dhobi delirious...

india never stops amazing, and it never stops breaking your heart.
you see people from every part of the city, from people living on causeways to drinking martinis in hotels, beaming. a billion people, excited to be alive. it's incredible.

yesterday karun, grace and i were driving by this massive neighborhood. it is where people wash the clothes of bombay. it's called the dhobi ghats, and it is part of the biggest slum in asia. the dhobi ghats is miles and miles of mud huts, designed for
5000 men to wash other people's clothes. it's amazing. karun and i had been there exactly one year before, and i had taken a picture of this gorgeous young woman. when we got out of the car, i was casually looking for her, and then, suddenly, she tapped me on the shoulder. how wild. she knew exactly who i was. but sad too, because i can safely say, my life has changed so much in this year, and hers has likely not changed at all. she is still trying to sell postcards on the side of the highway to tourists who come to see their laundry getting washed. how do we explain this curve of fate?


A year ago, December 2004.



December 2005