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Published: March 13th 2008
Slums
Slums right beside a highrise buidling.I've come to the conclusion that travelling in the south of India is so much easier than the north. I easily hopped onto the train from Goa to Bombay in an air conditioned 3AC carriage. Sleeper class I find is OK during the day, however for overnight trips the security is much better on 3AC. I made the right choice as I heard a bunch of Indian people had their bags stolen over night in the lower class compartments.
I arrived in Mumbai, formally known as and still commonly referred to as Bombay at 5am. I got off at Victoria Terminus Station, which is the biggest train station in Asia. Everyday an awe inspiring 2.5 million people pass through here. I was greeted by a man about 2 feet tall. Literally a human pretzel. He was actually much taller is her were able to stand. He was severely deformed. He was laying with his stomach to the ground. His head held high. And his right leg came over his shoulder from behind. His knee was on the ground and his foot permanently raised above his head. His knee, being used to stand on, looked somewhat like an elephant's foot. It
Chowpatty Beach
Not all of Bombay is slums of course. It's also the richest city in all of India with beautiful buildings, modern nightlife and even a beach! was naturally padded with muscle or fat, from his weight being pushed down on it all his life. The texture, I would describe would like the bottom of a dogs paw. His other leg was folded in front of his chest. It was such an unnatural position. He managed to walk with one hand and one knee. I gave him my spare rupees. There's no government help for cases like this, and there are so many of them. The people are simply forced to beg.
The streets were still dark, and besides the odd car honking, the streets were eerily quiet. I've been to this great city before. I loved it! I had my big heavy backpack on but it didn't matter, I wanted to walk to where I was going. It's only 2km I thought.
During the long dark walk, I passed by literally hundreds of people, mothers and children, & entire families sleeping on the streets. It's heartbreaking as you see a Mother, lovingly hold her babies in her arms, protecting them for the night from the harsh realities of the streets. We have homeless people in Vancouver also, it's a huge problem, they're everywhere. But
Slums
I was asked not to take pictures so I took some from the internet there's no children on the street, and the people do have places to go for help when they need it. It's heartbreaking to see
I was lucky that the Seashore Hotel, the same place I stayed in last year, had a room available for me. It's tough to find anything available in this city without reservations. Especially budget places. I went back to sleep, and rested until the days heat made it unbearable to stay indoors.
The first thing I did is go for a walk down Colaba causeway. New York may have coined the term "Melting Pot", but they say Bombay perfected it. With over 200 languages spoken, it's a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds all living together as one. On my walk down the street I see Afghan traders, Saudi Arabians, Yemeni street vendors, Pakistanis, Tall skinny Somali's and a fair amount of Nigerians. Pakistanis, Omanis, Tibetan refugees, Nepalese. About 3 million immigrants or so. Hindu's Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Jains and even 200 Jews who fled persecution from places such as Iraq and Iran. And of course Indians....18 million Indians coming from ever state in India to seek out the big city life with big
slums
Image borrowed from the internet since I didn't have my camera hopes and dreams. The average daily income here in Bombay is triple the national average standing at about 150 rupees (about $3.60) per day.
"My friend!" someone with a huge smile called from the distance.
"Are you needing a very nice room? I am having a very nice room for you and because you are my friend, I have such a very nice price to offer."
I cut him off and kept walking letting him know "I already have a room".
"You are most very welcoming to Mumbai, and I am hoping that you are also feeling most very welcoming to Mumbai also. I have some wonderful smoking for you, my friend. The best Kashmiri Hashish in all of India. And because you are my friend, I have a very, very nice price for offering."
"I don't smoke....sorry" I cut him off once again, and kept walking.
"OK up to you my friend because I am also having a taxi, and giving the best tours in all of Bombay. Please taking is my card, my name is Ramu"
I stopped and read his card, cutting off I told him that I've been to Bombay before and have seen
Victoria Terminus
Asia's busiest Train Station. 2.5 million+ people passing through per day all the sites. As he named them I said I've been there. "I said the only place I haven't been is the slums of Bombay"....I laughed....."but tourists don't go there".
He jumped for joy, so much that by this time it put a smile on my face. His big white smile, stood out because of his dark skin. It's very infectious, and soon I wasn't so apprehensive. "I am also being very pleased to let you know that I am wonderful tour guide for Bombay slums. In fact I am the number one tour guide for Bombay slums in all of Bombay. Not just any slums, 1 million people slums, the biggest of all of Bombay, the biggest in all of India, and even Asia, my friend. If I am asking you where you sleeping and I will picking you up tomorrow morning in my taxi. I agreed, how could I not! It's something different and I'm sure I can learn a lot about life in general. And besides this guy is such a happy guy he deserves my business.
That day I just walked around enjoying the hectic city life. I'm staying in a beautiful English colonial
upper class neighborhood. Giant trees line the streets of the harbour providing just the right amount of shade. I walked 3km each way down the shore to Chowpatty Beach and enjoyed the festive scene there. Here is what we call a real Indian beach, everyone is fully clothed, sitting together having picnics with their families.
I sat to dinner and soon I was joined by Darren. An Australian tourist who has been to India 6 times. We chatted for a while before heading to Leopolds for a few beer. This place is a famed tourist haunt since 1871. It's got a lot of history to it. We watched as dozens of Nigerians danced to the latest hip hop tracks and then young Indian men took their turn to sing loud when songs from Nirvana, Green Day or Evanescence would come on.
Upon leaving we walked by a Paan Walla. Paan aka Betel Nut is a white paste, with nutmeg, saffron and all kinds of sweeteners, all decoratively stuffed inside a leaf. People all over Asia are extremely addicted to this stuff. It's said to give a high similar to 6 espresso shots. You can see evidence of this
Leopold Bar
A classic place to have a drink for the traveller addiction from the huge gobs of bright red spit staining all the walls, sidewalks and roads of the city. I decided to give it a try. It tasted very sweet. Soon I started to really salivate, to the point that my mouth filled with red spit staining my teeth bright red. I spit it out in a splattering mess. Here it's perfectly acceptable to spit on whatever white is showing on a wall, this was fun! I felt a slight buzz of energy from it, maybe like a Red Bull Energy drink. It didn't keep me awake at night though.
Before bed, I walked home slow. I met so many locals all with problems of their own. One man imp articular had no legs and was in a wind up bicycle looking wheelchair. He shook my hand with a loose grip. In Indian and middle eastern culture you don't let go until the conversation is over. It really gives you a sense of compassion as you're holding hands, looking into his eyes and learning about his wife and son. He cleans sewers for a living, the only job someone like him can get. He sleeps right where I'm standing.
Colaba
Fairly westernized and upscale area of Mumbai I was staying in He didn't ask for anything, but I could tell he was hoping. I gave him some rupees, which of course I was spotted by other families who all wanted to share their stories. They were all really nice but I have no money left. It's my last day in India tomorrow and I budgeted just enough for one more day. I had to finally retreat to the safety of my hotel....depressed and saddened that I couldn't do more.
"David.....Come!" I heard as I stepped out of my hotel early morning to try to find breakfast before the tour. I find that in India everything is super late, except someone that you agree to meet such as a taxi, then they'll be 30 minutes early. "The city is very traffic, so 1 hour we are driving" Ramu told me as he sped through the extreme madness of the overpopulated streets and highways.
1 million people live within a tiny 1.75 sq km area of these slums. The buildings pathetically made with scraps of aluminum siding, reed mat and whatever else they find, are lined with open sewers that sometimes overspill into the walking path. I should've wore shoes. It's not the human sewage that I was stepping in that I was afraid of but rather the sharp scraps of metal that could cut my feet.
People curiously looked at me, I gave them a reassuring head wobble and said namaste' and they all of a sudden feel comforted and are welcoming. I was surprised to see that within the slums there is a fair amount of industry. Recycling aluminum cans and plastics, pottery, food, bakeries, corner stores and chai shops. Life in the slums is in a strange way almost normal. They're extremely poor, but seem like a proud people. More people are well dressed, instead of the rags I expect them to be in. Many have cell phones that are nicer than mine and have TV's in their spotless tiny homes.
"Please not taking pictures, my friend" Ramu said. "People are very busy and not wanting to feel like they're in the zoo" I totally understand what he meant, and of course the no picture policy was followed. I took some pics from the Internet to post on this site as an example. Not sure if these are the slums I was in or 1 of the 2000 other slums in Bombay. 55% of Bombay's population, or just over 9 million live in slums. The overall smell of the area is overwhelming. Sometimes it's of nauseous chemicals being burned within the industries but for the most part it's the open sewers. At times I felt as if I was going to throw up. I was to find out that there is 1 toilet for every 1500 people. As I walked through the 2 foot wide maze of alleyways I was overwhelmed on how friendly everyone was. This is a miserable place to live in, some of the worst humanity is faced with. Yet they all maintain sad smiles, and are pleased to meet me briefly as they continue their daily work. Electricity runs, for the most part 245 hours a day. Water is available 3 hours a day, after that it is rationed and each home gets a small amount of likely dirty water for washing and drinking.
I stumbled upon a school and wow. I think I started a riot! 100's of kids all ran toward me, cheering and greeting me. I had to shake all their hands one by one as they lined up with excitement as if they were seeing Santa Clause. I've never seen so many happy beautiful children before. It seemed so normal. Like any other school I've been to in Asia. Beside them was a a mountain if trash, with several goats on top. It's almost as if the children have no idea of the conditions they're forced to live in. I had no idea there was education and school within the slums. Ramu says that 60% of the school children are literate here which is higher than India's national average.
Walking through here was extremely overwhelming with ups and downs. The amount of garbage and sewage these people live in is appalling. There's absolutely no government assistance for them. Yet they still manage to live normal lives. Nobody seems to be starving, there are no beggars. It really shows how strong the human spirit actually is. I remember at home complaining about when the Internet went down or a hair in my food. It all seems so trivial now. Most of us don't realize how extremely rich we really are and take so much for granted. These people have nothing but there's an overall sense of joy throughout the slum. We could really learn something from them.
When I got back to the pleasant area of Colaba, I had no hotel and being my last day I had no money and didn't want to use the ATM and pay a $5.00 service fee. So I had 6 hours to wait. I met a lot of locals, who saw me walking around aimlessly. People bought me chai tea and made conversation. The guy with no legs gave me a ride on his hand cranked wheel chair. All of them so poor and homeless, yet nobody asked for money, in fact they were feeding me. I really can't wait to get out of India, it's an intense place but I'm going to really miss it.
Tonight I'm off to the airport and then to Thailand where I'm skipping Bangkok and heading to a tropical island called Koh Samet to get away from the madness. I can't wait! The ride to the airport was once again nothing short of awe inspiring. As my suicidal maniac driver swerved through the extreme madness they call traffic I saw, people EVERYWHERE......millions and millions of people flooding everywhere you look. Such an amazing city....I love it!
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Shay
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wowzers
How incredibly awesome this all sounds..... I can always picture what you're writing.... ttyl... travel safe