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Watson's hotel
Apr. 6th, 2019 11:28 am
This is a very early pre-fab building: the cast iron frame was fabricated in England then shipped to Bombay for construction in the late 1860s. Watson was an Englishman who originally planned the building as an extension for his drapery business, but ended up with a whites-only hotel. We were told that Tata, who built the Taj hotel (see previous post) did so in revenge for being denied access to Watson's hotel, but Wikipedia suggests this is myth. It was the first place in India to show a Lumiere Brothers motion picture.
In its post-hotel existence it has been divided into a mix of apartments and offices. And it has been neglected to the point of falling down, despite its heritage listing and being part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.
It's still beautiful, but its parlous state is heart-breaking. By coincidence, there was a court decision on Wednesday intended to save the building, but I'll not be holding my breath.
Also with coincidental timing, there is a newly released documentary about the building and its inhabitants. It's still doing the rounds of film festivals so I guess I'll have to wait a while before a DVD/streaming release. Based on the trailer, I'm keen to see the whole film.
good, bad, ugly
Apr. 5th, 2019 02:32 pmApparently the Gateway of India is Mumbai's top tourist attraction, and it was certainly busy. Numerous roving photographers were there, armed with printers and offers to capture your moment in front of the memorial. It was built to commemorate the visit of George V in 1911, but wasn't actually finished until 1924. It's ugly, pointless, and lacking any kind of style or grace. Typically British.
From the seaward side of the gateway you can look back at the famous Taj hotel ( and consider both the original building and the modern extension )
More interesting that either of those things were ( some random buildings we drove past )
From the seaward side of the gateway you can look back at the famous Taj hotel ( and consider both the original building and the modern extension )
More interesting that either of those things were ( some random buildings we drove past )
There's a lot of Art Deco in Mumbai, some of it with world heritage status. We were driven past some of some of these buildings, and maybe if we'd had the chance to get out and wander around we'd have spotted some great architectural features, but these views from the bus were all I managed.
( drive by )
( drive by )
you can see his knees
Apr. 3rd, 2019 02:36 pmI'm not sure we've visited an Indian museum and not found a diorama lurking somewhere. There are usually lots of them. Some of them are really informative, some creepy, some comical. The twenty-eight at Mani Bhavan are all made by a single volunteer, and most of them involve crowd scenes. They are actually quite impressive.
Here's a young Gandhi being thrown off the train in South Africa
Planting a tree in the East End of London in 1931 (youtube link to footage of the event)
Meeting the King on the same visit in 1931 (youtube link to footage of Gandhi arriving in the UK. The cringe-inducing commentary is obsessed with the way he's dressed, and his small stature.)
And a scene of crowds protesting by burning a vast bonfire of foreign cloth in 1921
Here's a young Gandhi being thrown off the train in South Africa
Planting a tree in the East End of London in 1931 (youtube link to footage of the event)
Meeting the King on the same visit in 1931 (youtube link to footage of Gandhi arriving in the UK. The cringe-inducing commentary is obsessed with the way he's dressed, and his small stature.)
And a scene of crowds protesting by burning a vast bonfire of foreign cloth in 1921
19 Laburnum Road
Apr. 2nd, 2019 04:22 pmMani Bhavan is a lovely old house in which Gandhi used to stay. It has been converted into a memorial with a Gandhi library and - typical of Indian museums - a whole load of dioramas. We had to wait for the place to be opened up, which provided opportunity to photograph some of the other beautiful residences on Laburnum Road.
Puri Villa
( and more )
Bombay was much greener and quieter than I had imagined. I suppose we've spent too much time in difficult, polluted, gridlocked Delhi. Anyway, we now have plans to go back to Bombay.
Puri Villa
( and more )
Bombay was much greener and quieter than I had imagined. I suppose we've spent too much time in difficult, polluted, gridlocked Delhi. Anyway, we now have plans to go back to Bombay.
hanging out
Mar. 31st, 2019 05:36 pmFirst stop Malabar Hill, where the rich and famous live. At the top are the Hanging Gardens (which hang over the reservoir). From the gardens, a fabulous view over the bay
Also from the gardens a view of Mukesh Ambani's place, the world's most expensive private residence.
The gardens are full of black kites (which seem to be more red and much less black than their Delhi counterparts). They are unafraid of humans and come down to the ground. Adjacent to the garden is a funeral site, the Tower of Silence where these carrion-eating birds will feed on Parsi remains.
A wider view (it's a video, and you'll have to click through to Flickr to watch it):
The garden has many rules.
Do:
Don't:
Also from the gardens a view of Mukesh Ambani's place, the world's most expensive private residence.
The gardens are full of black kites (which seem to be more red and much less black than their Delhi counterparts). They are unafraid of humans and come down to the ground. Adjacent to the garden is a funeral site, the Tower of Silence where these carrion-eating birds will feed on Parsi remains.
A wider view (it's a video, and you'll have to click through to Flickr to watch it):
The garden has many rules.
Do:
Don't:
view from the hotel
Mar. 31st, 2019 02:04 pmEarly the next morning we started out on a whistlestop tour of Bombay, cramming in a full day's worth of sightseeing before catching an afternoon train to Vadodara (Baroda).
But first, the immediate environs. More windows
and writing on the wall
But first, the immediate environs. More windows
and writing on the wall
Now I've got things off my chest I can move on to processing my photos, or, from the shitty to the pretty.
We flew to Mumbai, arriving several hours behind schedule because of the change of flightpath between the UK and India to avoid Pakistan. At the hotel we had a 30 minute turn around to dump our bags and get something to eat before a short walking tour around Dharavi.
I was a bit wary about this expedition, though I should have known better. I have firsthand experience of slums in Delhi, where 'slum' means an area of unauthorised dwellings. Or, to be precise, it means an area of unauthorised dwellings where poor people live. Illegal dwellings inhabited by rich people are called 'farmhouses'. Dharavi is a working area. Full of narrow lanes and busy people all producing stuff while tourists try to keep out of the way. It was very reminiscent of the medina at Fez.
The first part we looked around was an area where everyone is working on recycling.
Everything is recycled there. Oil drums. Plastics. Metals. Cheap materials being transformed into cheap materials. Nothing is done safely. There is some child labour so you have to be sensitive about photography.
The second area was concentrated on pottery. Kilns everywhere.
There were cats and kittens, cricket matches being played in crazily small spaces, buildings going up, buildings coming down. There were no beggars. It was nothing like that detestable film, Slumdog Millionaire.
( a mild window obsession )
We flew to Mumbai, arriving several hours behind schedule because of the change of flightpath between the UK and India to avoid Pakistan. At the hotel we had a 30 minute turn around to dump our bags and get something to eat before a short walking tour around Dharavi.
I was a bit wary about this expedition, though I should have known better. I have firsthand experience of slums in Delhi, where 'slum' means an area of unauthorised dwellings. Or, to be precise, it means an area of unauthorised dwellings where poor people live. Illegal dwellings inhabited by rich people are called 'farmhouses'. Dharavi is a working area. Full of narrow lanes and busy people all producing stuff while tourists try to keep out of the way. It was very reminiscent of the medina at Fez.
The first part we looked around was an area where everyone is working on recycling.
Everything is recycled there. Oil drums. Plastics. Metals. Cheap materials being transformed into cheap materials. Nothing is done safely. There is some child labour so you have to be sensitive about photography.
The second area was concentrated on pottery. Kilns everywhere.
There were cats and kittens, cricket matches being played in crazily small spaces, buildings going up, buildings coming down. There were no beggars. It was nothing like that detestable film, Slumdog Millionaire.
( a mild window obsession )
