Loitering In Kamathipura

See Mumbai in a new light with RaahGeer Citywalks, which takes you on night walking tours inside the red-light district.

- Cynthia Lewis

FANNING OUT like a fishbone along Manaji Rajuji Road, the 14 lanes that make up Kamathipura are densely populated and constantly in a flux. Scooters wind through the crowds at breakneck speeds; handcarts part the crowds by force. If you walk too slowly — or, god forbid, stand still — people stare. It’s not just the people, but the very geography of the area that’s on the move.

I visited Kamathipura with Deepa Nandi, the founder of RaahGeer Citywalks (raahgeercitywalks.com), a group that conducts self-researched walking tours through 34 areas in Mumbai alone, and 30 cities across the country. According to Nandi, Kamathipura gets its name from kamathis (labourers). “In 1795, Governor William Hornby commissioned the construction of the [causeway that linked the] seven islands, [creating Bombay]. That was the time when many people were called to this place. You need construction workers; you need labourers. So, a lot of labourers settled here, and after the construction of the seven islands was done, these people ran out of work.” Families streamed in from all corners, and as the jobs for men dried up, the women took to the streets.