Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Pics from the Rick
Last night was our last trip in a Mumbai rickshaw for some time... we had to take some self pics from the back just one last time...
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Quote...
"To accomplish great things, we must,
not only act, but also dream;
not only plan, but also believe."
- Anatole France
Monday, March 31, 2008
So long Shantaram
Mumbai's favourite reformed Australian convict, Gregory David Roberts, is setting sail for Europe for a spell whilst the film of his book, starring Johnny Depp is under production. He will be returning in November for Diwali for his wedding to fiancee Princess Francoise Sturdza of Switzerland. So if you'd like your book signed, head to Leopolds later in the year...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Around Juhu...
On a wander around Juhu you'll find quite a few regulars to greet on the street.
This family live on the pavement behind a bus stop on the banks of the dirty drain pictured below. Now these kids don't attend school which is a shame and most of the time we see them at the lights holding out their little hands. Oblivious to anyone walking by this morning the children were absorbed in their colouring books, which was fantastic to see! Rarely do we see the poorer children sharing in the experiences of the well to do.. Unfortunately once I was seen their concentration jumped from colouring books to of course rupee and wanting to see themselves on camera.
The young fella was especially proud of his drawing...
Should you ever be on Juhu beach and feeling a wee bit parched you may like to try your luck at one of the many drink carts set up for evening walkers...
This family live on the pavement behind a bus stop on the banks of the dirty drain pictured below. Now these kids don't attend school which is a shame and most of the time we see them at the lights holding out their little hands. Oblivious to anyone walking by this morning the children were absorbed in their colouring books, which was fantastic to see! Rarely do we see the poorer children sharing in the experiences of the well to do.. Unfortunately once I was seen their concentration jumped from colouring books to of course rupee and wanting to see themselves on camera.
The young fella was especially proud of his drawing...
Should you ever be on Juhu beach and feeling a wee bit parched you may like to try your luck at one of the many drink carts set up for evening walkers...
Mumbai - It's not that dirty...
It's official, Forbes magazine has rated Mumbai as the seventh dirtiest city in the world!!
Mercer Human Resource Consulting's 2007 Report on Health and Sanitation Ranked 215 cities as part of a Quality of Life report, addressing 29 civic criteria including, levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital supplies, medical services and the presence of infectious diseases. Bonanza!!!
For the record all cities are positioned against New York, the base city with an index score of 100.
The worst on the latest list is, Baku, Azerbaijan with a score of 27.6, the cleanest goes to Calgary, Canada, with a score of 131.7. Delhi was ranked a few pegs higher than Mumbai at 24th.
The local authorities reject the ranking claiming the survey conducted contacted too many expatriates giving a biased opinion and discounting the city efforts and spending to clean up the city infrastructure and the social needs of the population. Following are some of the survey findings:
Drinking water: Marks: 0 /10
You cannot drink tap water directly — it needs to be either boiled or filtered. The water is filthy and not potable.
Dangerous animals and insects: Marks: 3/10
The city is infested with stray dogs and insects that spread diseases and are dangerous.
(Actually there are fewer dogs now than when we arrived. There is a sterilization program in action. As for the mozzies, Yardaf was a victim of Malaria late in 2007)
Infectious Diseases: Marks: 3/10
Infectious diseases are widely spread among citizens and the population of HIV+ citizens is more than that of foreign cities. This makes dwelling in the city for long periods of time dangerous to one's health. It is also harmful to the environment.
(There are more NGO's making inroads to the HIV epidemic with Hollywood and Bollywood celeb's educating the masses. Unfortunately life is cheap and education is limited)
Hospital services: Marks: 5/10
Hospital services are satisfactory, but most hospitals are located in the island city while the suburbs lack specialised facilities.
(Hospitals are a sight, straight out of the 1950's with some select modern equipment. Bombay Hospital is a large building surrounding a courtyard, trouble is the courtyard is buried beneath building material and waste thrown out of the windows and not removed....)
Waste removal: Marks: 4/10
The garbage collection system is ineffective, and garbage piles are a frequent sight on city roads. However, South Mumbai is comparatively cleaner.
(I would have marked them at 2/10 for this one... check out the pic and some may remember the image of the rubbish washed onto the shore last monsoon..)
Sewerage system; Marks: 3/10
Fifty per cent of city's waste is dumped into the sea without undergoing any sort of treatment. This poses an environmental hazard.
(For those who have visited, you've seen and smelt it... It's not pretty but 15-18 million people living in such a small space it's gotta go somewhere...there's currently limited ways to pipe it and the big question is pipe it to where! The land is so expensive here... although the BMC promises to have NO human poo to the ocean by 2011)
Mercer Human Resource Consulting's 2007 Report on Health and Sanitation Ranked 215 cities as part of a Quality of Life report, addressing 29 civic criteria including, levels of air pollution, waste management, water potability, hospital supplies, medical services and the presence of infectious diseases. Bonanza!!!
For the record all cities are positioned against New York, the base city with an index score of 100.
The worst on the latest list is, Baku, Azerbaijan with a score of 27.6, the cleanest goes to Calgary, Canada, with a score of 131.7. Delhi was ranked a few pegs higher than Mumbai at 24th.
The local authorities reject the ranking claiming the survey conducted contacted too many expatriates giving a biased opinion and discounting the city efforts and spending to clean up the city infrastructure and the social needs of the population. Following are some of the survey findings:
Drinking water: Marks: 0 /10
You cannot drink tap water directly — it needs to be either boiled or filtered. The water is filthy and not potable.
Dangerous animals and insects: Marks: 3/10
The city is infested with stray dogs and insects that spread diseases and are dangerous.
(Actually there are fewer dogs now than when we arrived. There is a sterilization program in action. As for the mozzies, Yardaf was a victim of Malaria late in 2007)
Infectious Diseases: Marks: 3/10
Infectious diseases are widely spread among citizens and the population of HIV+ citizens is more than that of foreign cities. This makes dwelling in the city for long periods of time dangerous to one's health. It is also harmful to the environment.
(There are more NGO's making inroads to the HIV epidemic with Hollywood and Bollywood celeb's educating the masses. Unfortunately life is cheap and education is limited)
Hospital services: Marks: 5/10
Hospital services are satisfactory, but most hospitals are located in the island city while the suburbs lack specialised facilities.
(Hospitals are a sight, straight out of the 1950's with some select modern equipment. Bombay Hospital is a large building surrounding a courtyard, trouble is the courtyard is buried beneath building material and waste thrown out of the windows and not removed....)
Waste removal: Marks: 4/10
The garbage collection system is ineffective, and garbage piles are a frequent sight on city roads. However, South Mumbai is comparatively cleaner.
(I would have marked them at 2/10 for this one... check out the pic and some may remember the image of the rubbish washed onto the shore last monsoon..)
Sewerage system; Marks: 3/10
Fifty per cent of city's waste is dumped into the sea without undergoing any sort of treatment. This poses an environmental hazard.
(For those who have visited, you've seen and smelt it... It's not pretty but 15-18 million people living in such a small space it's gotta go somewhere...there's currently limited ways to pipe it and the big question is pipe it to where! The land is so expensive here... although the BMC promises to have NO human poo to the ocean by 2011)
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Jamie Durie's - Bombay Blitz - Landscape Tips
The Bombay Blitz team have been busy this week bringing a new face to the walls and public spaces around Bombay.
Graffiti or street art in Mumbai is currently limited to the busiest beanbag bloke in Bombay, with nearly every spare space covered with rough aerosol "Beanbags 2640 7329" and glossy product advertising taking up much of the remaining eye height vertical space. For the spaces below waist height, Bombayites have come up with a novel way to achieve not only a well balanced, interesting visual scene but they've also stumbled on a way to keep those pesky pissers from stinking up the place.... Yes, with minimal effort and little spend of the Rupee you too can bring art, religion and a little sanitation to the mases.
OK time for this weeks Blitz tip..
If you have a wall on your property get down to you local religious tile store and grab a few tiles of any faith or following. Don't be shy the more the merrier, Christ, Ganesh, Sikh or God... Mention this article and get 15% off any purchase of 30 or more tiles.
Next get yourself a work gang together and stick your new tiles to the wall!
You'll be surprised how calm you'll feel with all that Godly goodness around you and best of all.. those pesky pissers will eventually run out of walls to piss on and use the public toilets 30m away!
Til next week, good gardening and remember to watch where you walk...
Graffiti or street art in Mumbai is currently limited to the busiest beanbag bloke in Bombay, with nearly every spare space covered with rough aerosol "Beanbags 2640 7329" and glossy product advertising taking up much of the remaining eye height vertical space. For the spaces below waist height, Bombayites have come up with a novel way to achieve not only a well balanced, interesting visual scene but they've also stumbled on a way to keep those pesky pissers from stinking up the place.... Yes, with minimal effort and little spend of the Rupee you too can bring art, religion and a little sanitation to the mases.
OK time for this weeks Blitz tip..
If you have a wall on your property get down to you local religious tile store and grab a few tiles of any faith or following. Don't be shy the more the merrier, Christ, Ganesh, Sikh or God... Mention this article and get 15% off any purchase of 30 or more tiles.
Next get yourself a work gang together and stick your new tiles to the wall!
You'll be surprised how calm you'll feel with all that Godly goodness around you and best of all.. those pesky pissers will eventually run out of walls to piss on and use the public toilets 30m away!
Til next week, good gardening and remember to watch where you walk...
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Team India of the future...
The Indian boys love being in photos... We're not sure who these young blokes from Kerala thought they were, but bets are on that they see themselves as India's cricketing future..
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