," Brock responds.

"That's for the whole city ?" an Australian guest asks, coming down the hall.

"No," Brock goes on to explain, "it comes on at 9 o'clock then lasts all night until 10am or so."

"So you have to plan your day then," the aussie says.

"There's a big bucket in the bathroom at the end of the hall - you can use a lota and pour over yourself..."

Brock poured the first mug of water into the bottle and set another to boil. The sound of hammering somewhere filling in the gaps between thoughtlines disappeared abruptly, no doubt to resume when Brock was no longer listening.

The second mug of water had come to a boil