7 Islands and a Metro

A frayed rug round his shoulders, My father came down the Sahyadris And stood at your doorstep, With only his labour in his hands. -From “Mumbai” by Narayan Surve The multilingual Bombay, the Bombay of intolerance, the Bombay of closed mills, of popular culture, sprawling slums and real estate onslaughts, the metropolis of numerous ghettos, the El Dorado