Posh or Not, These Shantytowns Are All Over
Lonely Planet Mumbai says that over 60% of Mumbaikers live in shantytowns.
My company is letting me stay at their guesthouse for a few days. It’s actually a rather posh flat in what is supposed to be a rather posh suburb, Andheri. Bollywood stars supposedly live around here, and on the way here my Indian friend told me we passed the compound where Mr. Khan, the man who married Aishwaya Rai, supposedly lives. So it probably is a posh address. I mean, there are three coffee shops at this intersection, and only the moneyed and leisured can waste their time there, you know, having conversation.
I went walking again yesterday, which was Saturday, and of course, less than a block away from my building are two different shantytowns. I walked past them. Also walking past them also looked to be lots of well-to-do Indian teenagers, probably bored and just hanging out on a Saturday afternoon. But really, the poor and rich are always in a mix, like it ain’t no thang. I saw two Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts. There are two huge shopping malls further down the road, which I eventually found. I didn’t go in. I figured I’d been to shopping malls before, and I didn’t want to spend my whole day. (Plus, the idea of an American going abroad to go to a shopping mall is as bad as an American going abroad to go to McDonald’s.) The presence of shopping malls was taken as further proof that this is a moneyed area.
I also didn’t go in because I was feeling pretty down out in front of this shopping mall. First this beggar lady started rubbing on me. This was in front of the mall. I brushed her off. But then this kid latched on to my shirt and wouldn’t let go, and I kept walking, hoping he’d let go, and I was majorly embarrassed to have this kid hanging off my shirt. I think the kid wasn’t wearing any pants either. Some Indian guy eventually scared him off. I guess if some kid latches again, I’ll have to scare him off myself.
My company is letting me stay at their guesthouse for a few days. It’s actually a rather posh flat in what is supposed to be a rather posh suburb, Andheri. Bollywood stars supposedly live around here, and on the way here my Indian friend told me we passed the compound where Mr. Khan, the man who married Aishwaya Rai, supposedly lives. So it probably is a posh address. I mean, there are three coffee shops at this intersection, and only the moneyed and leisured can waste their time there, you know, having conversation.
I went walking again yesterday, which was Saturday, and of course, less than a block away from my building are two different shantytowns. I walked past them. Also walking past them also looked to be lots of well-to-do Indian teenagers, probably bored and just hanging out on a Saturday afternoon. But really, the poor and rich are always in a mix, like it ain’t no thang. I saw two Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts. There are two huge shopping malls further down the road, which I eventually found. I didn’t go in. I figured I’d been to shopping malls before, and I didn’t want to spend my whole day. (Plus, the idea of an American going abroad to go to a shopping mall is as bad as an American going abroad to go to McDonald’s.) The presence of shopping malls was taken as further proof that this is a moneyed area.
I also didn’t go in because I was feeling pretty down out in front of this shopping mall. First this beggar lady started rubbing on me. This was in front of the mall. I brushed her off. But then this kid latched on to my shirt and wouldn’t let go, and I kept walking, hoping he’d let go, and I was majorly embarrassed to have this kid hanging off my shirt. I think the kid wasn’t wearing any pants either. Some Indian guy eventually scared him off. I guess if some kid latches again, I’ll have to scare him off myself.
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