Bombay!

My last two days in Mumbai (or locally still referred to as Bombay) was a whirlwind tour. On the way to the airport I realised I had been so overwhelmed by the megacity I had barely taken any photos, so many of these are snap shots through a speeding taxi window.

The city of Mumbai is difficult to describe - one of those places that is an assualt on the senses, as intoxicating as only India can be. Majestic cows graze on piles of rubbish, children scream with laughter from the second story of their slum homes packed tightly on a manicly busy streets and Victorian era buildings somehow seem to peacefully watch down over tree lined streets as vendors hussle everything from fresh samoosas to the latest electronics. And everyone is honking, all the time.

Paint a city by numbers....

Number of black taxis: 40,000

Population density: 29,000 people per square kilometre

Average annual income: Rs48,900 (US$1,000 - three times national average)

Number of public toilets for every 1 million people: 17

Number of people passing through Victoria Terminus station daily: 2,5million

Number of people in 1,800 person capacity train at rush hour: 7,000

Proportion of Mumbai built on reclaimed land: 60%

Number of Bollywood movies made since 1931: 68,500

Source: Lonely Planet India, 2009

 

 

Street children drinking water on a hot summer's day.

A grand Bombay hotel across from the Gateway to India monument - still in the early morning though before the usual crowds descended upon the city. The monsoons had arrived and I breathed a sigh of relief with the rest of the country. The puddles soon burned off in the sun everytime that the skies cleared.

Thank you India for being incredible. See you again, soon.

Ghandi's Ashram & Handloom Weaving

 

"I am a poor mendicant. My earthly possessions consist of six spinning wheels, prison dishes, a can of goat's milk, six homespun loincloths and towels, and my reputation which cannot be worth much"

Ghandi in remark to customs official at Marseilles, September 11, 1931. in D.G. Tendulkar, Mahatmar: The life of Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi.

 A visit to one of Ghandi's Ashrams in Svengram was very interesting - still a functioning ashram with many residents busy at work. The simple mud huts, the honest work and the friendly ashramites was incredibly welcoming.

The place where I was staying in town was also home to a weaving company. Ghandi was passionate about the importance of handweaving - both for the importance of honest hand craft for personal development and for the benefit of supplementing family agricultural activity with supplementary income that simultaneously could bring independence to Indian from imported British fabrics (produced from Indian grown cotton). Still very vibrant today, the company makes khadi  from organic cotton, handspun and weaved every step of the way, died with natural dyes and block prints before being sold to mostly local buyers who make use of their tailoring service as well. Need I say more?

 

Visiting Dharamitra

 

I had the pleasure of staying a few days with a good friend, Professor Tarak Kate, who founded Dharamitra - Friends of the Earth - a non profit organisation working with hundreds (and now thousands) of organic farmers across rural central India. Based two hours out of Nagpur, the heats were now the highest yet (hitting around 47 on the day I arrived). Everyone was so incredibly welcoming and the many projects they are involved with very interesting and inspiring. One of Tarak's indigenous cattle above, he is working to reintroduce into the area. Colourfully dressed neighbours (below) to Tarak's farm where they are experimenting with many organic and sustainable agricultural practices.

 

With it being the end of a hot hot summer, few of the farms were in production so many of the farmers were in town working with the various cooperatives they have set up. Here a farmer is processing organic sugar cane to make fresh and delicious juice that is very popular.

The organic farmer's cooperative selling everything from food products to hair shampoos, grains to shirts. Their restuarant out back was selling all organic curries with bread and rice for Rs25, about R4. What  was awesome, not just because I spent a year studying local food economies, is that these organic products were being sold directly by the farmers to the local community.

Sunset in the compound where I was staying. The food in Wardha was the most delicious yet, though I wouldnt have imagined that could of been possible.

An especially auspicious day meant that there were at least five wedding parades in the main road. Nothing quite like an Indian wedding!

We visited the site of a new campus that Dharamitra is starting to build alongside a stunning lake. Beautiful, big water buffalo blocking our way back, taking their time.

Many of the projects were working on rural technology and innovations - above are clay tiles that also keep the buildings much cooler.

A simple and effective water efficient irrigation system using clay pots and plastic pipes.

Double clay pot system with water between that acts as a natural refigeration system - keeping fruit and veg fresh in 45 plus degrees.

Paper making from waste banana leaf by product and waste cotton materials.

Exploring Old Goa

A day with friends Micky and Bernie exploring the crumbling ruins of beautiful Old Goa - the strongly Christian formerly Portuguese town. Despite the sweltering heats, it was wonderful to stroll through the quiet back streets.

 

I have no idea how my feet always managed to get so very dirty!

 

Beach Paradise in Goa

A week in beach paradise in Southern Goa - gorgeous beaches, most delicious food and kayaking with schools of wild dolphins - all a welcome relief from the heat of the Indian summer.

Indian beaches are quite different from those Ive seen before - cattle chilling in the sand and people swimming in full sarees. All a lot of fun!

Predawn Boat Ride on the Ganges

A predawn boat ride along the Ganges -such a beautiful way to experience the full majesty of Varanasi. The bathers worshiping, the children learning to swim, the fishermen untangling their nets and the buff washermen beating the laundry clean. If only the river wasnt a festpool of sewerage and pollution under a haze of burning bodies. But, thats India for you.

The biggest issue is actually the raw sewerage from the city that pours directly into the river. An NGO has been working to clear up the Ganges for many years now, but are continuously coming against the bureaucratic inefficiency of the Indian government..