The streets of Bombay

I spent day three working on my paper....but on day four, still with no sleep, I ventured out with a new valet, Raju, to see the real Bombay. 

See for yourself.

For Hi-Speed users a high(er)-res version:  Postcard from Bombay, 30fps, 20mb

For dial-up users a SUPER low-res version, 10fps, 1.6mb:  Postcard from Bombay, 10fps, 1.6mb

Or check out the new stills.  Imagine what it's like to walk through these areas at night.

Highlights today were the Koli fisherman port, a wild & dangerous shanty town of dories and pirate ships that form a makeshift village for these early inhabitants of the area, and the Chor Bazaar, or thieves' market, where you could find almost everything (but had to watch your back).

As you can see from the photos....the real Bombay has acres of abject poverty.  Raju was wise to the different degrees of security he could provide from neighbourhood to neighborhood and he took me only to places where we'd remain relatively safe.  He says the mafia controls half of Bombay.

By now you can see what a city of contradictions Bombay truly is.  Beautiful architecture. Wonderful welcoming people.   Plenty of Western investment and Western influence.  But the real Bombay...the one that most people here know....is incredibly harsh.

Comments

[Court]

Wow, I bet you appreciate living in North America,in Canada, in PEI and on Greenfield Ave much more than you ever did.

[Jeff]

Excellent 'Postcard fom Bombay'. Perfect music.
Fer gawd sake, be careful.
Send more video.

[Dave MacPhee]

Mark, I'm really enjoying your write-ups on India. Sounds like you are having a pretty eye opening experience. I mentioned on the UPEI blog that the Postcard From Bombay brought back alot of great memories of my time there almost exaclty a year ago. I visited Mumbai for about a week at the end of a 6 month jaunt through the country. You are more than welcome to check out my pics from India if you are interested in another Islander's perspective on the country. My site is http://degolasse.myphotoalbum.com . It's definitly an interesting country (in good and bad ways) so I'm glad you are enjoying it so far. I'll be checking out your site for some updates. Sorry I didn't come across your site earlier, I notice you were looking for some advice on travelling there. I definelty could have helped you out.
Enjoy the rest of your trip, Dave (UPEI Student)

[Patrick Ledwell]

A real window into India, Mark.

I keep come across people and pundits quoting the phrase from Thomas Friedman's new book, "The World is Flat." Meaning what? I suppose that access to international trade and just-in-time supply chains have withered our exculsive hold on the goodies of civilization. People are sitting in the suburban mansions, starting to worry about India.

From the looks of things, we should worry about India, and not because they stand to take our jobs processing credit cards and warranties. What freak accident of history means that these millions get to live in crates covered with the trade they sell?

It looks less like the world is flat, and more like it's high and deep, a core sample where millions live in a social and chronological age that is hundreds of years away from what others experience as 'India' in the present.

If a flatter world alleviates even some of this abjectness, flatten away.

[Mark]

Thanks Dave, I'm here for a little while yet....more advice would be great!

Patrick, this is just it. This place is full of contradictions. "Globalization" is super-imposing a first world system over third-world conditions. It's altogther strange.

music was annoying to say the least