Mumbai '17
Bombay (Mumbai) in June is hot and humid. Temperatures hover around 32-35 degrees which, in itself, is not so much an issue. It's the humidity that gets you. Any journey with an outdoor stint lasting longer than five minutes, immediately results in large sweat patches that conveniently single you out as a non-local.
Moral of the story: Try to avoid visiting Bombay in June.
6.30am sunrise over Bandra
Nevertheless, I was here to sign some paperwork and so didn't want to miss the opportunity to explore the place. I took to travelling around by foot, rickshaw, motorcycle and local train wherever possible to soak up the fast-paced atmosphere of the city. I've been to Bombay many times as a kid and have a lot of family here but this was the first time I resolved to taking some time out by myself to get around.
I must confess, the exception to the guerrilla approach to getting around the city was in the evenings. Bombay's wealth gap is difficult to find elsewhere and you'll often find extreme poverty bang-slap next to a level of opulence that you'd struggle to find in most major cities. I wanted to experience both sides of the coin and so donned my swanky garb in the evenings before heading out to the glam spots with friends. An air conditioned uber was essential here (£5 to travel the length of the city) to avoid me arriving at my destination looking like I had just swam through the Ganges to get there.
The inevitable jet lag on the first morning meant I was up at 5.30am. Mornings are still pretty pleasant and so I seized the early start to head from my Grandma's place in Colaba to the Gateway of India. Turns out it's pretty empty at 6am so I could wander through uninterrupted. For some reason, people lay grain down by the gateway for the birds. This attracts about 5,000 pigeons to the area meaning you're constantly looking up wondering weather you're about to receive a warm poop shower. It makes for some dynamic shots of the Taj Hotel though (below) and bird poop's supposed to be lucky, anyhow.
My Grandma is also an early bird so we journeyed down behind her apartment to Colaba market. Here, local vendors sell everything from live chickens to recycled polly pocket dolls. We opted for fruit though.
The first thing most visitors need to adjust to is the sheer number of people in the city. The density is insane. As an example, Dharavi, the most well-known slum in Bombay, has c.800,000 people living in it. It's less than 1 square mile in size making it the most densely populated area on the planet.
You'll also see many people sleeping on the streets at night (although, much less than five years ago - when I was last here). Very few of them actually beg to support themselves. Many find entrepreneurial ways to survive. The chap below for example, refills disposable BIC lighters for $0.05. I'm guessing that after his costs he's probably making about $0.03 a refill. It's this entrepreneurial spirit that really makes this city incredible.
Cigarette lighter refiller
Resourcefullness
Most of my friends and family avoid local trains in India. If I lived here, I probably would too. A regular black and yellow taxi costs about $0.50 to get most places you want to go and goes direct from your door to your destination. The train takes more navigating and is also packed beyond belief at rush hour with many passengers resorting to hanging off the external window bars to get where they need to go,
Still, I wanted to give it a go. For $0.10 I got a return to Bandra from Churchgate. A 30 minute journey where I met friendly locals who wanted to know where I was from and why I was taking the train (the sweat patches gave me away again). I also met a friendly Eunuch who clapped loudly in passengers faces before touching everyone they possibly while moving down the train.
The only way to keep cool while travelling on this train was to be outside of it.
More Resourcefulness
Dhobi Ghat. Bombay's laundry district. People bring dirty laundry from all over the city to wash in concrete vats. The system is highly organised with families living above their patch of cleaning vats.
Rickshaw rides through Bandra.
Crows. The first thing you hear every morning in this city. I think of it as the unofficial national anthem.
The extent of the poverty in Bombay always deeply saddens me. However, the 'ignorance is bliss' approach to life is not a route I'm willing to take. I would urge everyone to go there and experience it for themselves (making contributions to improving people's quality of life where possible) so as not to not fall into the trap of 'out of sight - out of mind'.
Bombay's poverty is not an exception within the world, but it's the juxtaposition of the extreme poverty with the absurd extravagance that really hammers home the disparity that exists in our world today.
I'll be doing my bit to improve things where I can. I hope you'll join me.