The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay “A free, really high quality photo-essay magazine.  Fabulous!” Stephen Fry. British actor, writer and film & documentary maker Aug 2013 BACK ISSUE Meet Mumbai: Abysses among castes, among rich and poor, equality among the sacred and the material. So many Gods they fall like rain during the monsoons, but only one does not evaporate: Ganesha. The one who knows, who gives prosperity, breath, life and vital force. by Alfons Rodriguez   From Chowpatty Beach, Mumbai families stare at the city skyline and spend evenings and weekends far  away from noisy down-town. Women taking fresh fish from the Sasson docks - South of Colaba - to the city markets. Around 60 rupies (one dollar) is not much for two kilos of shrimps. A sleeper-man taking a rest during the morning, in the down town, near The Gate of India. Any place is a good place to sleep. The Sasson Docks is one of the most lively zones of the south city. Fishermen frequent this area with a frenetic activity all day long. On most of the big building sites, workers are under a sort of slavery or servitude; working a full day for just food and a shared room. Churchgate Station. A relatively calm morning. During rush hour, almost a million people cross this main station in Mumbai. Churchgate Station. Trains are the most popular form of transportation in Mumbai with several millions using them daily. Sleepers again. Any corner, any place is the perfect place to get a nap; no matter where and when and how crowded be the improvised bed. From Nariman Point, youngsters look West with hope and expectation at the arrival of a happy day; when this horizon won’t be grey and won’t be covered by a murky life of scarcity. All along Marine Drive, young couples look at the future thinking of the rich quarter of Malabar Hills or beyond. Love and hope, but a disjointed horizon. The Dobhi Ghats are problably the biggest laundry in the world. Thousands of people live in and work in this huge quarter, enterely dedicated to washing the clothes of the city. The people who live and work here are becoming a kind of subcaste. Is not easy to find solitude in this crowded city. Almost every minute of the day one is surrounded by a swirling sea of people.  But sometimes, it happens, maybe..... In Hanuman Nagar, a huge slum part of New Mumbai, more than 20,000 people are piled up in a few hundreds plastic shacks, with no water or electricity. But their mornings are like ours; the beginning of a new day in which to do great things. Northen coast of Greater Mumbai. Geographically, the City is an island.  The coast line is a very busy area inhabited by millions of people, and most of it is an enormous industrial belt. Gorei Kadhi, one of the biggest dumping sites of the city. In this huge quantity of garbage, hundreds of children and women work everyday, just to make a few rupies. The atmosphere is unbreathable. Around The Gate of India, the iconic and touristic place of one of the coolest Mumbai spots.  Millionaires from the luxury Taj Mahal Hotel pass-by children who spend the night on the street. Victoria Station kids are living in their own fantasies, caused by drugs and glue.  Usually they don't reach adult age.  A lack of everything, makes them disregard their lives and yet brave at same time.  They are evicted by society. They live on the street or inside the main train station. There, they spend their lives, taking drugs and waiting for the end… Around Cuffe Docks, East of Colaba, an inlet covered by garbage is where fishermen come home to after their hard day’s work. Children wait for them, being ignorant of the sad future that stretches out ahead of them; a future identical to their parents’ past. Chowpatty Beach. In front of the rich quarter, Malabar Hills.  This beach is a metaphor.  Like an open door through which hope and freedom can possibly be reached.