salvation star

 

Last night was the second of the new "Salvation Star" LGBT nights that a friend is putting on. I went to support my friends, but also to learn a bit more about this "underground" scene in India. It is against the law to be homosexual and is generally a taboo subject. It was a decent turnout and as my friend said "history in the making".

street shopping

 

In Mumbai you can get any and everything on the street. Here's a lady buying some necklaces or at least looking at some!

sugarcane!

 

These guys had a whole assembly line going, preparing the sugarcane to be juiced. This was the cleaning phase.

auto crash

 

This is probably the worst looking rickshaw crash that I have come upon so far in Mumbai. Amazingly, no one was hurt and everyone crawled out of the top! But then the bystanders just stood looking at it all for a long time. When I left no one had even begun to start moving this out of the middle of the road!

Ganpati: the aftermath

 

Last night and this morning the roads were covered in the colored powder, but after the torrential downpours we've had today its all washed away!

Ganpati: The grand finale

It has already begun. The roads are empty of cars, but full of people pushing their Ganpati carts! The fireworks are being set off all over, the chanting "Ganpati Bappa Moriya" and bells - its the grand finale! Here's a shot of Juhu beach before it even got crowded! (i'm sure i'll have more photos tomorrow if any come out in dark!)

Ganesh decorations

 

This Ganesh was made out of food and was used as a decoration on a table at a building's ganapti festivities.

Ganpati Security

 

This year there has been a new addition all almost all of the Ganpati mandals -- this sign. They always make security a priority at the larger mandals, but it appears that this year they are also requiring that this poster be placed prominently at all public mandals.

elaborate build up

 

This building was built specifically for Ganpati and to be the main entrance to the area's mandal! This community is heavily supported by the Shiv Sena and Congress - so they had tons of money to spend. Here's the line as well leading in -- for once it was very orderly and no link skipping!

Ganpati: SV Road

 

Another one for posterity!

Ganpati: Ambedkar Road

 

It seems that every year this location gets a gold/bronze Ganesh and then makes a dramatic background. I could have put a series of photos for this as the lights change colours ever few seconds and gives it a totally different feel!

Ganpati: Lalbaug

 

 

I finally made it down to Ganesh Gully to see this famed Ganesh mandal. It was really spectacular. I have posted two photos so you can get a sense of how large it was. Also the outside that was built as the entrance to the Ganesh was very nice as well - perhaps I'll put it up tomorrow. I have to say that so far this is my favorite Ganesh this year!

Ganpati: Bandra

 

This is a Ganesh we happened upon while out for our nightly walk. This Ganesha was actually located within an apartment building. It was pretty cool looking, but at some angles kind of scary too!

Ganpati: Khar Pali Road

 

This is the one next to Dominos on Khar Pali Road. Its always a beautiful Ganesha and this year is no different.

Ganpati: Ambedkar Road (1)

 

Today is the start of my series on the Ganpati festival which officially began yesterday. I will put up a different Ganpati each day and hope that at the end you will tell me what your favorite one is! This Ganesh is in the same place as 'my' winner was last year (See Aug 2006 - Mid week winner). Again this one has the life like feet and hands!
Ganpati Bappa Moriya!

Day 7: mount mary fest

 

Tomorrow is the last day of the Mount Mary fest, but I am calling it quits today as my favorite festival has begun - Ganpati!

Here is our parting shot for the Mount Mary Festival.

Day 6: Mount Mary Fest

 

Tattoos on the side of the road -- This is a first for me. I always wondered where people got these little crosses on their hands and now I know! Didn't look too hygenic though so I wouldn't be trying it. The person getting a tattoo in this photo was only a young boy (with his mother's approval). The whole process took less than 10 minutes.

Day 5: Mount Mary fest

 

More of the Mount Mary festival!

Day 4: mount mary fest

 

Mini gods on display and for sale. I am putting this photo for today because as I was driving in the other side of town I saw a couple in a rickshaw looking over several of these things that they probably had just purchased at the Fest!

day 3: Mount Mary Fest

 

A lady selling her wares. This is one instance where the street sellers have a captive audience and probably make decent money from all of the visitors.

day 2: Mount Mary Fest

 

All along the roads leading up to Mount Mary and around the church are stalls such as this selling wax figures and flowers for offerings. The figures can be anything from a car to a new shop to body parts!

Mount Mary Festival!

 

Today was the start of the week long Mount Mary (Bandra) Festival. This festival is to honor the Virgin Mary as well as the 'birthday' of the Mount Mary Church. Today's photo is to 'welcome' you to the festival, which I hope to show you more of as the week progresses.

muscle car

 

an old indian 'muscle' car!

monkey chase

 

I was being pursued by this lady and her monkey today. Of course I had to take out the camera just as I was running into my apartment building and safety. These monkey's scare me to death, even though all they do is dance for money!

banana man

 

This guy was following right behind the cars in traffic today. This is how most of the banana's are here - green. I used to always try to wait for them to become yellow, but then they were no longer any good.