[Reader-list] wall magazine 3 from cybermohalla at lnjp

[Cybermohalla]

dear all, 

this is the english translation of the third issue of the wall magazine, 
ibarat (an inscription, a write-up), from the compughar at LNJP basti, Delhi, 
one of the media labs that is part of the cybermohalla project at Sarai. as 
you all know, ibarat is printed once every two months. It is pasted up in 
almost 25 places in their neighbourhood. 

this issue is about our trip to bombay, in january this year. a recollection  
of, and reflection on our perception of work practices, of time, faces, and 
space. 

best 
shveta



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Ibarat 03
August 2002

A conversation

Aadaab.

"We're back". Remember the "Bombay Trip"? When our team, all packed, was 
waiting to fulfil its dream of going to Bombay from the basti, there was on 
the one hand the sadness of leaving behind our parents, and on the other the 
immense happiness of going to Bombay. Do you know that before we got there, 
we never thought that Bombay was not a city magical, but another city like 
Delhi, albeit with its own markings. There, as in Delhi, people breathe, 
children work to feed themselves, and women can also be seen working. Each 
person is busy with her/his own work and we would never have got to know this 
if we hadn't gone to Bombay.

Going there has given us some courage, in a way. Now we feel we are more open 
to undertaking certain tasks by ourselves, individually. Many of our 
misconceptions were done away with, like the one about how girls are sold 
there, or that there is lumpen behaviour on the roads, that we would get 
'spoilt' by going there.

The desire to go to a new place, there definitely was. But we never thought it 
would be realised. Anyhow, how did we find roaming the streets of Bombay, 
seeing the people there, thinking, reflecting, understanding, talking, 
visiting different places... so, come with us, we'll take you to Bombay with 
our writings.



The Journey > Delhi to Mumbai

When we got into the train at Old Delhi railway station, in our eyes were, 
simultaneously, the faces of our parents and the image of Bombay, bedecked as 
heaven would be. That, because we thought of Bombay as a city magical. 
Perhaps without its shareof sadness? It's share of poverty? People who live 
there probably know that uppermost in our minds was the image of the city as 
a film city. As if film stars were going to reach the station to greet us! 

The scenes from the train looked beautiful. Somewhere there were high 
mountains, and it seemed a brown carpet was spread out. The shape of the 
mountains, if we were to observe them, reflect an image of life itself. 
Mostly, everything looked green. On the way we saw a field of marigold 
flowers. And many trees on which names were written. It looked like the names 
were coming out from the trees. Saw a brick house, the walls of which were 
not cemented. Just bricks, one on top of the other. Inspite of that, the 
house was not shaking. 

Sitting in the train, we saw a number of stations. Like Baroda, Surat, Ratlam, 
Thuriya etc. From the train, it seemed as if a lot of what we saw was 
travelling with us, while lots kept getting left behind. By ten or eleven at 
night, we were in our seats, lying down, trying to go to sleep. But we just 
couldn't, because our hearts were eager to see the sights outside. 

We spent a day and a night in the train. Enroute, we played a number of games. 
So the time seemed to pass by without leaving behind a trace. We also ate all 
kinds of things on different stations. Bhaiya was carrying all kinds of  
snacks for us, which we ate all through the journey. 

This train journey ended on  the morning of the sixth, at 4:30 a.m. at Bandra 
station. It was still quite dark, and so the many lights that were lit, 
Bombay looked like the city of our dreams. Outside the staion, some shops 
were opening, some already had. We took a local train to Andheri from there 
itself. There, we sat at the Ideal Restaurant and had our morning meal. 



Haji Ali

At twelve in the afternoon, we reached Haji Ali. On the way to Haji Ali, we 
first bought a chaadar (a sheet of offering) and some khil (puffed paddy). A 
man with a black beard, wearing a cap was sitting there. On the way were also 
some shops - some small, some large - and with them, crowds as well. It seemd 
as if it were a special day. The small shops sold talismans (tabeez), caps, 
sunglasses, frames, and much more. The path there was neither too broad, nor 
too narrow. Women, children, the elderly could be seen begging. There were 
many people, among them hindus, muslims, fisherfolk, foreigners. 

Waves playing around the path to the dargah kept increasing. They seemed to be 
reaching out to all the rocks and boulders there. We climbed the stairs and 
entered. Inside, a qawaali was on. We listened to it for a while, then moved 
towards the mazaar (shrine). Outside, at the entrance, there was a boy who 
was putting to one side everyone's slippers and shoes. There on a board was 
written, 'Pay whatever your heart deems fit. If harrassed for more, the 
matter will reach the office.' We took off our footwear and went inside. 
Then, into the room where the mazaar was. We all offered the chaadar, but it 
was Suraj and Shamsher who went inside to spread it, because it's the men and 
boys who do that; ladies pray for wish fulfilment. We all stood there itself 
and did that, then went and sat outside. Nearby were some taps where some 
elderly women were performing their ablutions. All of their attention was 
focused on the water and the ablutions. 

Haji Ali was surrounded by water. We set out towards the water. Where there 
were big boulders and it was very windy. The way to the sea was rocky, 
because of which our feet got bruised.  We had quite a lot of fun sitting 
there. Then we saw that the path we had taken to get to where we were sitting 
was quite filled up with water. Scared of falling, and at the same time 
enjoying ourselves, we made our way through the water. While walking, we 
heard al ot of people talk, and so got a sense of the many languages spoken 
by the inhabitants of Bombay. 

We got out and had juice. It was evening now, and Haji Ali looked even more 
beautiful lit up. Then we got to know the story of Haji Ali. A man by the 
name of Haji Ali went to Saudi Arabia for Haj. He died there. Before dying he 
asked not to be buried, but for his body to be encased in a wooden casket and 
that be let into water. And that was what was done. The casket made its way 
to the sea, here, all the way to Bombay, where it stopped. His shrine was 
made right here.



Juhu Beach

We had gone to Juhu Beach at night. As soon as we got there, we took a ride on 
a ferris wheel. It was being operated by people who jumped and swung from one 
radiating bar to the next to propel it. All the shops there had taken the 
form of a restaurant. They were all lined up, and people from every shop were 
saying, "Come here, the food is very good, you'll get anything you want." 
Mats were spread on the sand by the stall owners. Which stall you were a 
customer of depended on which mat you chose to sit on. We all sat on one mat. 
A boy from the next shop came to us with a menu listed on a sheet of paper. 
We were just going through the list when another boy from the shop right in 
fromt of the mat came and told him to remove that piece of paper, that no one 
would eat from it. The first boy remained quiet. The other boy showed us his 
list. The owner of the stall from which the first boy had come called out to 
him and asked him in Bambaiya hindi why he was standing there if we were not 
going to eat. He went away. Almost all of us had pao bhaji. 

It seemed there was a fair on at Juhu Beach. There was a lot of light. All the 
shops were decorated with lights. We asked one of the people manning the 
swings why they weren't powered by electricity. He said that was not allowed 
there. We spoke to him about many things. On every ferris wheel, there were 
three to four men, making it rotate. There was one man who had been operating 
a wheel which had no people sitting in it. We felt he was very worried. When 
we spoke with him he said, "I have many ferris wheels, and I also man a cart 
during the day. Right now, at this time, no one comes for ride on the wheel. 
When children see it moving, they come. Otherwise parents think it's out of 
order."



Mud Island

On hearing the name "Mud Island', we conjured images of England, Switzerland 
in our minds. On the way there we kept thinking there would be a clean 
swimming pool there, the kind we often see in films. When we reached there, 
we were left surprised. Because it was just like Juhu Chapatti, but cleaner. 
There was the sea as far as we could see. The rocks in the water looked like 
there was a crocodile, shining through the waves. When the waves rushed 
towards us with speed, they brough with them many small things. Among them 
would be shells of all kinds. The waves would leave them on the shore as if 
they were entrusting the world with their treasures. And when they would come 
back, they would carry these back with them. 

There was no crowd here. We couldn't resist the water. Everyone took off their 
shoes and went in. And we all bathed in it, for a long, long time. When the 
sea water would find its way into our mouths, our mouths would become salty. 

There were many boats in the sea. In them were women who had loaded the boats 
with fish and were bringing them ashore. Two to three men were carrying away 
sack loads of the sand from the shore. Two children were laughing, they 
seemed rather excessively naughty. One was in a school uniform, and the other 
in clothes one wears at home. 

When some of us went to but some coconut water (we had to climb some steps for 
this), the woman there got angry and started saying, "Baba re baba, why are 
you coming here? If our employer sees you, he'll scold us. You go back down 
now." (There hindi was Bambaiya hindi.) We said, give us our coconut water 
first, then we'll go. We took the water and came back and sat down. 


Chawpatti

We had gone to Chawpatti the very first day. We took off our shoes and put 
them on a side and went inside the water. On the Chawpatti was a huge white 
light that seemed to light up the whole island. And because of this light, 
the colour of the water seemed to be changing. There was quite a crowd here. 
Some people were sitting around with their families. Some were couples - a 
boy and a girl sitting togehter. In one place, there was an old man, with two 
young children. The children were collecting sand and making a house with it. 
The old man was looking at them with love-filled eyes. It was night, so we 
couldn;t see very far. Only lights from the houses in tall buildings, and 
billboards that were lit up. There was a woman sitting next to us. She was 
roasting ground nuts. She would collect sand from the ground and put it 
inside the iron utensil which had fire lit under it, and then would put lots 
of ground nuts in it. Everyone, all of us included, were sitting facing the 
same direction - our faces were turned towards the sea. 

Then bhaiya brought pao bhaji for all of us. We ate it while savouring the 
waves, the cool breeze and sand. Before this we saw the sun setting. As it 
set, its colour, and the colour of the sky around it changed. From yellow to 
orange, then light pink, then dark pink, and then light red. It was the first 
time we were witnessing a sunset.



The Aquarium

We bought ourselves tickets and went inside The Aquarium. Here too, there was 
a big crowd. There were many school children, as also could be seen people 
with their families. Here there were many kinds of fish. First we saw 
inanimate objects that had been taken out of the sea. Some were the bodies of 
of sea animals we had never seen before. When we moved ahead, we saw such a 
beautiful fish that it filled our hearts with joy. While some people seemed 
to be looking at the fish with great interest, others were just passing them 
by cursorily. There were ladies and gents who were walking side by side, as 
couples. Mostly, people were telling one another about the fish. We could 
also hear some conversations between people which seemed to be just like 
those of ruffians straight out of a Bombay movie. 

We had been looking at the fish for a while now. The boys there also seemed to 
be quite 'straight', there was no eveteasing of any sort. Our attention went 
to the man who was checking tickets at the gate. His skin was dark, he had a 
slight moustache, average height,. But his behavious was not pleasant. 
Because he was not speaking properly with people. If someone tried to get 
inside The Aquarium without showing him the ticket, he would start muttering 
under his breath, and there was absolutely no sign of a smile on his face. 
Slowly everyone came in through the door and so we could got out. On coming 
out we saw written there, in big, bold letters, 'The Aquarium'.


The Fish Market

Fish markets are set up in Bombay also, where different types of fish are 
sold. Only women can be seen selling fish here. We saw many kinds of faces in 
the fish market. Some feelings and reflections got associated with the faces 
we saw there. For instance, a face of joy, that of sorrow, a face that seemed 
to be making a request, a face that looked quite, thoughtful, lost, a face 
that seemed to hide what was in the heart. We saw many courageous women. 

The fish market was stinking. Maybe they didn't think so, afterall selling 
fish is their work. We could see fish of different types - glittering, black, 
white, colourful, small, large. Some of their names are - prawns, shark fish, 
wafer fish, etc. The fish were quite expensive. The women told us, "The men 
catch the fish and all of us bring them here to sell them." Looking at the 
women it seemed they manage things from the beginning to the end on their 
own. The men's work gets hidden behind the efforts of the women. One can't 
say, looking at them work, that the women need assistance of any kind. 

All of their attention was focussed on either the fish, or the buyers. The 
market was quite crowded. Many children were also selling fish there. Most 
women had oiled their hair and tied a tight bun. They were wearing a saree 
like a dhoti (a piece of cloth worn around the lower body, one end of which 
passes between the legs and is tucked in behind). There wasn't a sign of fear 
that could be spot in these women. 



Gateway of India

All of us were very happy when we reached the Gsteway of India. There were 
ships that we could see till a great distance and these looked very 
beautiful. Some people were sitting in the ships and communicating with the 
people they knew using gestures. There were also some shops there. Shops that 
can be set up just about anywhere. People who had set their shops on the 
ground were gesturing with their eyes to the passers-by to buy their wares. 

We read the english words etched on the Gateway of India. They were about a 
king and a queen. 

Many pigeons were feeding on grain just in front of the Gateway of India. They 
were very nice to look at. A slightly old woman was standing there looking at 
them with great attention. She was smiling, a little, to herself. Maybe she 
has some memories associated with the pigeons. She was dark of colour, had 
white hair, short in height, was wearing black shoes and was holdign a black 
purse like one would carry a baby. 

Just like there is the India Gate in Delhi, there is the Gateway of India in 
Bombay. But we thought the two quite different in that what India Gate has 
etched on it are the names of people who sacrificed their lives in war and is 
surrounded by huge lawns for playing, while the Gateway has on it the name of 
some king and queen, and there are also some big ships in the water behind 
it. We also got photographs clicked at the Gateway. 

Just opposite it is the Taj hotel. In Delhi we had heard of the Taj hotel as 
being very beautiful, but when we saw it with our own eyes, it didn't seem as 
grand as all that talk had made it out to be. There were glasses that had 
been placed in front of it, on which water flowed, and that looked very 
beautiful. 



Circus

We went to see the Jumbo circus on January 8. we reached there around 7:00 - 
7:30 in the evening. From outside the cisrcus looked just like the one in 
Delhi - the one that we see on the Red Fort grounds. There were some 
photographs by way of glimpses to what would be seen inside. There were 
photographs decorated with big lights inside as well. 

There was a round stage for the performance of the show. That is just how it 
is in Delhi as well. The stage, about two thirds of its circumference, was 
surrounded by chairs. A little space was left for people to be able to move 
in and out. We got in through the gate and sat down on the chairs in the rows 
on the left, quite at the back so we were on a bit of an elevation. Once 
seated, we began to have lots of fun watching the performances. 

There were many wonderful programmes in the circus. For instance, a boy 
performed some tricks with his hat, then three girls and three men displayed 
their skills. One girl performed with many hula hoops, and then a much 
younger girl repeated the acts, and this was truly wonderful. A boy and a 
girl were swining from a rope and performed their routine on romantic songs. 
This was followed by a comedy show. Three men entertained the audience by 
performing dangerous feats on motor cycles in the 'well of death'. Some 
elephants got together to pray to lord Shiva. The accompaniment of lights and 
music made all the performances all the more entertaining. 

In the very end, we saw a trapeze show which we really liked. On seeing the 
performance we realised that there existed a relationship of fear between the 
performers and the spectators, a relationship involving the skill of the 
performers, and leading to the entertainement of the spectators.


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Articles, photographs, design, layout by the Ibarat team at the Compughar, 
Cybermohalla

Ibarat team: Azra Tabassum, Mehrunnisa, Shamsher Ali, Suraj Rai, Shahjehan, 
Nilofer, Yashodha Singh, Bobby Khan, Babli Rai, Shahana Qureshi.

They can be contacted at compughar at sarai.net

Translation by shveta (shveta at sarai.net)
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Cybermohalla is an experimental collaborative initiative between Ankur, a 
Delhi based NGO and Sarai, for the creation of nodes of popular digital 
culture in Delhi . The Compughar (Media Lab) is located in LNJP basti, a 
working class settlement in Central Delhi.

Write to cybermohalla at sarai.net
About Cybermohalla: www.sarai.net