The Juhu Spectacle

I will write about my experience at Juhu beach in Mumbai few days back, and give name to it the Juhu Spectacle. It was really a very interesting experience. Seema and myself went to the beach (locally called chowpatty) in the evening with the main purpose of buying souvenirs, especially that of made of shell, such as conch, or bead made of small shells for window decorations, etc. with the additional plan to have an evening stroll in the beach.

It was just evening when we reached the beach by auto rickshaw. The sun had set, though the place was not totally dark. Things were visible. The sea, the Arabian Sea had receded a little, may be, because of low tide. People were, almost all people in the beach, were marching in flocks to the muddy space left by the receding sea. It was full of mud, and also a layer of black substance could be visible on the surface. About the sea beach, the Juhu beach is perhaps not one of the best beaches in India. I prefer the one at Puri, which is clean, and the sand quality there I think is better than Juhu. There is no industrial pollution, sewage flowing into sea. Because of humid climate at Juhu, one can usually feel a stench of humid air thrusting into nostrils. Hence, in that sense it is not the best sea beach I have seen. But, it is one of the most popular sea beaches in India; besides its popular nature, its locality as it resorts residences of some popular bollywood stars and famous hotels and theatres has eked out a special place in mind of every Mumbaikar, everyone who visits Mumbai.

The beach has many special qualities. Here, there is no discrimination, no inequality, no high and low, no upper and lower in the Juhu – the extraordinary Juhu is perhaps the reflection of egalitarian culture of Indian society and its people. One can come across all kinds of people roaming in the beach. The rich, the gym going people jogging in the beach, small children playing with sands, artists making here and there sand statutes like that of Lord Shiva that I saw, and also some hawkers selling Chinese products like cheap lights attractive to children, and balloon wallahs flying balloons, and so on. Not only that, one can find almost all kinds of eatables starting from Vada Pav to Chat papdi, all kinds of Indian foods are available, particularly the quick foods. The beach is not only a beach of sands, but it is a beach reflecting the multitude of India, the Indianness, the India in its diversity.

But, there is a difference which I found that day. Earlier the stalls were less, leaving enough open space for people to walk, to wander, to stroll, to enjoy. But, when Seema and myself searched for those stalls, we found none, not even a single one. I asked some of the hawkers selling peanuts, tea, while wandering there. They said it is because of municipality raid, all of them have temporarily vanished into some corner, and once the municipality people go, they will come and occupy the place. My reason for being anxious was to buy the shell products. I saw the municipality vehicle, a truck with a huge closed space behind, perhaps to take away quick to fix stalls, standing just on the road nearest to the beach. I waited about two and half hours, from about 6PM to 8.30PM till the vehicle stood there, because I wanted to ‘finish’ the thing so that I will not have to come again for buying souvenir.

Around 8.30PM, the municipality vehicle disappeared. To divert a little, the municipality is really a dreaded thing for the people, mainly for the poor people. I have seen people, poor people, selling fruits, or some eatables, or vegetables fall victim to the whims and caprices of the municipality. I do not know how much the illegality committed by them can be compensated by illegality committed by the rich. Anyhow, I will not go into details of this. Illegality is illegality, whether committed by the rich or by the poor, perhaps there can be more welfare programs.

Anyhow after 8.30PM I saw the spectacle, which I call the Juhu spectacle. One by one stall, with wheels, started rolling towards the beach, not one, two, or three, but a number of stalls succeeded quickly one by one, from their hiding place towards the beach. As if a caravan of stalls, or rather caravans of poor man’s dreams are marching into the middle of the multitude! It is the fear of the municipality that could make them vanished in seconds, and the absence of municipality could lead to their resurgence, as if it is the regeneration, the rebirth of something spectacular. I did not have the camera with me hence I failed to capture those glimpses. All kinds of stalls, little, medium with various colours marched to the beach. Though I could not find any stall selling shell products, but I was thankful to nature in its multitude to provide the occasion to relish this spectacle.