His holiness, the Dalai Lama

 
Today Mumbai was graced with the presence of the 14th Dalai Lama. He gave a public speech on the topic of inner peace, focusing quite a bit on the importance of education. It was filled with foreigners, upper class Indians and many Tibetans. Unfortunately it was in the middle of the day and not highly publicized so not as many people were there as I would expect in the birthplace of Buddhism (India, not Mumbai!). (sorry for the graininess, but had to use digital zoom! And thanks to Chris for allowing me use of his camera/photos!) 

St Thomas Cathedral

 
St Thomas Cathedral is located at Horniman Circle area in town. Today was a business holiday so the area was virtually empty which was nice. This whole area is very pleasant to wander as the lanes are all virtually covered with trees 

wedding season!

 
The winter months is the prime time for weddings in Bombay. All along Marine drive you will see temporary structures set up for 500+ guest weddings, as well as these decorated vehicles to transport the bride/groom following the ceremony. 

yummies

 
A local stall that is usually packed with college students grabbing an afternoon snack - guess they don't see the point in opening on Sundays when the students are gone. 

the beauty of bombay

 
The great thing about this city is you can happen upon the unexpected any day! A fellow reader, Lori sent this photo in from Andheri.

(Sorry for the late updates, was out of town with no internet access!) 

time for icees!

 
Its already getting hot again and the icee makers are out and about. Of course they never left the roadsides, because it never really got cold! 

Chakku Walla

 
 
The Chakku (knife) walla rides his bicycle around looking for business. His bike is also his method of sharpening knives. He places the bike on its stand and then peddles to run the sharpener. 

tattoos

 
I often see people here with traditional tattoos on their hands, arms, face, etc. This one is of the "Om" sign (mentioned here previously). But I also see Christians with a cross on their hand and other older people with various "tribal" tattoos. 

RaMa Home

 
Amongst the dust and rebuilding of roads and homes you can often see gems like this tucked away on a hidden lane - The RaMa House. I think I heard before that it belongs to a director or someone famous. Cute little 'bungalow'. 

Bohri women

 
I've been told that women wearing these type of clothes are Bhori (edit: Bohri) muslims, but after fruitless searches online I still know nothing about them! I think they look adorable. I was excited to find this line of them waiting to cross the road in Marine Lines. I ask the viewers to please give me more information on this! 

Mumbai Marathon 2007

Andheri station was packed at 6:45 with mumbai marathon participants, many corporates and individuals. We participated in the Dream Run. A friend rightly called it the "Dream to Run" event. However they snaked the 6km event down and around marine drive there was rarely a moment to run, too crowded, walking only. Which was fine with me, I really had no intentions of running with my slack training.

There were several people dressed in costume, Gandhi running/walking was my fave! Air India employee. And the constant advertisements, but many of them were companies raising funds for local ngos.

Fun event, overall well organized and money raised for good causes.

colours!

 
An old cabinet with years and years of advertisments hidden in the colours. 

newspaper library

 
I think this is a street library with all types of newspapers available for locals to sit and check out. I've seen places like this before, but this one actually was full of newspapers. 

lunch

 
A coke and vegetable a day keeps the doctor away! Isn't that what the doctors say these days :) 

Billboards

All over town you will find these "temporary" advertisements on the side of the road. Advertising is a big business in Mumbai. Billboards are going up all over and these trucks are everywhere that permanent billboards can't go. Here they are resting during the day!

Arabian sunset

 
Sunsetting at Chowpatti Beach through the Indian flag. Chowpatti is a nice beach to relax on - not one for sunbathing, but good to go to for "street" food and to feel the energy of Mumbai. 

Kite festival

 
Yesterday was Makar Sankranti, marking the movement of the sun into the northern hemisphere - a celebration to mark the end of winter (did we have winter already?!) In celebration, people fly kites all over the city. Unfortunately kite flying here is not as big of an event as it still is in the North of India, where they have huge kites, but the skies were still packed with small kites throughout the city. This is at Chowpatti Beach. 

a life of stories

 
This lady frequently comes to the bagel shop to beg, probably because she knows there are lots of foreigners there who will hand over money. I wish I could just sit down with her and have a day long chat. I am sure she has a lifetime of stories to share. 

Happy Birthday Channel V

 
Today there was a "guest only" concert for Channel V's 13th birthday. The best act of the day was this Pakistani band (maybe called Raeth). The show also featured Akon from the US, but for me was not the highlight! 

coffee anyone?

 
The local hangout in my neighborhood is Cafe Coffee Day. Only in the last few years has India really found a place for coffee, but its booming now, especially with the rise of the middle class. This place is packed all hours of the day and night with the young and old. 

bird flu? not here

 
Its funny the things that you never even wonder about in the west - like how does the chicken get to your local grocery store? Here, there isn't much room to wonder about these things, because if you just look around you, you are bound to see every step of the process along the way! 

spice walla

 
Its not too often that I see individuals selling spices on the roadside anymore, so it was a pleasant surprise this morning seeing this man. He was not quite sure why I wanted his photo, so he must not feel that he is slowly being run out by packaged spices in the shops! 

construction time

 
During the dry months the city is filled with construction (roads, homes, and just about anything that could be fixed!)and buildings covered with bamboo scaffolding. It always amazes me how agile these guys are climbing up and down the bamboo. 

Brahmin?

 
I have always been intrigued by little things, such as seeing Indian men with a long peice of hair in the back of their head. And now this young boy. I *think* it means that they are Brahmin (the highest?? caste). Do correct me if I am wrong as I have asked many people and get differing responses each time! Also I have heard that it is more common in the North... is it caste? region? religion? 

india..

 
Nothing really to say about this photo - it just is.. India. 

less work, more play

 
You rarely see people at the park during the middle of the day, especially this one as there is no shade to hide under. But these are street kids who got a little bit of time away from their parents (and/or working)and were having the time of their lives! It was adorable - I'm glad the security guard didn't kick them out!