Juhu Beach

Tom Pietrasik

Freelance

RIDING THE BIG WHEEL. PHOTO TOM PIETRASIK BOMBAY, INDIA. JUNE 22ND 2002 EVERY EVENING, LOCALS TOGETHER WITH TOURISTS FROM ACROSS INDIA, GATHER AT BOMBAY'S FAMOUS JUHU BEACH. AT A TIME OF NATIONAL COMMUNAL TENSION, THIS COSMOPOLITAN GATHERING REPRESENTS A MODEL FOR SECULAR INDIA. HINDUS BATHE ALONGSIDE MUSLIMS, FAMILIES FROM PUNJAB DRINK COCONUT WATER SOLD BY CHRISTIAN KERALITES AND LANGUAGES FROM GUJARATI TO BENGALI FILL THE AIR. THE JUHU SHORE-LINE BELIES THE HATE-FILLED RHETORIC OF INDIA’S HINDUTVA POLITICIANS INCLUDING BOMBAY’S GOVERNING SHIV SENA PARTY. THE POLLUTED WATER AND MONSOON RAIN DO NOT SEEM TO DETER BATHERS. JUHU IS PACKED WITH FOOD STALLS OFFERING PAU BHAJI AND PANI PURI. PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKE FAMILY PORTRAITS AND THEN NEGOCIATE A PRICE WITH THEIR CUSTOMERS. A VARIETY OF HAND-POWERED FAIRGROUND RIDES TURN TO THE RHYTHM OF POPULAR HINDI SONGS. AS DUSK SETTLES OVER THE COAST, THE SEA DARKENS BUT LIFE CONTINUES ALONG THE FLOOD-LIT SANDS.

Tom Pietrasik, "Juhu Beach," in POYi Archive, Item #33494, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/33494 (accessed May 18, 2024).