Scenes from Bombay 2011
Scene 1 Through the thick grey layers of the monsoon clouds the city below appeared. From my window seat the first things I saw were the numerous high-rises dotting the cityscape. The aircraft dipped lower and I could see patches of cobalt blue all over...but I couldn't figure out what they were. Lower still and I could make out the buildings properly and then with a jolt I realised that the cobalt blue was that of tarpaulin. Tarpaulin that made up the walls or roof or both of innumerbale shacks and shanties that dotted the ground. There were so many that there was no land left visible....just a sea of cobalt blue shanties....'welcome to Mumbai' said the air-hostess! Scene 2 Seated in the yellow-black fiat taxicab I was already starting to perspire. The humidity was like a hot wet blanket that zapped me of my energy and left me a tad listless. Looking out at the roads I saw squalour. Drizzly rain and a thick overhang of grey clouds served only to enhance the gloomy decre...