Her Mumbai Experience - Jess

Soon as I arrived to Mumbai, I was faced with a multitude of sights and smells right in my face, unable to breathe in between everything I witnessed. One scene after another in immediate sequence. Indescribable, unfathomable atrocities. One smell after another all mixed up in a blender; soot, smog, body odor, urine, feces, incense, and spices. I was overwhelmed by it all.

To me, Mumbai is like a kaleidoscope. Splashes of beautiful vibrant, colorful saris and salwaar kameez  right smack in the middle of poverty. The poverty is visible and inescapable everywhere I go. Slums, beggars, people sleeping on the streets, and people with deformities of various kinds to various degrees. Children and mothers with babies pleading for food and money. Stray dogs with a missing limb and with untreated wounds. Bony ‘holy’ cows and goats. Heart-wrenching to see.

Even with knowing in my mind that I would see the slums and poverty, nothing could prepare me for what I witnessed. For becoming consumed by it all mentally and emotionally. Some people have developed an appreciation for Mumbai, discovering its hidden beauty. I want to believe that Mumbai has its covert aesthetic qualities, I really do. And maybe I will in due time.