People Watching

Chor Bazaar is in a Shia Muslim area of Mumbai.  The people here look and dress very differently from the Muslims in the community where I live.

I've started an online photography course and this week I'm taking shots of people.  I tried to do a bit of surreptitious people watching at the bazaar, though some people don't like having their photos taken.

Chor Bazaar - the Thieves Market

Today a few of the teachers went with one of the school's drivers down to South Mumbai to Chor Bazaar - one of the largest flea markets in India.  Apparently it was originally called Shor Bazaar (which means noisy market), but after an incident with some baggage of Queen Victoria's going missing when she visited Bombay and being found again for sale in Mutton Street, the place got renamed Chor (meaning thief in Hindi-Urdu).

The market is famous for antique and vintage items such as old Bollywood posters, Victorian furniture, parts for cars and so on.

After wandering around for a bit (I bought some cabinet handles, Bobbi-Jo bought a table and an antique phone) we all set off for Leopold's for lunch.  The Leopold Cafe is near the Taj Hotel, scene of the 2008 terrorist attacks.  The restaurant was sprayed with bullets - you can still see the bullet holes in the walls.

One of the Victorian buildings along Colaba Causeway

At the restaurant we all had fried rice, and Bobbi-Jo and Evelyn tried the cakes too.  I didn't feel like eating much today.

Dharavi

On Saturday I went with 4 of my colleagues (Sharon, Evelyn, Jill and Hannah) to Dharavi.  Dubbed the world's largest slum, Dharavi has the highest density of population.  The word slum refers to the fact that the people own their own property and businesses (which they have largely built themselves) but that the land is owned by the government.  Reality Tours, which does the walking tour, is a very sympathetic group and shows the dignity of the people who live there.  They use the money from the tours to run a community centre to educate the young people and to set up sports teams.

You are not allowed to take photos in Dharavi itself - it's not respectful - but we were able to take a couple from the railway bridge on the way into Dharavi from Mahim station.  

The first people to settle in Dharavi were pottery workers from Gujarat.  There is still a large pottery area in the slum.  Later they were joined by leather workers from Tamil Nadu.  Most of the million plus residents of Dharavi are second generation - their parents were the ones who moved there.  Rents here are very cheap, there is water and electricity, and transport is provided by the 2 mail railway lines on either side of the slum.  There is an extremely large recycling industry in the slum, especially in recycled plastic which is made into plastic pellets.

Dharavi is the setting of the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire.  Some of the children who act in the movie are real residents of Dharavi.

Indian People

Rachel took a series of photos on Independence Day of Indian people enjoying themselves and having a good time in the national park.

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park

August 15th is a public holiday in India, it's the day of Indian independence from Great Britain.  A group of us decided we'd spend the day at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park which is located in north Mumbai and is one of the few national parks in the world totally enclosed by a metropolis.  Inside the park there are forests, hills, valleys and lakes and there are caves full of carvings.

The Kanheri Caves area of the park date from the 1st century BC and have been chiseled out of the rock. The caves were used for study and meditation and some are carved with Buddhist sculptures.

Look carefully at the photo below and you will see the road - we hiked up from this road to the caves.  There were over 40 caves.  In the background you will also just see the buildings of the city of Mumbai.

Some of the caves were large and had obviously been used as places of worship.  In one cave there were stone pillars all along it, carved out of the rock.

Turning a building into a school

Back in February when I visited the school this is what it looked like.  Some people thought I was made to move to a school that had not yet even been built, but I was convinced that the leadership team of the school had the right vision - I was onboard.

The photos above shows the first day in my new school.  Floors were still being laid, electric points were being put in, walls and pillars were being painted, furniture was starting to arrive.

The day before the first day of school - it's still a building.  We have got the partitions in place and we have got the displays up, but something is missing:  the students.  That evening, as one of the new teachers, I received this message from our Superintendent:

You will never have another “first day at ASB.” So, please take some time, as tomorrow progresses, to sit back for a few minutes every hour or so to just soak it in, capture the images and the feelings—the voices the faces the situations---and allow yourself to reflect. Many years from now, I want you to took back on tomorrow and remember it as the first day of a phenomenal year. I know I will.

What can I say. Chalk and cheese? Night and day? I am humbled and honoured to be here.

Now everything is in place and the students are here - and here is another message from Craig:

Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity ... to seize everything you ever wanted in one moment ... would you capture it or just let it slip away ...

I captured it!

Parks in South Mumbai

I went into work on Sunday.  It was the day before school opened for new students and I wanted to put up displays in the iCommons areas.  Nancy, another new teacher, was also there in her learning pod and we decided it would be nice to go out afterwards.

We drove down to South Mumbai.  The first park we walked round was the Kamala Nehru park, which is located at the top of Mumbai's Malabar Hill.  It's named after the wife of India's first Prime Minister.  Nancy, Tim and I walked around the park.  It was a nice, open, green space and was surrounded by interesting buildings such as the Ambani building and something on the top of an apartment block that looked like a Greek temple.

We crossed the road and went to the Hanging Gardens, on the other side. These are terraced gardens providing a great view over the Arabian Sea, Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive, which at night is called the Queen's Necklace as the lights resemble a string of pearls.

After this Nancy, Tim and myself went out for a meal at the Salt Water Cafe in Bandra.  It's possible to become a member of this cafe which give you points towards goodies and a 2 for 1 offer on drinks in the early evenings.  We joined.