Mumbai, India
September, 2008
I’d describe Mumbai as a city that never sleeps. Particularly during festivals like the Ganesh Chaturthi, and Ramadan, there are always things happening at night. In the case of Ganesh Chaturthi you have music and dancing late into the night by Hindus, and for Muslims who are fasting for Ramadan, it’s really at night that their day begins, with noisy and vibrant night markets, and eateries open until the early hours. Both of these religious festivals coincided, so the nights were full of colour and atmosphere.
However, it’s impossible to miss the people lying by roadsides, and asleep on the streets.
Some of these people might be homeless drunkards, but others are families, who are forced to sleep on the street out of poverty. It’s a very common sight, and these pictures aren’t designed to depict Mumbai as a city of beggars. I know it’s a cliche to take pictures of poverty and I’ve had this told to me a number of times, but for those of you who follow my work, you’ll know I photograph anything that’s different to what I’m used to, whether it’s lively Hindu worshippers, or beggars by roadsides.
Some random b&w
Mumbai, India
September 2008
A couple of years ago I made a series of pictures from India shot from the inside of a car – http://tanya-n.com/?p=34. The traffic can be pretty bad and moving around Mumbai can be slow and boring, so I found myself shooting quite a bit in this way once more. Here is a selection of these images from my most recent trip.
People sell all kinds of things on the roads, and some of these are so random and cheap, that it makes me wonder if these vendors are making any money at all!
From combs..
..to glittery ornaments..
..to books (which by the way are just photocopies as I stupidly found out when I bought one!)..
.. to fruit..
.. to flowers
.. to sex
.. to other random things.
Then you have the beggars
and the rain, which just doesn’t want to go away!
Here, families ride on a single motorbike. It’s one thing not wearing a helmet, but having a little girl asleep on the front?!
As you can see, a seemingly boring journey stuck in traffic can actually be quite interesting in Mumbai after all. : )
The same can be said of train journeys.
This is “first class”:
Whereas the second class carriages cost around 10 rupees to travel on, first class is around 100 rupees, which is just over £1 (or $2). Personally I didn’t see much of a difference, apart from the fact this carriage was only for women. It doesn’t look too crowded here, but I was soon a sardine, and taking pictures was impossible. It’s no wonder people end up hanging out of the carriages.
Ironically, the advert on the train above is for life insurance.
“Reserved for handicapped and cancer patients”. Hm.
During rush hour the trains are so packed it’s impossible to breathe. If you think the London Underground is bad, think again! I don’t think I’ll ever complain about the Northern Line again.
The trains seem quite efficient in Mumbai, but I wasn’t impressed by the arrogant lady who challenged someone about having a first class ticket just because she looked “working class”. It really pissed me off. I mean, it’s not as though “first class” is exactly a luxury here. If you saw the state of it you’d probably rather hang out of the carriage than sit on the seats.
Not exactly shooting from the inside.. more like the opposite:
India is so random, I love it.
