I am a master in India

Chapter 59 The Fat Sheep Arrives
October in Mumbai is already very cool for people who are used to living in this city, at least not as unbearably hot as it was two months ago.

It is visibly that more and more foreigners are coming here. Since mid-September, Ron's company has been busy.

He spent most of his time patrolling the fortress office, the train station, and the airport, and went to Leopold's bar less and less frequently.

Dirang and Viraj teased him that he ignored the beautiful girls in the bar for the sake of the evil rupees.

Ron was indeed very busy, especially today, when almost all the backbone members of the entire company were out.

"Anand, is the car arranged? We should leave."

"No problem, we're ready to go. I'd say a bus with 20 people is enough; this one is too big."

"Hey, these British students are spoiled. You can't expect them to be like Indians, where you can fit thirty people in a van."

"OK, I hope old man Smith's wealth has been passed on to them." Anand licked his lips.

"Sanjay, put two jugs of purified water in the car. They're bottled purified water from the mall. Don't carry buckets up there!"

Ron was busy running around early in the morning. His men were good at their work, but their vision was too narrow.

Many things require Ron's personal supervision, otherwise he will definitely do all kinds of weird Indian things for you.

At about nine o'clock, the bus carrying 40 people slowly set off from the fortress area and headed for the airport on the outskirts of the city.

"Have you ever thought about renting a house nearby, or even buying one? I think with your income, that shouldn't be a problem."

Ron asked Anand after they sat down in the car. The trip to the slums two days ago was still lingering in his mind.

"It's nice there, everyone helps each other. We're like a family, it's safe."

"But you don't live there, you built your own house on the outskirts. I mean..."

“I understand,” Anand replied with a smile, “I moved out because I needed to make room for other people. There are many people waiting in line to enter the slum.

"Ron, housing is scarce in the slums. There are long queues and it costs money to move in, and there are still millions of people living on the sidewalks in Mumbai."

"Like Rajakannu?" Ron thought of the thin man who had jumped to this place without hesitation so that his wife could move into the slums before giving birth.

"Yes, the dream of the sidewalk dwellers is to move into the slums." Anand still had a smile on his face when he said this.

It was dirty, messy and smelly, but many of his relatives and friends were there, and the slum had become like his home.

Well, Ron could understand that family ties were also a very important bond in India.

When they arrived at the airport, the sun was already starting to show its power.

Since he had already greeted them, Ron's bus drove directly to the roadside at the exit.

Their timing was perfect, as the flight from London was landing under control in the tower.

Ron entered the airport first. The reception area, which had been under renovation for over a month, was almost complete. It was in the same style as the train station and was a striking addition to the airport.

He was just giving some instructions to the front desk here, when the airport announcement over there was already reminding the passengers of a certain flight to get off the plane.

Ron waved, and Anand cleverly had two people unfurl a large banner. Their sign was more impressive than anyone else's, visible from a mile away.

Soon, a group of young foreign students, carrying their luggage, headed straight here, led by a middle-aged man.

"Is this Mr. Wilson?" Ron took the initiative to walk over and say hello.

"Ron Soul?" The middle-aged man in the lead shook hands with him.

"It's me." Ron handed over a business card.

"Oh, you're younger than I thought." "Mr. Smith said so too."

"He has nothing but praise for you and I'm looking forward to the next few days in Mumbai."

"Rest assured, you will have an unparalleled experience."

"Thank you." Wilson turned around and said, "Okay, classmates, let's go to the hotel arranged by this gentleman. Take a shower, and then enjoy some Indian food."

The group of students chattered and looked around curiously as soon as they got off the plane.

Many girls have been covering their mouths and noses since they got off the plane.

Mumbai stinks; that's their first impression of the city.

This is not surprising, as Ron also retched for a long time on his first day living here.

The air smelled of salty seawater and the cold, metallic smell of machinery, mixed with the odors of sixty million animals, mostly humans and rats, moving, sleeping, and defecating.

It's normal for such places to smell a bit, but everyone will get used to it after a few days.

"God, isn't Mumbai the capital of India? Why does it smell so bad?" a student complained.

"Well, classmate, Mumbai isn't the capital of India; Delhi is. But this smell can't be called foul, because the city has 10,000 restaurants, 5,000 temples, shrines, churches, mosques, and a hundred bazaars selling perfumes, spices, incense, and fresh flowers. When their scents mix together, they produce a wonderful chemical reaction."

Ron began to sweet-talk them. First impressions mattered. If they lost interest in Mumbai early on, how could they continue to spend money there?

"There are five thousand temples here?" Sure enough, these art students were attracted.

"Of course, India is a country with diverse religions. If you're interested, I'll show you around later. But for now, let's get in the car. It's hot here, and I think you wouldn't mind taking a shower in the hotel."

This group of energetic and youthful students followed Ron towards the bus at the door.

Anand followed behind with his mouth almost crooked with smile. He just counted and there were thirty fat sheep with pounds on them.

Even walking on the street, this group of students was restless. "Is it a religious custom that Indians don't eat beef? What about pork?"

"Okay, since you're interested, let me give you a brief introduction." Ron said as they walked, "India currently has a population of over 9 million, according to official statistics, but the actual population may be over 10 billion.

Of these people, 83% are Hindu, 11% are Muslim, 2.6% are Catholic, 1.9% are Sikh, and the remaining religions are Buddhism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism, each with less than 1% of followers.

As you know, Hindus consider cows sacred and eating them is strictly forbidden. Because there are so many Hindus, many foreigners believe that Indians don't eat beef, but that's not the case."

"What about pork?" a student asked.

“Basically all Indians don’t eat it.”

"Why?" everyone asked curiously.

"Both Hinduism and Islam believe that pigs come from an unclean land and are unclean animals. These two religions account for more than 94% of India's population, so the Indians you see basically don't eat pork."

"Wow~" The students suddenly understood and exclaimed in unison.

The next scene they saw on the bus made them scream and shout. The endless slums that stretched like brown sand dunes made Mumbai look even more chaotic than Gotham.

Familiar things coexist and contrast with strange and bizarre things everywhere. There is an ox cart stopped at a traffic light, and next to it is a cool sports car.

A man squatted behind a nondescript satellite dish to urinate, and a crane unloaded cargo from an ancient wooden ox cart.

It was so contradictory that this group of foreign students from the civilized world were speechless after being shocked by the scenes before them.

"It's so fucking cool! There is such a place in the world." A male student couldn't help but sigh, expressing everyone's true feelings.

(End of this chapter)