Street Style- Day 10

Being the plant enthusiast that I am I couldn't help but notice all the beautiful vegetation in India. Outside our hotel was a beautiful Boganvelia tree with pink flowers.

Walking through the markets and streets the group came across many marigold flowers. These yellow and orange flowers are strung together with other leaves and hung over doors and in buildings. Traditionally marigold are used for celebration and for prayers. Back home (Toronto) marigolds are planted in vegetable gardens to keep the bugs away and are also edible!

It's a nice treat to be greeted by beautiful colours amongst the busy streets of India.

- Orli

Street Style- Day 10

May 13th 2015, team Impact India successfully completes the "Amazing Race" Mumbai. Both literally and figuratively we all crossed the finish line. Endurance, determination, enthusiasm, will power, adrenaline, self-reflection and team-work were just some of the words running through my mind over the course of the last week and a half, and more recently, in the last two hours. The staff members spread themselves out throughout the city, team Impact India was divided into four teams, each team member bringing their own strengths and contributions, and the first clue was given. I assure you however, this was no ordinary race. Not even thinking about the 35 degree weather, the 75% humidity, and the crowd of Indians hovering around to take pictures with 'stars'. This race challenged us all at every one of the six stations; mentally, in our required reflections about our collective experience in Mumbai and questioned our own strategies for furthering old and learned ideas of Tikun Olamonce we return to our own homes. Physically, as each group pushed the other to move faster, think harder and sing louder. And lastly emotionally, as we thought about our individual potentials for change and progress both within and outside of our respective communities. For many of us here, this whole trip has been a race. A race towards something greater than ourselves, a race to make a small change with a big impact, a race against the ticking clock, a race for humanity, a race to do now, and think later, a race away from pre-conceived norms, human expectation, and self-propelled limitations, and of course for most, a constant race to the bathroom. Against some brutally hot circumstances, we closed out the night possibly with even more energy and drive than we started with, while we were temporarily divided, we still grew in our shared desires to take this trip, our new knowledge and enriched perspectives, and carry it forwards on our journeys to impact the world around us. I am confident in saying on behalf of everyone, Impact India 2015 truly has been an amazing race!

- Rebecca

Street Style- Day 8

Today we started a new leg of our journey - our one night excursion to Alibag to learn about Indian Jewish history. The trip started off at 7am where we checked out of our hotel and had breakfast. We headed over to the Gate of India which serves as a port for ferries to local islands, there we hopped on a 45 minute ferry to Madwa. Once we had arrived into the Madwa port, we took a bus into Alibag - the place where the first Indian Jews settled 3000 years ago. Alibag, a small village, has much more greenery then Mumbai and sits on the coast of the Arabian Sea. It was nice to be in a quieter setting and we got a chance to take time to sit by the beach and relax. After dinner we joined in an impromptu birthday celebration happening on the street. There were five drums who were drumming around a horse and carriage with the birthday boy. Beyond the rich history of Alibag, the people and the culture are fascinating. More later about the early Indian Jewry.

-Jacqueline Craig 

Bike Tour- Day 6

Today with some reluctance most of the group woke up at the break of dawn for one of our much anticipated adventures of our trip. All that we knew going into it was that it was going to involve a bike and the busy streets of Mumbai. At 6am we made our way to reality tours where we found our two wheeled companions and headed out. As the bike tour started there was a rare calmness that flowed through the streets; which is not  the norm where the melody of horns and honks fill the days. Our first stop was the waterfront where we got to capture the picturesque sunrise. We weaved through the back streets,  main highways and even experienced some urban portaging carrying our bikes up and over a train bridge. Some of the places we got to see: a mosque, Hindu temple, fruit and fish markets, animal welfare centre and famous piers gave us an opportunity to immerse ourselves in the true Mumbai culture. Being able to really throw ourselves into the hustle and bustle of the hectic and vibrant street life of Mumbai was one of the the many adventures that has made this trip so special. It's so amazing to be able to see how something as universal as riding a bike can be worlds different based on geography yet so similar like the honking of horn on a busy road. 

-Carly

Street Style- Day 1