Bazaar Walks: Insider-Outsider

We were on a walk in the area near Chor Bazaar when a very heavy handcart stopped because of the traffic. When the traffic lights turned green, the load pullers simply couldn't get the cart going again.

My guests that day for the walk were a group of expats, living in Bombay. On an impulse, one of them dashed into the middle of the street to give the cart a helping hand.

The man at the back of the cart welcomed the added muscle power, and in a couple of minutes, the cart got moving again. My guest returned, grinning, dusting his palms. I couldn't help grinning back.

You can choose to get into the heart of a country, or you can choose to be an observer. Whatever floats your boat. The streets are there, the people are there, the experiences are there as well, waiting. What you get from them is your choice.

For me, walking in this area is always difficult, given my vegetarian Brahmin upbringing. I'm simply not used to meat. Here, everywhere, there is meat - on the hoof, being stirred, roasted, spitted, or tandoored. It has taken me a bit to get used to it. But as I do this walk more and more often, I find myself getting comfortable with it.

For me, personally, this walk is all about acceptance. I don't think I will ever eat meat. So this walk is not about changing myself. What this walk does for me though, is that it makes me understand in a simple practical way that everyone is not the same. Every thing that my little community or tribe or religion does is not the only way to live.

It's quite an eye-opener.