Millions of people in Mumbai live in slums. There are also people who live on the streets; I have no idea of the numbers or percentages of those. What I see and read is that in a slum, most people earn a living, one way or another. And they have some sort of roof […]
Mumbai: history, facts and numbers
Anja in Wonderland Just so that you know:….. Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra. It is an island connected by bridges to the mainland. Originally Mumbai consisted of 7 islands and was first inhabited by Koli fisherfolk. Maharashtra used to be dominantly Hindu and that tendency is politically still strong in the city. Therefor Mumbai’s […]
Holi Festival 2012, part 2
A few days ago I wrote about the number one Hindu Festival of the year: Holi. Yesterday was ‘the’ day. As I mentioned in my first post about Holi, we bought some colors ourselves in a slum near the railway. Just for fun; we gave them away on the day of Holi. Chemical colors, […]
Places of worship in Mumbai
In a previous post I mentioned visiting a church that is known for its unusual wax figurines to burn for sickness and health. And that I bought some myself. Well, here they are, along with some other religious paraphernalia that I bought. The heart is for my mum, who has heart problems, the jaw with […]
Holi Festival 2012
This week it is gonna be the festival of Holi, a religious Hindu festival. Festival of colors, welcoming spring. The idea is that it is one big crazy, happy day where everyone makes fun with everyone. By throwing colored powders onto each other. Or, even better, mixing those powders with water, e.g. in megahuge […]
Crumbling buildings
Since the people in Mumbai vary from extremely poor to extremely rich, the housing situation varies as much. From no home (living on the street) via living in a slum to owning an entire private skyscraper and everything in between. Also there is the heritage of the colonial era when the British ruled, which […]
Earning a living in Mumbai, part 2
Mumbai is bustling with businesses big and small, as I already wrote in part 1 of ‘Earning a living in mumbai”. Here are some other examples: There is an area with gift items, xmas decorations, etc.: I ran into this man with pipe brushes, neatly sorted in size and color they almost looked […]
A variety of animals in a big city
In Mumbai you encounter a lot of everything on the streets; traffic, people, buildings, businesses, dirt and also animals of all sorts and sizes. At the bus stop across the hotel this little goat was nibbling on a leaf: These goats were in front of some shops: This goat was playing with the […]
Mumbai ‘s colorful people
Driving (in a taxi) or walking through the streets of Mumbai I’m about the only Westerner amongst so very many people. What a crowded city Mumbai is! Here are some random pictures of the locals. Ofcourse there are the women with their beautiful, colorful sari’s: Many people do NOT like to be photographed. And […]
Earning a living in Mumbai
The contrasts in Mumbai are huge. There is a number of obscenely wealthy people and there are many, many very poor people. What is clear though, is that everyone is trying to earn a living, one way or another. And believe me, there are many ways. Some very specific and -for us westerners- unusual […]
