Haji Hali’s Mosque

Haji Hali’s Mosque

This mosque was built in the water, and can only be accessed through a pier, which gets covered with water at high tide. Therefore, this mosque is only accessible at low tide, as seen on this shot.

It was my first experience of a large crowd here in India, and I must admit it’s been tough. Under this heat, having so many people clustered on one tiny island is very overwhelming. Not just this, but also the fact that the path on the pier to get to the Mosque was full of people begging, often in very bad shape, missing limbs or with other various diseases, looking pretty awful.

It was a very hard sight to see but I guess that’s the reality here in India, and while it’s very hard to take in it raises about a million questions in your head as you witness it for the first time.

It was incredible to see how many people had made it today to this sight to give offerings to the body of Ali, a muslim who after dying in Mecca washed off to shore here in Mumbai. While people don’t seem to have a lot of possessions, they are happy to give to their religion, and walk passed dozens of beggars as they do so, with, or so it seems, very little indifference.