A quiet week at work, which was odd because it was the point at which the first part of the project went into operation. A significant milestone, although it was very low key and the circumstances meant that not that much actually changed. However, the principal was important and worth celebrating.

We managed to get out of work by 6:30 at the latest each day, which is another form of success of course. Not that we actually did that much with our extra time.

We did manage to get to the cinema one evening to see Sucker Punch, a new film by the director of 300 and Watchmen. The cinema was really very plush, with the superior seats being pretty much like reclinable armchairs. There were a few surprises - the Indian national anthem playing before the film started (with everybody standing), and the intermission at the end of the first reel (I assume). The break wasn't at a natural break point, just at a random stage about halfway through. During the intermission people came round to take drinks / food orders, which felt strange.

I still haven't fully got the geography of the city fully sorted in my head - I know the routes from the hotel to the office, from the office to the shopping centre / cinema and from the shopping centre to the hotel. However, I haven't managed to reconcile those three routes yet as it feels like we go in precisely the wrong direction to get from the shopping centre back to the hotel (maybe there's some sort of wormhole). The journey back after the cinema trip confused matters yet further when we took yet another 'clearly wrong' direction which seemed to get us back without problems. So much for my sense of direction.

Wednesday we went out for a lunchtime meal to the Copper Chimney restaurant (a very nice place) and saw the beginning of the cricket semi-final between India and Pakistan. I am told that several companies announced Wednesday as a half day holiday (by an Indian woman who works for the company and was keen to get the same policy implemented). When India won the game (at about 10:30 pm) there were plenty of fireworks and car horns going off.

Friday evening I walked a reasonable way back from the office to the hotel. That was because I had a phone meeting until 6:30 and my colleague needed to leave at 6:00 as he was off to Singapore for the long weekend. The taxi drivers directly outside the office were suggesting a price of 400 rupees, which was exorbitant so I decided to walk a way until I came across another cab. Many weren't prepared to stop so I had actually walked more than halfway before I managed to get one. Whilst I would like to do that trip again at some point (with camera, of course), I don't want to do it in a suit - ridiculously warm and also very obvious.

Saturday was quiet(ish). Breakfast was packed solid, full of people who were clearly going to the cricket final (I had looked but the minimum prices on reseller sites were $1,200). I mostly stayed in my room to begin with, then went for lunch at the local coffee shop (which was showing the cricket and had several people outside watching through the window - it's quite expensive for locals). I then went off to the shopping centre as I'd been told there was a sports bar there that would be good to watch the match at. Predictably, of course, it was packed. Also, any shop with a TV in the window (or even vaguely visible from outside) had groups of people standing outside watching. In the end I decided to have a walk back to the hotel. This only took about half an hour, but I was quite tired once I'd got back because of the heat. I decided to watch the rest of the match from the comfort of my room. With victory for India (at nearly 11pm) came the fireworks and noise. I tried to go up to the Point of View bar on the 30th floor to get a better look (my room didn't seem to face where most of the fireworks were going off), but the bar had been closed.

One of the things I did during the week was use Flickr to find groups around Mumbai. One of these is a group that seems to meet up every Sunday morning to go somewhere for photographs. I had arranged to go with them to a place that's actually relatively local to the hotel - Sewri mud flats which have flamingoes. 7am was the time for the meeting, so the alarm was set for 6 and a local taxi got me there on time (early, actually, but that isn't exactly news:)). It took a bit of time for everybody to get together - however did people manage before mobile phones? - but the 20 or so of us walked down to the ruins of a local fort, straight through the middle of what is pretty much a slum area. Even that early in the morning there was still a reasonable amount of activity, and with numbers comes courage so I felt pretty at ease grabbing photos. The old fort itself was a super example of the benefit of doing something like this. It was something I would never have known was there, isn't mentioned in the guidebooks, and probably wasn't somewhere I would have felt comfortable going to on my own. However, with a group of friendly co-enthusiasts it was a lot of fun. One local boy kept running around being very photogenic, and I suspect that there were lots of shots taken of him by the group. Just away from the fort itself there was a guy dressed in orange robes and smoking something that seemed to be making him very happy. I reckon he had a lot of photos taken as well.

The view out from the fort was quite impressive, especially with the mud and the bright light giving a pretty monochromatic effect (certainly the pink of the flamingoes wasn't obvious). From the fort we walked down to the jetty to try to get a better view of the birds. There were quite a few boats down here, stuck in the mud, and nobody seemed to have any compunction about just getting on to one of the ships near the end of the jetty to get shots. Actually the view from there was pretty good - sea, mud flats, flamingoes and cityscape all coming together nicely. You could even see that the flamingoes were in fact pink (when there were enough of them together). We walked back through the slums, taking more photos and then I got a taxi back to the hotel just before the end of breakfast. Click on the blog header to get to the photos.

Getting into breakfast one of the regular servers asked if I was looking tired because of the cricket. I said that I'd been out taking photos of the flamingoes. Apparently some of the restaurant staff from the hotel had been working at the match, and he'd been one of them. Turns out it was a long day for them - 7am start and a 4am finish. How they managed to then be at work on the Sunday morning I really don't know. Those who'd worked there had all been given a small replica world cup, he said.

Monday is a holiday as well (or at least it is for my client - it turns out that different businesses have the ability to pick and choose their public holidays to some extent). I had heard lots of different things about the day, from it being a very family day to there being parades. I had heard, in particular, that there was a procession of people dressed in their best starting at 8am in central Mumbai, so it was another early start. I can't, in all honesty, say that I was particularly successful. First we had lots of confusion between the taxi driver and myself as to where I was trying to get to. Then, when I finally did get to where I think I was meant to get to it turned out to be somewhat different to what I was expecting. It was in one of the poorer parts of town and whilst the women were dressed in their best clothing it was pretty much a queue for people to get into a temple of some sort (Hindu, I expect as it is the Hindu New Year). They were literally queueing around the block, which isn't the ideal format for getting nice photographs. To be honest, the setting really wasn't doing anything for me - frankly I've seen more than enough of the poor parts of Mumbai. I had hoped that this would be an opportunity to see a different, more pleasant side of the city and to see that it was essentially the same, albeit better dressed, was something of a disappointment. I got a couple of decent snaps, but people in long queues are rarely at their most accommodating or cheerful so I retreated back to the hotel quite quickly.

It's now lunchtime and my next decision is whether to venture out again or stay in the comfort with my books, photos and games, and maybe even catch up on some sleep.

Text of an article written for the camera club

It is, I believe, customary to start any piece of travel writing by saying that 'xxx is a place of contrasts'. I would hate to go against tradition, especially when it is so appropriate, so:

Mumbai is a city of contrasts. Incredible wealth is yards away from indefensible poverty. New buildings are being constructed at an exceptional rate while most are unloved and falling down (according to a news report 34 buildings have actually collapsed in the last two years within the city, several with people still living in them). The city is full of cars, but within easy range is a hill fort area which allows no motor vehicles at all. On the pavement in front of a shop selling gold you may well find a small boy selling sandals. There are magnificent beaches, but nothing would persuade me to go into the sea (locals don't have the same problem). It is a deeply religious city, although it hasn't chosen one yet - you'll find small well tended shrines all over the place, as well as churches and temples. Public holidays are selected from each of the main religions. (At the moment cricket is probably the leading religion.) Only one thing has not had a contrast - the weather has been in the upper 30s pretty much every day and dry. Even that is only because I haven't been here long enough - in July there will be more rain in this city than London has in a whole year (and London is not a notoriously dry city).

The main things that have struck me about the city:

• The traffic. The government has clearly spent a lot on trying to make sure that roads are wide, with well-marked lanes, well signposted and with plenty of traffic lights. Drivers are advised to drive carefully and without excessive use of the horn. That money was all wasted. Cars drive frighteningly close together, the concept of lanes appears completely foreign, traffic lights are treated as being, at best, advisory and the use of the horn is as close to compulsory as makes no odds. Many lorries actively request horns be used. Weaving between the cars are pedestrians, push bikes and motor bikes (often with 3 or 4 people on them, women often as sidesaddle passengers), and the roads are shared with cows, handcarts and cattle carts.

• The poverty. When I first arrived I was in a top 5 star hotel. Directly opposite it across the road was the entrance to a slum area that was essentially just shacks made of bits of wood panelling stacked together. My assumption was that that was about as low as it was going to get. I was wrong. Since changing hotels my new drive to work takes me past an area that is essentially just tents over the pavements, where the people live, cooking on open fires. Opposite them it's even tougher, because there are still tents, but there's far less pavement so the living area is much smaller. And of course there's also the area that would presumably lovce to be in the fortunate position of the above groups, where there are entire families just living in the shadow of the underpass, with nothing to cover them. When we go past at 8:15 there's a young man dressed in shorts who is soaping himself down, a small shrine and an entire family that is just starting to get up. This is tough to see, and I hope it never becomes commonplace. I haven't yet been able to bring myself to take photographs of the people on the lowest few levels of the ladder.

• The colours. Women (in particular) dress in spectacular colours and nearly always look smart (even those who live on the streets).The market stalls are also full of colour, both natural from the fruit and flowers and man-made from plastic toys. One of the recent festivals is called Holi, and the main feature is people covering themselves and others in coloured dust and water.

My time here is only halfway through (and it's looking like I may need to come back at some point). It's pretty exhausting here, and I'll admit to feeling a bit Mumbai-ed out. This isn't a tourist city - other places in India are far prettier. That's not to say that there aren't pretty parts - there's quite a few old Victorian buildings that have been well preserved and the park areas such as Matheran are beautiful and tranquil. I'm looking forward to my family coming out and am hugely grateful to technology (Skype is a godsend, the internet and e-mail means I can keep in touch with friends and family, whilst my Kindle allows me to carry a library with no weight, and also download British newspapers to stay in touch with what's happening in the UK) which has made the whole experience a lot easier than it would otherwise have been.

What has made the experience worthwhile though, without a doubt, has been the opportunity to take photos that I would never have had the chance to take at home. As with fishing, the photos I haven't managed to take would have been the best ones (the person who can get a photo to be taken purely by blinking may make a fortune). However, I've got quite a few that I'm really happy with, and that I shall doubtless subject you to on my return.

If you want to see more of my photos, feel free to go to my Flickr account (www.flickr.com/photos/jonathaf). I'm also writing a more detailed blog of my activities and experiences (jonathaf-india.blogspot.com), should you be interested. My e-mail is jonathaf@runbox.com if anyone wants to get in touch.

I look forward to seeing all of you again soon.

Some things you never get used to

It's been a quiet week, with work keeping me out of mischief and then the sun for the last couple of days has kept me off the streets for more than an hour or so each day (still got some decent shots - click on the title to see the Flickr pics).

So I thought that I'd put down some of the things that have struck me while I'm here. None of them are hugely significant, but hopefully will add up to give a flavour of the place.

This blog's title comes from lyrics to Elvis Costello's High Fidelity. The words come to mind repeatedly when I'm here. At least, I hope I don't get used to lots of the things I see. Many of these are things I don't feel that I can take photos of yet - the lowest levels of poverty seem so stripped of human dignity that taking pictures of it just seem wrong. I kind of hope that I can get over that feeling while I'm here so that I can get the pictures. I also hope that the people are prepared to let me take the pictures - I'm not at all sure I would in their places.

The drive to work in the morning is a prime example. It only takes 10 - 15 minutes to get there in the taxi, leaving the 5 star hotel at about 8:10. However, the route takes us through a very poor part of town and there is consistency to the trip.

We turn right out of the hotel and try to turn right under the flyover being built. This normally takes a while, but leads on to the main road, a shopping area with some fancy shops. We turn off just before the next flyover, past the older couples (mostly) living on the street there. Turning left we go over a bridge with lots of other cars, bikes, motor bikes, lorries, and the occasional hand or buffalo cart (which really slows things down).

Turning onto a one way system we go under a flyover. On the right there is a young man in shorts who is washing himself and is covered in soap (if he isn't there then we're running late). Opposite him and a little further up a family is normally just beginning the process of getting up. They have no shelter other than some blankets. Back to the right hand side of the road there is a small shrine, and a family group a bit further up. The older woman has dyed red hair (apparently a sign that she's been on a pilgrimage). As we turn right there are 3 children sleeping on the pavement.

The main road that we take from there to work has a number of shops down both sides (including barbers / wet shavers). There is also a lovely looking white temple with the upper dome covered in scaffolding (as with so many buildings here). Just a little bit further down the road is what I call Tent Alley. There's maybe a dozen families living on the pavement, each with some sort of fabric out over the pavements like a tent. Whole families live in these and it's normal to see them dressing, washing, cooking (around open fires that they set up) and generally living their lives.

The final thing of note before we get to work is the double shrine. There's a standard shrine, then a small stall selling flower garlands, and then next to it is a large stand containing a super-size replica of the Cricket World Cup.

Incidentally, last week there was a report in the newspaper about a Mumbai building collapsing, killing 4 people. I read that, thought 'how terrible, but at least it's front page news', and then read on to see that it was the 34th such collapse in 2 years. In the one city. Scary.

Hooray, Hooray, It's a happy Holi day

Saturday was to be a quiet day. I'd had a long week and was quite tired, so didn't particularly want anything too busy. Also, Ziima wanted to come over and see the photos so I needed to spend some time sorting out the ones I liked and processing them. I managed to finish them a little before she arrived (click here to see the photos).

She arrived pretty much on time and called up to the room. I went down and found that she'd brought a boyfriend with her. I was less than comfortable with both of them coming up to the room (even with most stuff in the safe), so suggested that we go through the photos in the lounge.

In the end I needn't have worried - they were both very pleasant and he was very helpful with getting her to choose the photos she wanted. In fact it went so well that I had to remind her to take the balance of the money. She thanked me very much and said that I'd been very generous (a sure sign that I'd significantly overpaid, but again, my stupidity, my fault).

Later in the afternoon I went out to investigate Holi. This is a festival that celebrates the start of the summer season and is timed with the full moon. It seems to start the evening before the full moon and then goes on through the following day. Saturday evening was the start and I went around the local area (with camera, of course). One group of lads invited me in to the residential area to show me the bonfires being set up.

The people had already started getting coloured up, and I had various colours put on my face. You can either decide to take offence at that, or in good part. You normally have a better time (and get better photos) if you join in. The group proudly took me round the area, showing me three bonfires being prepared and showing off for the camera..

Heading back to the hotel (via the coffee shop for a drink / tea) I got plenty of amused looks, which suggested that I'd been got good and proper. Back in the hotel I saw that there had been plenty of paint, but not too bad really (considering the extent I'd seen on some). A shower later and I decided against heading out to see the bonfires themselves.

The following morning I got up reasonably early for a 9am breakfast. I had arranged with one of my client colleagues that we would meet then and then head off to Juhu beach. This is one of the main areas for celebrations. We got there about 10:30 (leisurely breakfast, and a bit of a problem finding a taxi driver, although the drive to the north of the city was easy and he didn't get lost once).

Walking along the beach there were hundreds of people around, many in family groups as well as groups of young men and women. Most of them were covered in paint, and many had handfuls of the stuff to spread liberally on anybody around (us, for example). Getting photographs was easy - many people actively asked me to take photos, and those who didn't were generally more than happy to have their pictures taken.

Juhu beach is quite a pleasant, sandy beach. I'm not at all sure I'd want to go into the water, though. It got ridiculously warm, though and by 12:30 we were looking to head back to the hotel. By that time we were both liberally covered in paint - fortunately we were both in the cheap t-shirts we'd bought on Friday evening so it wasn't too bad.

A shower at the hotel got rid of the worst of the paint (but not all of it - there's probably going to be bits of it around for a few more days yet. The rest of the afternoon was lazy, with a brief trip out around 8 p.m. for a quick bite.

March 14th - 18th Working Week

Another week of long hours at work, as User Acceptance Testing reaches its end. This despite the fact that I was having my first major stomach upset of the trip which made the first couple of days of the week significantly less than fun.

I had arranged with Ziima that we would meet at the hotel at 8pm sharp for me to pay her the balance. This was made complex by the fact that the cash machine would only allow me to take out 20,000 rupees so, when she turned up at 10 I couldn't pay her everything she was expecting. However, she also wanted to meet up at some point so that she could get some copies of the photos for herself and we agreed that the final balance would be paid then.

I had been concerned that she would change our arrangement, but she did send e-mails confirming that the total amount to pay had changed, and confirming the amounts that had been paid.

During the week we found out that coming up at the weekend was the festival Holi. This seems to involve people pelting each other with water and coloured dust. After work on Friday, therefore, we went to the shopping centre and got t-shirts that we knew we wouldn't mind about if they got horribly covered. Getting home I also managed to arrange with Ziima that we would meet up on the Saturday to pay the balance and go through her pictures.

March 13th - Model Shoot

Ziima and I had arranged that she would come to the hotel for about 10:30 so that (after makeup) we could start shooting around 12. Punctuality isn't a particularly Indian virtue (or indeed much of a possibility given the traffic) so it wasn't a huge shock when they arrived a little late. There were three girls - Ziima herself, a friend who was meant to help her (and who actually seemed to be giving her directions on how to model) and a make up artist. Whilst I wasn't unduly concerned about this, I was pleased that I had made sure I'd put all my valuables in the safe as a precaution.

We managed to get through 3 changes of clothing at the hotel - all different Indian outfits. We started with a sari, where we took photos in the room and the hallway by the lifts. For our second outfit we went outside to the little courtyard in the hotel for some more casual shots. The third and final one was a gorgeous bridal outfit. For that we started in the bedroom and then moved to a stairwell near the breakfast room to get some full length shots.

Whilst having a make up artist definitely improves the look of the model, my goodness it slows things down a lot. We had hoped to get through 4 outfits in the hotel but had run out of time after 3. Then it was time to head off to Ziima's apartment for the second part of the shoot.

We went in the MUA's car, and got just as lost as the taxi driver had the day before. We also managed to prove that there are rules covering road usage when we got pulled over by a policeman and had to pay a fine. In all honesty, I'm not sure what she'd done that was notably different from anybody else but she ended up 100 rupees the poorer.

At the apartment we had already decided that we would do western fashion type clothing and that only one set of makeup would be required. We managed another 3 sets here (and also had time to have a takeaway delivered and eaten while the makeup was done). The first was a red dress, which arguably gave me the most effective shots of the day. The second was a black trouser suit and the third a purple dress. Unfortunately by the third set it had got dark and I was relying on flash and manual focus as it was too dark for the autofocus to work.

I then paid the make up artist the 3,500 rupees that I had agreed upon. It was then that things went wrong, when I paid Ziima the 6,000 rupees (approx £80) that I thought we had agreed upon. She said that we'd agreed 60,000 rupees. Oh bugger. I didn't have the money, and no way with me to get the money. I also couldn't afford the full price she was looking for and said so. Under the circumstances she was pretty reasonable and we agreed on 30,000 rupees that she would come to the hotel on the Monday to pick up. She could have been a lot more awkward. That said, I suspect that the 6,000 rupees was a more than reasonable rate for her. Whilst she was certainly pretty, she didn't seem to have the experience that might have been expected as she was constantly looking for advice and suggestions from her friend.

March 12th - lazy(ish) day

Ziima and I had arranged to meet up at her location in Andheri at 4:30 pm (about an hour away), so I decided to have a quiet day until heading up there. After a little time in the room, however, I got bored to decide to go out and have a look at the street markets which are nearby. (Click on the header for photos).

Again, it's the people who are fascinating, with families and couples who are entirely comfortable sitting on the streets. One thing I am finding is that people are generally more than happy to have their photos taken, if you ask nicely. Indeed, some specifically ask to have their photos taken if they see that you are doing so with others. Fortunately, this allows you to get closer and get better photos as a result. That said, I can't yet bring myself to take close up photos of the poorest members of the community as it feels too much of an intrusion. Whilst I sincerely hope that I never get to accept the way that these people live and stop finding it shocking, I hope that at some point I manage to get the courage to ask and get some proper portraits of the street people.

About 3:30 I took the taxi to Andheri (Ziima said it was about an hour). It is, in fact, somewhat less than that, if the taxi driver knows where he is going (as proved by the taxi driver on the way back), but most taxi drivers only know their local area. Also, whilst many people here do speak English, taxi drivers really don't. Nor do they read English, which made the fact that I had the adddress written down less useful than it might have been. Several times we stopped and asked for directions, a process which appears to be iterative - take thee directions which will probably get you a bit closer and then ask again. It felt like we were spiralling in on the location.

One other thing about taxi trips to the North - drivers seem to be very keen to take you as far as Bandraa and then unload you on a rickshaw driver. I only managed to understand that after a few discussions that were probably equally frustrating for both the driver and myself, and we ended up with him taking me the whole way himself. Or at least to the road that I waas meant to be on, and then dumping me and charging a fair chunk (for Mumbai - 500 rupees after looking puppy dog and giving the impression that he needed extra to cover the trip back again).

Eventually I managed to meet up with Ziima (how did we manage before mobile phones?), about a half hour late. She took me up to the flat, which had a huge number of possible outfits, from formal to casual (including a bridal style outfit which is gorgeous). The terrace is in fact on the roof of the building that she lives in - run down (obviously) but a good number of possibilities for shooting.

She suggested that we start at the hotel on Sunday, doing the more formal stuff, and then going back to the terrace for the more casual stuff. She also said that it would be better to have a make up artist for the formal stuff at least, and that she had prepared one for 2-3,000 rupees for the day. That's not a hideous price all in all (about £40), and if I'm getting a full day's shoot with Ziima for 6,000 rupees rather than the half day I had been expecting then that's still very good value.

Ziima then took me to get a taxi back to the hotel, rejecting the first as he wanted a fixed price rather than on the meter. The second agreed to the meter and got me home in about 45 minutes, charging 250 rupees (which I upped to 300 - £4).

In the evening I went out for a meal at one of the small restaurants near the hotel. The local coffee shop was showing the India - South Africa match, and there was quite a crowd outside watching through the window.

I decided to pretty much repeat my walk from earlier in the day to get pictures of it under artificial light (photos here). Again, this was fun and people were always happy to talk. One gentleman owned a grain shop (we'll call it - lock up may be more appropriate) and was happy to talk about the fact that he had 21 different types of rice and supplied the hotel.

By 9pm thing were beginning to quieten down on the street and I walked back to the hotel. I was attracted by the noise of fireworks nearby and went to investigate. It turned out that there was a wedding celebration going on. Obviously, in India this is done by setting off fireworks in the middle of a road, whilst cars, trucks and buses go past. How else would you do it?