photos > around bombay
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jj flyover.jpg
Bombay has a lot of "flyovers"-- the word used around here for overpasses. I guess they must relieve traffic problems, but just barely. Its still really really crowded and slow during rush hour on most major roads. Here's an interesting statistic from the book I'm reading currently, Maximum City. Only 32% of Bombay metropolitan area residents live on the island that is referred to as South Bombay. 42% live in the northern suburbs, and 18% live in New Bombay (Navi Mumbai). But 72% of jobs are in South Bombay. Which means that no matter how many flyovers you have, you're not going to alleviate the basic issue of millions of people commuting into and out of one very small area on a daily basis.
This particular flyover is right above Mohammad Ali road, which is the major road close to where I live. Its called the JJ flyover. I took this picture from Mamajee Yousuf's apartment (I live within walking distance of his building).
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kabootar khana.jpg
This is a kabootar khana, meaning pigeon house. Its located very close to the Dadar train station, right in the middle of a very busy traffic circle. I asked a man inside the fencing what the purpose of this place was, and he said nothing, just to feed the pigeons. How odd. Why would anyone encourage pigeons?
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govandi street repairs.jpg
all over bombay, but especially in the suburbs, there are tons of street and sewage repairs to prepare for the upcoming monsoon season.
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house on building.jpg
Why are they building a house on top of this building?!
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kumbharwada
Kumbharwada is an area of Dharavi famous for its pottery.
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towers of silence.jpg
Another view from Peter and Indira's window. I was surprised to see such a large expanse of trees right in the middle of Bombay, in the prime real estate area of Malabar Hill no less. I found out that this is a tract of land that belongs to the Parsi community and houses their Towers of Silence. It is a Zorastrian tradition to expose bodies of the dead to birds of prey and the elements so that the unpure dead bodies don't contaminate the the earth... this area is where those bodies are placed. They are left on the roofs of the towers for long periods of time until they just become bleached bones. The towers of silence are completely off limits to everyone but a particular class of people who are authorize to deal with the bodies.
