Bombay: Maximum City with Extreme Contrasts

Today is my last day in Bombay (aka Mumbai) and after 4 1/2 days here, my first visit, I can safely say that this mega city of 14 million or so, by the ocean, is an assault on your senses - the masses of humanity, the heat and humidity, the excesses of wealth and poverty, the high class socialites and straggling street vendors, the cricket obsessed fans and the wheelers & dealers of business world, world class hospitals and an utter lack of medical care for the huge number of slum dwellers... it is an unending roller coaster of an experience.

After my visit here it seems like I grew up in a very different India - out in the boonies! The Bombay world seemed alien and not so alien at the same time to me. I thought I had seen high density population in Delhi or New York, but here it goes to an all together new level. And surprisingly, by Indian standards at least, these concentrated masses have developed a system of movement that seems to work pretty efficiently, especially the public transport in metro trains and local buses.

The Metro train travel in Bombay is a unique experience in itself and the least of it is the incredible overcrowding. I cruised a couple of trips on these trains and here are some thoughts on the whole adventure.

On the streets on Bombay the urban life manifests itself in varied ways. One day I walked through the neighborhood of Mahim and came across an array of characters and events unfold in a span of 40 minutes or so on the sidewalk - from roadside barbers, flower sellers, to vegetable vendors, locksmiths, lottery ticket sellers... I think this was a neighborhood for lower middle class. Here is a collection of some of these encounters.

Bye for now, kali.