Mumbai

Wedding

We came for my cousin’s wedding. While not the first Indian wedding I’ve been to, it was the first since I’ve been an adult, and really paying any sort of proper attention to the world around me. The wedding was a lot of fun, with the as-seen-on-TV dancing and delicious food, family and festivity.

Dharavi Slum

We toured the Dharavi slum, the largest slum in Asia.

At first, I was apprehensive of the whole idea: “visiting” a slum seemed intrusive to the lives of those who lived there, as if the homes of over 1 million peoples were a tourist attraction to be gawked at.

Actually touring the slum changed my initial sentiment. The organization giving the tours, Reality Tours, is an NGO geared towards bringing more revenune to the Dharavi community (and the communities of other slums around the world). Our tour guide, Mayur had been born and raised in Dharavi, taught himself english and was now giving tours and studying computers.

The proceeds from the tours went towards community programs such as classes (including computer classes!) and sports organizations for the children growing up there, as well as some for the adults. They provide basic computer skills (office, web browsing, etc), and also sports equipment (footballs (soccer balls) and kleats for the kids). They were recently donated a 3d printer that Mayur (our tour guide) was in charge of figuring out how to use.

Through recycling and other industries, Dharavi moves over $1 billion / year.

We weren’t accosted by beggars at all throughout the 4 hours of being there. Tour-ers are advised against giving to people begging, since it encourages a counterproductive mentality of getting something for nothing.

At one point I picked up a retinue of children who were interested in my watch (I sport a Pebble Steel), asking me questions about it and pulling on my wrist to press its buttons. I was actually surprised by the fact that they were truly interested and not trying to steal it.

The gap between the rich and the poor in Mumbai and across India is much greater than it is in the US, with the wealthy being at the level of the American upper class, and the poor far below the (eg) American poor. For instance, my grandparents’ apartment (where I’m sitting currently and where we stay when we come to bombay) is on the same road as the Ambani house which is the most expensive private residence on the planet. (there was a media wave about it when it was built, not sure if you caught any of that) And it overlooks basically slums, in certain directions.

Although all this being said Bombay has come a long way in the last even 2 years. I’ve noticed a lot less abject poverty on the streets, and a lot of the slum shanty-dwellings have been renovated into low cost apartments. The roads are better. The old Hindustan Ambassador taxi fleet has been largely replaced by new Mitsubishi Santros burning compressed natural gas.

Muslim Street

At Mumbai’s Muslim street we ate kebabs, partridge… I tried goat brain, which has a slightly squishy texture and a taste similar to liver/kidney but not quite as strong.

I fell into the eyes of a young muslim woman standing down the street, probably around my age. She was wearing a full burka, only her beautiful, grey-green eyes were visible at all. I on the other hand was in a button-down and jeans, my RayBans on my head. For whatever reason, time seemed to stop as we gazed at each other for a while, until her (presumably) husband returned and ushered her away. Sappy imaginary pseudo-romance? Probably. Bridging cultural divides? Hopefully.

We also saw a man mysteriously taken away by a cop, who arrived outside his shop-stall and demanded he get in the back of the police jeep. After some back and forth he got in, handing off his wallet to his friend out of the back of the jeep as they pulled away.

Weird.

Anyway, here are some more pictures: