[Reader-list] City Streets not ventured

[zainab at xtdnet.nl]

Decided to take a taxi from Grant Road to Mohammed Ali Road since dinner
was happening at Mohammed Ali Road. As I was trying to cross the road at
Novelty Cinema, a man walking towards me started singing a sleazy song, as
if trying to solicit me. I was upset and blurted out ‘bastard’! I tried to
get away quickly because the crowds were in little clusters and the
activity at 10 PM tonight was seeking women for satiation of biological
instincts i.e. sex (and this city!!!)!

I got into a cab. In my mind, I had mapped the route the cab driver would
take to get me to Mohammed Ali Road (and I was also calculating the fare
and cursing myself to be so profligate these days!). The cab driver
started and before I could realize, he was steering the cab in the lanes
of Delhi Darbar Restaurant (now Jafferbhai’s). The lane of Delhi Darbar
Restaurant at Grant Road is notoriously famous (just like TC’s Nagpada
area which is known by the lingo of Bombay No. 8) for prostitution and all
that which we fondly and repulsively call ‘illegal’ (and yet cannot
survive without it!). I started looking around and the sights and scenes
completely fascinated me.

Daily I travel through Dimtikar Street, known as Foras Road, where I watch
women who have patted their lips with a noxious red colour lipstick and
are seeking customers. The women on Foras Road wear a bored look on their
faces. There are more middle-aged women here with a wry look, going about
the (usual) business. But on this road which I am passing by today, the
women were much more playful and young. They were explicit – one of them
wore a sexy blue blouse which showed enough of her cleavage and breasts
and this was accompanied with the same light blue coloured flair skirt!
Her lips were patted with maroon lipstick and she had literally let her
hair down. She was flaunting herself as she walked all over the streets. I
saw three young girls in jeans and body hugging tops hanging around
together. I thought I also saw a couple (literally two) of pimps. There
were Nepali women too. And the rooms where the sexual activity was taking
place were one room tenements. The space was congested, yet the space was
personal and private. The one room tenements gave a cramped appearance and
made me uncomfortable in terms of the available physical space – somehow,
I conceive that sexual activity requires a decent amount of physical
space, but I realize that in a city like Mumbai where space is an absolute
premium, our biological instincts have made adjustments to the physical
settings. (And then we also have social norms and regulations – I am not
sure how I place them vis-à-vis physical space).

The street was absolutely fascinating. I have never been here. I’d like to
come here, though, as I am traveling, I am imaging how difficult I will
find it to walk on this street without being seen and sought as a
potential provider. In my fantasies, I want to be a geisha once and I know
for sure that this street was never and perhaps will never be part of my
geisha fantasy imaginations. Ray was right when he said that Bombayiittes
rarely walk in the city. They just use transport!

Anyway 
 the ride continued through lanes and streets which I had been
unaware of. I watched in awe. It was like the taxi driver was my guide
tonight. I became curious and decided to chat with him to see how come he
knew these places in the city. I started chatting with him:

Where do you usually drive your cab? In these areas? (imagining that he is
also a pimp in a way or at least a regular who ferries customer and
provider regularly)
No. I go uptil Panvel, Virar, Vasai, Mira Road, if I ever those kind of
fares (standard response).
Do you get these fares usually?
Not often, sometimes.
Hmmm. So how long have you been driving taxi?
Six months err 
 no, no, six years. But actually, I am in this line since
1985. I was in private (sector). But a private is no good. It is better to
have your own venture. So I decided to get into driving taxi.
Yeah, private is no good. Best to be on your own! So, are you from Bombay?
No. I came from Nepal years ago, about twenty seven years ago. Children
happened here, marriage happened here, everything. But why are you asking
me these questions?
I was just curious. I have never been through those streets which you
drove me through tonight. I thought you know Bombay very well.
Oh, that! Actually many people don’t like me driving through those streets
so I take them through other routes. But the deal is that it is faster to
get to your destination through those streets and it costs less fare. If
you had told me, I wouldn’t have driven you through them.
No, no! I completely enjoyed the ride. Thanks.

I was sad to end the conversation without asking him for his name and
contact numbers. He would have made an interesting person to talk to. Damn
me!

But the question which I have been thinking about since the ride is what
makes streets the way they are in Mumbai? I am not implying that all the
streets are the same. In fact, the vibrancy of the city is the character
of difference and diversity! Can planners and governments determine the
fate of this city? (I hope the city will continue to upset their designs!)

Good night!






Zainab Bawa
Bombay
www.xanga.com/CityBytes
http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html