specialfx

Another unsolicited installment in the “don’t-forget-about-me-entirely” email series: Mumbai, India, 1 June 2001 We landed in Mumbai (aka Bombay) 3 days ago. Mumbai is the new, non-colonial name for Bombay, quite possibly the wildest, most intense city on Earth. Extreme. Relentless. Just the taxi ride from the airport was an experience. I’d thought the mini-van drivers in Bali were wild, aggressive drivers – and they are, aggressively passing in the face of on-coming traffic, honking, cutting off motorscooters, etc. But they’re like little old ladies compared to Bombay cabbies. These guys have only the most general concept of a “lane,” and it’s considered standard to have 3 or 4 cabs flying along in a 2-lane road. In the states, I’ve often told horrifying tales that some car “just missed me by inches.” Here, a couple inches ... read more

Domkhedi, India, June 2001 (I think) As the song goes, what a long strange trip it’s been. I’m in Domkhedi, I’m groggy from another night sleeping (if you can call it that) on the rocky ground. Domkhedi is a tiny little village a very remote area of Gujarat in the Narmada River Valley. This is one of more than 100 villages that will be destroyed if the government of India goes ahead with building a series of big dams along the Narmada River, and it has become the local headquarters of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (movement to save the Narmada). The NBA has been waging a 15 year struggle to stop the dams and to promote an alternative model of development that uses more appropriate technology and allows people of the valley to retain their ... read more

16 May, 2001 – Bankok, Thailand So, We're in Bankok. Since we were not able to find local activist/organizers to link up with for volunteer work, we're only staying a short time and so have been in the heart of the city downtown. Bankok is fascinating, fabulous and fierce. It's spiritually enlightened and humbly devout. It's also horribly unjust and economically exploitative. Nearly everywhere you look is an exquisite temple, filled with people from may walks of life (so it seems) making devotions and meditating. so much so that when we'd ride past some awesome-looking edifice and ask the "tuk-tuk" driver what it is, the response was often (essentially) "oh, just another temple". There are more than 400 in the city. Truly astounding. Then, a few blocks away, many people are living under bridges. The tuk-tuk ... read more