Day 2: Lovers & Friends at Juhu!

So after sleeping until about 3:30pm, I finally woke up and attempted to explore some of Mumbai. I couldn't resist the beautiful beach any longer so I grabbed my camera and walked literally just 2 minutes away from my room and was there! What I initially planned on doing for about 3 hours turned into an all day experience. I couldn’t stop taking pictures and watching all the lovers on Juhu beach. I was totally shocked when I saw so many couples embracing the beautiful day with public displays of affection because I expected the city to be super conservative. Someone even told me that juhu is the place to be when you're in love because no one judges you for it! I was immediately captivated by the amount of affectionate men that I saw there. There were countless men holding hands with each other, hugging and publicly smooching their wives/lady friends, and playing with their kids and family. It was so refreshing to see men in that role! It was nothing at all to see a group of guys all holding hands or linking their pinky fingers. It was in the middle of the day and everyone just seemed so happy to be on their Sunday holiday as they called it. 

At first I was really nervous about taking photos especially since there were several professional photographers carrying around equipment and a price menu. But eventually the people starting asking me to take their pictures- the photographers included! Even though few spoke English, most managed to ask me, “from where are you coming?” I definitely stood out like a sore thumb but luckily it wasn’t too awkward. Most of the little kids were playing and splashing me with the water as I walked on the shallow end.  I saw a pretty intense game of soccer where the boys played from all age groups (about 10 to 70 years old). Then I walked into a game of cricket. One of the elders in the bunch asked me if I wanted to play but I decided to stay in my lane as the spectator!

Out of nowhere this woman starts waving her henna art in front of me and she grabs my arm with a smile. She tells me that I should let her put ONE free henna stamp on my palm....next thing I know my entire arm is stamped and she tells me that it will cost me Rs500 (which is about $10 US dollars). I didn't mind since it was so beautiful and she was very charming. Eventually a swarm of people started to surround me so I asked her if I could pay her where it was less crowded. As we walked she started to tell me that her family would really appreciate the money and that she needed a lot of help. That her husband was bad and she had 3 babies. She even asked if she could show me where she lived I guess so I can see for myself what she was trying to describe. The social entrepreneurship wheels in my head starting churning and I wondered if she was apart of a group that was organized in doing henna for people. Unfortunately she didn't speak English well so I couldn't get an idea of how her henna making was a sustainable job for her and possibly her family. It seems like it would be a very convenient venture for women to coalesce around henna making especially since its embedded in the culture for wedding ceremonies and its an easy sell for tourists. I wondered about how profitable henna making was and who actually pocketed the proceeds. Who supplied the materials and where were they stored? Who did the designs? I wish I could have interviewed her to learn more about this but I definitely look forward to asking around tomorrow and possibly even some of the social entrepreneurs that we meet. How do you make something that is such a fixture in your culture a market that directly benefits the individuals involved? By the way she begged me to come back the next day and kept trying to share with me her story, it didn't seem like she was able to pocket much of the money she made from doing henna.

Juhu Beach was so beautiful that I spent my entire day in the water and the sand soaking up the sun! Today I was just so amazed that I was actually in India but tomorrow I will have to be more intentional about getting my questions answered!!