Saturday, 17 November 2012

Faces of Bombay


Walking life's crooked path
If ever it is possible, I will lend a helping hand to those less fortunate than I. 
Whether great or small, their burden is mine, my roof is theirs

I captured this picture 
with my cell phone while returning home from a taxing day and hectic college schedule. The plight of the old hunchbacked lady was extremely striking as she hobbled along amidst bicyclists and pedestrians.


So few of us realize that we are luckier than what we make ourselves out to be. Rather than bemoaning our misfortune, perhaps we should better the world by lending a helping hand forwards.

However, I would like to end the post on a hopeful note, and focus on her unflinching strength to walk the long roads for her families daily needs. A human being is never helpless until hope fades away, and despite her apparent helplessness, this woman moves ahead on sheer force of will and love. 
She is one of many in this city of Bombay, land of a thousand different sights and vistas. Home to the rich and abode of those in poverty, yet smiling with an unknown inner strength.

That broken, yet ever hopeful and smiling face you see on the roads is the true face of this glorious city. The land of broken dreams as well as the land of fulfilled destinies.
It is a hard face, one which has to be seen and embraced with strength of will, smartness and love in equal amounts to survive and succeed.

In the city of Bombay, love and misery come hand in hand. Fate and destiny cavort and dance together on the silent rooftops at night as the multitude masses sleep, resting in their peaceful slumber, dreaming of grandeour, while the fates frolic and revel in their own dance of the slowly unravelling future. In the city of Bombay, Shattered Dreams and Burning Hope dance hand in hand, while the city rumbles and shows its true visage to its denizens. The thousand faces of one small city by the shore in this grand universe; where love, hope and death run around, hand in hand.

Peace. 

Weekly Photocaption - 2

Mumbai Bombay suburban western lines train andheri station

Mind the gap: The space between tracks on the suburban Western Railways on a day when trains were unusually empty. Each 12 coach train can seat 1,168 and accommodate 2,336 standees, a total of 3,504 passengers. However, commuters often tend to push the limit by squeezing in a few thousand more people. By the way, if you're wondering which train won the race, mine did. :)

Monday, 5 November 2012

4 rupee therapy

It's easy to lose time within yourself when you're always on the move in a city like Bombay. The city of dreams is also the city that stops for no one. In it’s rich and troubled history, Bombay has seen its share of riots, communal violence, protests, public transport strikes and even terrorism. However, the city and its people have always managed to get back up and pull through in times of adversity.

Therapeutic.
For most of the city, a commute in the suburban local trains can be a harrowing experience, and a matter of life and death for first-timers. Crowds at morning and evening rush hours can run up to several hundred people occupying a compartment intended for 150. However, in the odd event that the city decides to take a break (or on a Sunday), a ride on the Western Railways can offer a perfect opportunity for soul-searching and introspection. If one has the good fortune of getting on a train at either end of the route, one may even have the privilege of being seated, a coveted luxury in the Bombay local trains.*

(*Protip: A good way to know if a train is crowded is if you can't tell what colour the floor is)