blood and gore in the new hood

Tuesday was Bakri Id. I usually don't notice Id too much except that I see all of the goats being carted in the rickshaws to their temporary home before being sacrificed. But this year with our new apartment I overlook what is aparently a muslim area. So as the days lead up to Id, i saw the number of goats on the roof opposite mine increase. I was having a hard time dealing with them up there to be honest. I kept worrying about them falling off or getting caught up in the rope they were tied up with. And they were also not happy.. they were bleating and moaning for the first day. :(

Then came Id... I was so scared they might slaughter them on the roof where I could see/hear/smell everything. Thankfully they did not. However I did watch them slowly disappear one by one and a few times I could hear the ferocious scream as they were being killed. Oh so sad!

And lucky for me, I had to go to town for a meeting. Urgh.. I wish i didn't go out. The roads had puddles of blood draining down them - all over the place! And as I got closer to Central Mumbai i could see the blood spots out in front of apartment buildings where they must have done the sacrifice. And seeing all the men walking around in their white kurta's splattered with blood. Oh you can tell it was not my favorite day in the neighborhood! haha.

To top the day off, on my way home from town I saw a dead cow's head sticking out of a dumpster with it's legs hanging out of a second dump. YUCK! not sure what happened there. but i guess they couldn't really leave a huge dead cow lying on the roadside. I had just never thought about what they do with them!

And last night... i heard a big crash and ran out on the balcony to see what was going on. By the time I got there ( 10 seconds maximum!) there was already a crowd of at least 100 milling about. They were screaming, yelling, pulling people aside, etc. I still have no real clue what happened. I think perhaps a bicycle, motorcycle and a rickshaw were involved. And I know that two limp bloody bodies were put in separate rickshaws to be taken to the hospital. I can still see the blood stains on the road. But this is Mumbai.. you are never alone and there will be hundreds there to help within seconds! It's really amazing to be honest.

So it seems that our new neighborhood has much more to offer than our past one where all we saw was the rich and famous honk their way into Olive!