Neighbourhood children

Ganesh Chaturthi Celebrations

Preparations for Ganesh Chaturthi- which marks the birth of the Lord Ganesh- begin up to ten days in advance, and sometimes even months in advance. In virtually every neighbourhood, a brightly decorated and painstakingly crafted Ganesh idol is made, to be illuminated and worshipped for all of the ten days leading up to Ganesh Chaturthi.

Grand pandals or stages are set up and filled with fresh flowers and the idols are dressed up in colourful clothes and glittering ornaments. There is keen competition to see which pandal has been most artistically decorated and sometimes there is even a prize for the best dressed idol!

On the day of the Ganesh festival itself, sweets - especially laddoos and sugary modaks, which are a favourite of the God's -- are distributed (and consumed) and Ganesh temples are crowded with devotees who participate in the worship of the deity.

When all the festivities are over, the idols which have been worshipped over the past ten days are taken out in a grand procession. During this procession the much-adored God is hoisted on willing shoulders, or rides in open trucks and carriages.

Accompanied by fireworks displays, beating drums and the sound of thousands of voices singing devotional songs, the idols are ritually immersed in a nearby sea, lake or river. The immersion ceremony, which is known as the 'visarjan', marks the end of the festivities. The people dance with great enthusiasm and singing rents the air, urging the god to return post haste the next year.

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.