our street

Here is Alagar, one of the taxi drivers in our street. they are standing all day on the corner of our tiny street, and another slightly longer street. sometimes the drivers sleep in their car during the hot days, legs sticking out of the door; or sit on their haunches, and talk together, or argue.

There are several lovely and interesting dogs living in these streets.

the Taj hotel is very near by and when there was this terrible shoot-out in 2008, lasting 4 days it must have been terrifying for all the people in this neighbourhood. we ourselves arrived just a few days after the shooting stopped, and everywhere there were armed men, army, police etc.

One of those dogs here, when he was still very young would run after bicycles and bark and try to grab the feet of the cyclist, so they named him Kasab, the name of the only surviving terrorist who was eventually hanged. then when the dog became much sweeter, they called him Charley, but when he runs after a bike or another dog, he is called kasab.

The first time i saw him, some years ago, he was lying on his back, fast asleep in a curved, part of the wall surrounding a house. i went over and stroked him and he stretched and smiled. it was then that the taxi men told me his name, and from that there followed a very long conversation about the shooting event, terrorism, religion, tolerance and all sorts of other things about life, dogs, salaries, family far away in the south of India, their loneliness here in the city.

That was the night of our departure to Spain, just at the moment when i sort of had enough of India, but suddenly, standing in the warm evening, on the way to a little restaurant to have dinner before that very late flight, we mellowed out and stood there for almost an hour.

i fell in love all over again, we had dinner, walked back past the taxi drivers, now our friends, took a shower, took the luggage down, the taxi came and we left with our hearts warmed, talking all the way to the airport about coming back again, later in the year.

so here is a photo of Charley-Kasap and Alagar, one of the taxi drivers who is still our friend.