Mumbai Moment

Yesterday, I went on an incredible tour of the city with my friend Vik. One of my favorite places was a church in Bandra. The movie I was working on is about Catholics in this area in the 70s, so it was great to see the real neighborhood (we were filming in a different part of the city... movie magic at work). The little area by the sea is filled with beautiful crumbling Portugese style cottages. Riding down the streets is like leaving the city behind. The air is 5 degrees cooler, and you can feel the fresh breeze coming from the ocean (this is amazing given how unfresh the water is). The church building itself was something to see, and the walls on the inside are carved wood depicting various stories about Jesus (yesu in Hindi).  Seeing the mix of Catholic worship the way that a Westerner might think of it with the clear influence of Hinduism, gets my anthropologist blood racing.  However, my favorite thing by far was the little stands outside (one pictured above) with tons of colorful candles, wax figures and rosaries. Across from the church was an altar set above the street. We walked the steps to see it and took in the spectacular view of the ocean (and the multi-million dollar apartments in the buildings facing the sea). Hung on the altar were garlands (picture 2), and the multi-color evidence of the candles sold below (3). The whole effect was of a vacation to a costal town in Europe. This visit definitely makes me want to go to Goa (the most famous of the former Portugese colonized towns). I'll keep you posted on whether that happens.

Love,
Violet