bombay tourist

So far I have mostly concentrated on work and have held off on doing touristy things in Bombay... I was waiting until Tristan, Mom and Batul got here so we could see things together.  Today we took an interesting trip to Elephanta Island, a little island with a series of caves and colossal ancient Hindu stone carvings and sculptures that are about 2,000 years old.  We took a 45-minute ferry ride to get there.  The ferry departed from the Gateway of India, a really famous piece of Bombay architecture which was built to commemorate King George and Queen Mary's trip to India in 1911.

 

When we got to the island, one of the more amusing things we saw were monkeys.  They were very bold.  A couple of monkeys started coming near us... at first, we thought it was kind of funny that they were so inquisitive, but they kept coming uncomfortably closer.  In the nick of time, Tristan realized what they wanted, shouted, "my banana!" and tossed the banana he was carrying.  A monkey immediately grabbed it, peeled it, and started eating it just like a person would.  Later on, we saw a man trying to feed another bunch of monkeys.  He was trying to open a bag of chips, and it looked like he was going to toss some chips at them.  But one of the bigger ones just sort of jumped up and grabbed the entire bag from him, opened the bag with this hands and started snacking.

 
The main attractions were probably the ancient sculptures and caves, not the monkeys.  Those were pretty interesting too.  The caves were full of ornate pillars and huge carvings of Hindu gods, especially Shiva and Ganesh.  The picture below is of Shiva's "mahanata," which means great dance, and its symbolizes the creation of the universe. 

 

We spent about half a day at the caves and then headed back.  Mom took this shot on the ferry on the ride back to the mainland:

 

In the afternoon, we decided to do some sari shopping- that was really fun too.  Batul and I both found very pretty saris for Asima's wedding.

 

 

tristan update

Tristan has been in Bombay with me for almost three days now.  He is doing great, and we're both having a lovely time.  

Its fun for me to see his reactions to aspects of Bombay that I have become accustomed to by now.  And actually, since I was familiar with Karachi before I got here, many things about Bombay didn't seem that new to me at all-- I expected them.  Like how persistently people try and get you to buy their stuff; the traffic patterns, and the fact that you have to be quite assertive to cross a street; or just the much larger quantities of trash and varieties of animals on the streets.

So walking around with Tristan these past couple of days, I have sometimes felt like I'm seeing things with new eyes.  Yesterday, he stopped for about 5 minutes to watch a couple of cows munch on banana peels in the middle of a busy market.  And now I  find myself over-paying for services like cab rides because Tristan always feels like giving people more money than they ask for :)

 

Today, among other things, we spent a chunk of the day at Peter and Indira's apartment, ate yummy food, visited a Jain temple, and walked around a place called the hanging gardens.  All of these things are located in a really pretty area of the city called Malabar Hill, and we had a nice time strolling around the streets.  One of the things we saw was a tall building-- about 15 stories-- outfitted with very dangerous looking scaffolding.  The security guard below the building told us that the workers climb up on it to do all their work.  We asked if people got injured much, and he replied, "if someone is fated to get hurt, it will happen anyway."  People generally talk about fate a lot.

 

 


Despite this activity, we have also spent plenty of time relaxing at home.  And Tristan gets extra time to rest when I go off for fieldwork related things.  We both think we're going to have a good three weeks together here... the pattern of life is working out so far.

the meaning of carrying a purse

Fatema came to class today with a few things in her hands-- wallet, phone, a couple of odds and ends.  I always walk around with a shoulder bag, and a couple of weeks ago, she had asked me whether it was uncomfortable to carry it around all the time.  Today, I remembered that conversation and commented to her, 'you don't like carrying a purse, do you?'  

Her answer surprised me.  She said she has never carried a purse before because she is afraid of what people-- her in-laws, as well as the people in her neighborhood-- will think of her.  If she carries a purse around, they'll say she's acting like a "madam," meaning that she's acting above her station.  I asked her why that was so, and at first she just said, we don't really carry purses.  Then she thought about it a bit more, and she said maybe its because if you carry a purse, it means that you stay out of the house a lot.  It means you have a reason to need personal items when you're not at home.  So people can assume other things about such a woman... maybe that's why they make comments about it. 

In Fatema's community and social circles, women tend to stay home unless there is a reason to go out.  Or, in many cases, their in-laws pressure them to stay home as much as possible.  She is Muslim, but this aspect of her life isn't really a consequence of her religion.  Hindu and Christian women here have similar restrictions from their families.  For example, one of the women I teach, Julie, doesn't tell her in-laws she's taking English classes.  Her husband encourages her to attend, but she says it would look bad if the rest of the family knew.  It would be another instance of acting above her station.  

Bano Apa also joined in the purse conversation, and said that she is the only woman in her area who carries a purse.   In addition to her purse, she also wears lipstick and sunglasses, and is unique in her neighborhood for doing these things.  She said, when people see me in goggles (they call sunglasses goggles here), they say "There goes Bano Madam."  Bano Apa is definitely something of a matriarchal figure and she seems to have a strong standing in her community, so all this is just amusing for her.  She doesn't care if people gossip about her a bit. But Fatema, who is 26, shyer and less self-confident, cares very much.

a half-day at a ration card office

Muna Apa (the Apnalaya social worker I'm shadowing) took me to visit a ration card office.  She goes there once a week and represents people who need a ration card- related service but are not getting an adequate response from the officials there.  Often, if you're uneducated and poor (i.e- can't pay a bribe), the officers just tell you to get lost, or indefinitely delay your application.  So Muna Apa, armed with the knowledge of exactly what is legal and what is not, and also with the clout of the Apnalaya organization behind her, helps people who face this situation.  

I really got to have a good look a how the application process works.  The ration card building itself was a long, one-story structure with a large dirt lot in front of it.  She took me into the office where the clerks sat, and told me their functions.  (You go to this window to add your name to a ration card.  This one is for new applications...).

When we left the office, Muna Apa asked if I had noticed the men crowding around the various desks.  She explained that they were "brokers" meaning they accepted money from people who had the means to bribe to get their ration card business done.  The brokers facilitate the bribe between the ration card officer and the applicant.  That way, the applicant never has to pay a ration card officer directly, and officers can easily deny the charge that they accept bribes.  There were probably about 10 or 12 brokers there today.  Apnalaya often complains and has them removed from the office, and they stay away for a week or two, but often drift back.  During that week, they just conduct their business right next to hte building, technically off the premises.  The brokers take a cut of the bribe, the ration card clerks get some, the ration officer (head of the office) gets some, as do people in higher levels of government... the money follows the chain of command pretty far, according to Muna Apa and also according to others I have spoken to.

After I met the ration officer, Muna Apa told me that he had been suspended a little while ago for bribery related reasons, but now he's back.  The rest of the time we were there (about an hour or so), Munna Apa was in and out of his office, bringing him the documents or stories of various people that she is representing.

One of the people she was helping today was named Amina, a woman in her late 30's or early 40's who wants to add her name to her uncle's ration card.  She put in the application 15 days ago but hasn't heard any response.  The official who is in charge of her application seems to be on vacation.  She is told to check back on Thursday, when he is expected to return, but Munaapa says it is their classic way of operation, to keep telling people to come back the next day, tire them out, but not give them what they need.  An additional reason Amina has a hard time dealing the office is that she doesn't speak Marathi, and all of their forms are only printed in Marathi. 

Amina is from UP and has been in Mumbai about 12 or 13 years, ever since she got married.  She needs to be added to a ration card before she can take her 12 year old son to the hospital for an operation he needs.  Munapapa checks over her paperwork and finds it in order.  She goes to the ration card official in the large office, explains Amina's problem.  She's sent to the ration officer's office.  He tells her to go back to the other office.  She goes back and forth twice, and then someone tells her to wait until the guy who is in charge of Amina's file comes back from vacation.  So Munaapa feels there is nothing else she can do at the moment, she'll take up Amina's case again in a couple of days.

 

For more on what I've learned about ration cards, see here and here. 

mom and batul

Mom and Batul arrived in Bombay yesterday from Karachi.  They're doing well; just tired because their last few days have been quite hectic.  They plan to be in India for 10 days, and then they'll take Dadi back to Karachi with them.  Dadi and I were very happy to see them; it alleviated some of our homesickness.  Dadi especially misses home now... she is anxious to get back.  She's also excited about being in Karachi for a few days.  (And health-wise, she's doing great).  

Today, Mom had a marathon day of visiting family/ family friends in Bombay.  And much of the time that we weren't visiting people, she was on the phone, making arrangements to visit people :)

 
Tomorrow night, Mom and Batul are going to Shahada (about an 8 hour road trip from Bombay).  They'll be there for a week.  Many of Mom's cousins live around there, and she hasn't seen most of them for a couple of decades or more.  She was really close to them while growing up, so she's very excited to meet everyone.  I'm hoping that Tristan and I will be able to join them in Shahada for a day or two... but our plans are not yet settled.

During the day tomorrow, Batul and I are going to do some sightseeing (a Jain temple, perhaps, or the hanging gardens).  And in the afternoon, I'll take her to the Dharavi slums with me.

Here's Batul at Masi Khata's window...

 

... and one of the people we saw on the street below the window.  He is using a pedal-powered knife sharpener.