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.