A virtual tour of our neighbourhood

Alistair recently got a new bike (an early Christmas present as his trike had 'died' from so much use). On one of the dry afternoons in monsoon I took him for a ride, with Freya in the buggy. This was quite a novelty as usually it is far to hot to do anything resembling outdoor physical exercise.
These shots give you an idea of the streets around where we live. This first one is right outside our gate and features the ever-present rubbish dump. This is it looking pretty minimal actually and without the usual array of 'wildlife' namely pigs, dogs and crows, that feed off whatever they can find.
In the mornings the rubbish is collected from outside our flat, loaded into big buckets then taken across the road and dumped here. Ladies then spend several hours picking through the rubbish looking for anything salvageable. This is one of the many sights in India that makes my heart cry out. Why are they destined to this life, purely because of the caste they were born into? This has to be one of the most degrading occupations. Imagine the stench, in 35 degree heat...

This picture of Alistair is not just a nice one of him but also, I think, quite poignant. The contrast between all that he has available to him by virtue of his birth versus the simple, difficult life of these children in the slum behind. I felt really quite uncomfortable taking this picture although, as always, I was greeted with smiles.

Round the corner. . . and here you can see one of many luxury high rises going up all over Thane and Mumbai. Another stark contrast between the homes of the middle classes who are increasingly purchasing these kinds of properties, and those of the construction workers who build them.
This is just one of 8 or so similar towers under construction right outside our window. The families of the construction workers (like those in the 2nd picture) live on site in slum dwellings. When the building is finished, their homes are pulled down and they move on. We have posted pictures before of the slum outside our window.