This Is What It's Like In Sweltering Mumbai Right Before Monsoon Season Begins
The
monsoon just started this year, which means that Mumbai (and the rest
of India) will be pounded with incessant rain for the next few
months--usually until September.
But
in the steamy months leading up to the monsoon, the city of Mumbai,
India's largest and wealthiest city, transforms into a hot, dusty sauna,
with heat so extreme that it's almost debilitating.When I visited Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) a few weeks ago--just before the start of the monsoon--I was struck by how industrious the city was, despite the mind-numbing heat.
During rush hour, a deluge of commuters streams in to Mumbai's overcrowded train stations before filing into office buildings around the city. Thousands of tiffin wallah (which translates as men who carry lunch boxes) deliver home-cooked meals from the suburbs to offices around the city daily. Vendors sell their wares--mangoes, chai, handicrafts--to anyone who is interested. And cab drivers continue to weave in and out of traffic, which seems to persist at all hours.
And yet, in the peak heat of the day something strange happens.
The bustling, hectic city seems to quiet down--at least temporarily. Wealthy businessmen hide out in air-conditioned buildings or hotels while workers imbibe cold beverages in the shade. Homeless families sleep on shady patches of concrete. Even Chowpatty Beach is deserted.
But once the mid-day heat passes, the industrious city picks up again at an almost frighteningly rapid pace.
I shot most of these photos, but I also pulled a few from Flickr to capture scenes that I didn't get myself. Here's a glimpse of what life is like in Mumbai right before the monsoon.
In the cool early morning hours just before sunrise, the Gateway of India, a major tourist attraction, was calm and deserted.
Except for a group of school children, who were learning a Bollywood dance in the plaza while the temperature was still cool.
The early morning air was hazy yet the Arabian sea was calm as boats bobbed in the quiet harbor outside Colaba.
The legendary Taj Mahal Palace hotel seemed to glow in the sunrise.
Weekday traffic proceeded as normal in front of Victoria Street Station. Bikes intermingled with taxis, trucks, and auto-rickshaws. Traffic in Mumbai is notoriously atrocious.
Vendors sold alphonso mangoes in Crawford Market. Sometimes called "The King of Mangoes," alphonso mangoes are considered to be the most expensive mangoes in the world. (I paid $20 for a portion of the sweet fragrant fruit at the Taj Mahal Palace.)
Watermelons were also piled high in Crawford Market.
Spice vendors sold every kind of spice imaginable. I opted for Masala powder, cardamom, and cinammon bark--all grown locally.
Turkeys roamed freely in the pets section of Crawford Market.
Every weekday before noon, the tiffin wallahs (meaning "men who carry boxes") pick up thousands of tiffins (lunch tins filled with home-cooked meals) from homes in the suburbs, take them on the crowded trains into the heart of the city, and then deliver the food to hungry office workers.
The tiffin wallahs congregate at Churchgate railway station to sort out the tiffins and to determine where to deliver them. Each tiffin has its own code written on it indicating where it is to be delivered. The system is mind-bogglingly complex.
Delivery men load up their bikes with the metal tiffins and carry the hot lunches to office workers around the city. An estimated 5,000 tiffin wallahs deliver about 200,000 meals per day around the city.
Source: BBC News
People sought refuge from the heat in shady Kamala Nehru Park on Malabar Hill.
Children played on the park's shoe-shaped sculpture.
From Kamala Nehru Park, you can see views of the Mumbai skyline and Chowpatty Beach. In the peak heat of the day--reaching over 100 degrees Fahrenheit--even Chowpatty Beach was empty.
Despite the beating heat, work proceeded as usual at the Dhobi Ghat, Mumbai's open-air laundromat.
Dhobis (washers) hand-wash each piece of laundry from Mumbai's hotels and hospitals in the open-air concrete wash pens. After washing, they beat the laundry against a flogging stone.
Workers find creative spaces for drying the laundry, like rooftop extensions.
Taxi drivers wait for fares outside once grand but now crumbling buildings. There are two types of metered taxis in Mumbai: the yellow-and-black cabs sometimes called bumble bee taxis and blue-and-white air-conditioned "cool cabs."
Men find refuge under a shady awning with a cool drink in Apollo Bunder.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Station) is a major hub for train travel in India.
During evening rush hour, commuters crush into packed train cars.
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