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Published: October 21st 2007
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Mumbai Auto Rickshaw
Sharing the same colors as regular taxis, these three-wheelers are omnipresent in Mumbai and offer an inexpensive way to get around Aside from the traffic, Mumbai can be intimidating when as a tourist you try to find its many points of interest. The reason is its building density. You may be next door to what you are looking for and completely miss it because other buildings obscure the view of even the largest of monuments or buildings. If it was not for Vinod today, who dutifully pointed and explained how to go about accessing the places that I wanted to see, I wouldn’t have been too efficient with my limited free time here. I was also amazed by his creativity in finding parking locations even by the side of raised roads so that I could have the best vantage point for my travel images.
The only problem experienced today, was Mumbai police’s distrust of photographic cameras. Yesterday, I experienced some of this when I asked permission to take pictures of a great-looking public building to a group of police officers that were near the spot with the best angle from the sidewalk. Today, the officers on guard in the neighborhood of one of the most famous temples in Mumbai did not even wait for me to ask. As soon as one
Dhobi Ghats
Most of Mumbai's dirty laundry comes to this place... of them noticed that I was walking on a public park next to the particular temple, approaching a tree clearing with a great view of my intended photographic subject, he approached me. I understood that he wanted to know what I was doing there and even before I finished uttering the “Would it be OK if I take a picture of that beautiful temple over there?” He responded a long sentence in what I believe was Marathi (the language of the Maharashtra State where Mumbai is located). I didn’t need any knowledge of the local language to understand what he was telling me. An onlooker corroborated to me in English that “No photography is allowed here”.
Though I was disappointed by the incident, I can hardly blame them for their nervousness. As everyone knows, there are people in this World who have been conditioned to believe that God would reward them if they were to destroy innocent people and what they hold sacred. This amazing-looking temple would only be attractive as a target to them.
Vinod promptly took me to the next site. This particular one was one that I had read a lot about: Dhobi Ghats, or
the place where most of the dirty laundry in Mumbai comes to be washed…. the very old fashioned way: applying lots of muscle power, water and soap. There was even a high vantage point so that the scene below could be recorded properly. Vinod told me that in all neighborhoods of Mumbai, there are establishments (a whole network of them) that receive the dirty clothes from customers and they are the ones who deliver them to Dhobi Ghats. They are also the ones who collect the clean laundry and bring them to their locations where the end-customers pick them up.
For the next site, Vinod managed to get me to a high vantage point where I was able to capture the Jama Majid Mosque. This very ornate building can be better appreciated from a bird’s view, without the obstruction of several signs that you would see if you are at the same level with the mosque. According to Vinod, the surrounding neighborhoods are home to a large population of Muslims.
Per my hotel’s concierge recommendation, I also visited the Afghan Church, a well-preserved Anglican church with a very large stained glass window. The caretaker of the building saw
me outside taking pictures and invited me to go inside to appreciate it better. He also asked me to sign the church’s guess book.
Malabar Hills on the South of Mumbai, were my next destination. In here, after removing my shoes at the entrance, I was able to go inside the Adishwar Jain Temple and observed the various rituals. Faithful of all ages and genders were going through the temple in no apparent set flow, so when a woman saw me standing by a column, not wanting to be obtrusive, she gave me some very precise instructions about what I needed to do. I thanked her and followed her advice, gaining access to see some of the rituals taking place in other areas of the temple. Though the faithful kept ringing large bells hanging from the ceiling at various locations within the temple, the entire experience was very peaceful.
We then went to the very top of the hill, where the road intersects two areas with gardens where the locals come to have picnics or otherwise enjoy the natural surroundings. The Hanging Gardens (as they are called) helped me maintain the peaceful mood gained during my visit to
the Jain temple. That is, until the heat from the Sun at the hottest part of the day became uncomfortable to just walk around. I was sitting at one of the benches in the lower part of the gardens when two guys sat on my bench at both sides of me. Having lived in dangerous places before, this incident almost sprang my defensive reflexes, feeling like I was about to be robbed. I am so glad I did not, because just then a third guy snapped a couple of pictures of the three of us. They all thanked me and continued on their way. A few seconds later, a family passed by and repeated the whole process. I had become a tourist attraction on my own right!
Thinking about my options of either posting a sign with something like “Take a photo with the foreigner! Just 20 Rupees”, or just leaving the area fast, I opted for the latter one and just in the nick of time: another group of people was already approaching, cameras on hand!
I returned to where Vinod was waiting for me, and from there, he took me to Mani Bhavan; a museum dedicated
to Mahatma Gandhi. This was actually the house of a friend of his but Gandhi actually lived there whenever he was in Mumbai between 1917 and 1934 - Many of the actions against the British occupation of India were actually initiated from this house. There is an impressive collection of photographs, documents and even furniture that was in the house when Gandhi was there.
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Joaquin
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Tourist Attraction
Oh gee, I can only imagine how touched you were to find that YOU were the tourist attraction... (talk about being objectified) :-P