Bombay, You Say? (Mumbai, for an Eye?)

Birds & Wires across the Sky

Birds abound in the tree-filled parts of Bandra, Mumbai, and their continuous small chirps and slurps, squawks and squabbles, dances and dives, keep me entertained from my very office window.

The hawks around here also astonish.  They nestle in giant palms, on top of satellite dishes, at the peak of concrete mountains (read: apartment bungalows), and generally incite and encourage fear among all smaller, less monstrous birds.  (Ca-caw, Ca-caw!)

The crows and cormorants are likewise adventuresome; their meals often consist of scavenging fallen food and trash littered about the street, circling it in groups of fours and fives like vultures and arguing like old marrieds.

I sometimes wonder if the birds pick up on the chaos of the city 

and decide 

that their own lives must emulate 

the impending dramas, minor disasters, and social milieus that abound across Bombay.

This is a branching, flowered tree that I photographed with a dark back shadow: I love the inter-twisting lines.

Trees, Wires, and Jumbled Lines, Oh My!

I've seen at least three minor street accidents, which do not include the "mere" tapping of rear-view windows or bumpers, as this is more of a common occurrence and really rather a way of saying "hello" to your traveling neighbor.  (This is not an exaggeration!)  I enjoy walking about but, in high traffic times, particularly at the rush of dusk to early evening, I am careful where I go lest I become sandwiched between two cars fighting for the road.  But perhaps fighting isn't the right word.  People here are rather nice when they are driving, and road rage is not something generally visited upon, though getting cut-off, side-swiped, blocked in traffic, merged into multiple 'lanes' simultaneously, running through red traffic lights (they are more of a 'suggestion'), and being on guard for rickshaws and goods carriers in multiple directions is a must-do in the city.  I'd say if you haven't felt nervous in traffic before, well, then you've probably never visited Mumbai.

Downtown side street, South Bombay

   I remember feeling nervous a decade ago, in bella Roma, when all of the Prada-clad, four-inch heeled women buzzed by the city streets on their little pale blue Vespas, with a vroom vroom and a debonaire grin inching past my stand-still body.  I felt like so much was happening in the city all at once and, while exhilarating, I also wondered how people did the whole city song and dance day in, day out.  I even thought that a posting to Rome would be overly chaotic, and I wondered if we should go there for a longer stay.  Ha!  Looking back at that time, Rome in comparison to Mumbai was play-acting with its chaos, a mere chimera.  I have learned that chaos is a relative term, and Mumbai has it down pat.
(And, it suits me just fine).

I also saw images of NYC recently, areas where I used to look at and first notice the dirty streets.  My first response now: look it at how clean it looks!  (This is not to say, however, that I like New York better... it is just to say that my shift in perspective is noticeable... and amusing.)

Put yo' dancin' shoes on!

 



Living in any place after this, unless if it's a city with over 22-million people, will probably feel just a little less crowded and, most definitely, not nearly as exciting, playful, or intoxicating.  Bombay leaves an impression that is soon hard to forget, etched like a road map with twists, turns, and the inevitable cow-induced road block.

Ah, Mumbai.  She makes me smile.   

Sunrise in the City...

Who is ready for a visit?

India is quickly becoming home and the norm.  Things that once seemed outlandish or extraordinary or surprising are now part and parcel of everyday living.  The adjustment of moving from something that seems foreign to something that feels familiar takes time, patience, and habitual re-introductions: you see the four-year old child begging on the street, tapping on your door window, and your heart cringes.  It is horrific.  You don't understand why in the world children are put up to such daunting tasks, what makes life so cruel, and how these little guys are able to navigate between droves of moving traffic including 'dinosaur' buses, sacred cows, teenage-sped motorcycles, out of control rickshaws, and in-a-hurry cars. 

Smog is Bad, But the Sunsets are Beautiful!

You wonder how the poverty and wealth can meld and intersect and why some people spend $75 USD on a meal at the Taj while others barely get by on 50 rupees a day (85 cents).  You try to get over the small sights that appall you, like when you hear rural cancer patients as young as three are going through chemo treatments in the city but at night must sleep on fecal-infested streets in slum conditions because there is often not enough housing for a sanitary move to health.  They don't even have a chance.

A burgeoning seed pod on the side of a dusty road: a life metaphor?

And then you begin to think about all of the wonderful things that strike you about India:

the artwork painted across "goods carrier" trucks,

the inner sanctum of Hindu temples permeating incense and chants from the Upanishads,

the love of all things Bollywood in its sheer... Bollywoodness,

the way people are so quick to smile and are open to conversation,

the amazing wreaths, stringed necklaces, and bunches of flowers that are carefully tended to on the side of the road,
 the bright lights and loud celebrations at elaborately decorated weddings, the piercing sounds of traditional music which penetrate into your heartbeat, the food and the spices and all of the amazing ancient sites....

A sign of the times

I think I am keen on embracing the whole of India--but I must first become comfortable within the confines of Mumbai.  It is not the place that pictures and films always show, not the images of what is strewn about National Geographic of holy Ganges water and waves and waves of brightly colored saris.  It is a city.  A loud city.  A city of business and bustle and grime.  A city with beautiful restaurants and amazing openings, art galleries, fashion shows, and cinema.  It is a city where nearly half of its residents live in slums or on the street. 
  
It is, for the moment,  my home.

Graffiti-laced wall outside of Bandra Kurla