bombay con't

all good in bombay. first time i've had to myself with the computer and internet (that's been slightly annoying but probably good not to be attached to internet). bombay is NUTS! i have a love hate thing going with it. really amazing people, tons of interesting sights but it's sensory overload. the pollution, the honking, so so dirty, the poverty living amongst the richies. weirdsville.
but being here with leba and working on the shoot has been really really cool. leba of course already has a million cool friends. we partied with a bunch of her peeps last night and had a ball. drinking and dancing after party at one of the guy's apts (after a crazy karaoke night... go figure!). so silly and fun. they are all SO SO SO SWEET and helpful. like go out of their way to be nice. it's totally refreshing.

i did this insane tour yesterday. it was called "reality tours" and it took people through the asia's largest slum area called dharavi (apparently it's one of india's 7 wonders!). millions of people live there and there is tons of industry that comes out of it. one of the first areas they showed us was the recycling factories (if you can call them that... they were really just small sheds with rusty old machinery). basically it's where america and england send their trash and the indians process it for us. it was fucking mind-blowing. people working day and night for pennies in some of the worst conditions you've ever seen. we went through the dwelling areas which were tiny little alleyways that were almost pitch black in daylight. millions of people live like this! and the rural people go there to MAKE MONEY from all the industries (living off of about $1 a day). it wasn't just recycling factories either... they were making packaged pastries, embroidered jeans, laptop bags, leather for our shoes all stacked on top of each other. NUTS!!! but the craziest thing was that the people working there were actually welcoming to us checking it out. i was feeling weird about being a rich white person coming to gawk at them but they seemed happy that we were interested in what they were doing and how they lived. i guess most people in bombay could care less about them so i think they appreciated that there were people who were interested in them, you know? the people were all so gentle and warm, inviting us into their tiny factories to see how they worked and lived. it just broke my heart. how could someone live like that and have a giant smile on their face??
the tour ended in a person's dwelling who served US chai! so we all sat on the floor of their teeny tiny home and i drank the most amazing chai ever. what an amazing experience. talk about sensory overload.

anyway, leba has decided to come with me to goa tomorrow for my bday. we're going to this nice chill spot she knows about which sounds exactly like my speed. we'll probably chill for a couple days and then i'm going to start my journey north. i don't think kerala is going to happen this time. but who knows. i'm having decision making problems on where to go as there is just so much but i've already decided that i'm going to have to come back. it's true what they say about india having that effect on people. i've got the bug bad already and i haven't even left the city! ha.

ok, must stop computing and catch the late afternoon light for pics (got some goodies).

here is a link to a few flickr pics from the shoot:
panty raiders in bombay
how great is this pic?:
my favorite pic so far
he was our helper for the day. just invited himself to be our PA. SO SWEET!