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It's not all "slumdog" in buzzing Bombay - or Mumbai, as it is now known! OutUK correspondent Adrian Gillan
flies direct to India’s financial, media and party capital!
In the world's largest democracy, homosexual activity was still a crime punishable by life imprisonment up until September 2018 because of an anachronistic ban introduced by the British Raj in the 19th century. In the historic 2018 decision, India's Supreme Court ruled that gay sex is no longer a criminal offence. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in India are afforded greater protections than those in many other Asian countries. There are no legal restrictions against gay sex or gay expression. Same-sex couples have equal cohabitation rights, colloquially known as live-in relationships. However in October 2023 the Indian Supreme Court decided not to rule in favour of gay marriage saying that the state had to study the impact of any change in this regard and then legislate. Amidst strong political movements in favour of LGBT rights, people are more accepting of same-sex relationships, with around three out of four Indians supporting them according to an opinion poll. In the 2010s, LGBT people in India increasingly gained tolerance and acceptance, especially in large cities and nowadays there are Gay Pride marches in most major cities, some vibrant gay pressure groups and publications and India officially accepts people who are transgender.
Originally a string of scarce-inhabited islands off the mid-west Indian coast; snubbed by the Portuguese who preferred Goa a few hundred miles south; gifted to the Brits who turned her into the commercial “gateway of India”, to ruthlessly exploit the “jewel in the crown”; eventual hotbed of Indian nationalism and independence, and subsequent industrial powerhouse, wooing hoards seeking work; a paradoxical city of contrasts, with extremes of wealth and poverty - fashion and Bollywood glitz cheek-by-jowl with sprawling slums… welcome to capital of Maharashtra state, Mumbai, or Bombay as still widely-known! Despite independence in 1947, subsequent partition and war with Pakistan, three Ghandi assassinations and a ‘Westernised’ middleclass growing amidst still-endemic privation and pollution, India continues to emerge as a – perhaps the – military and economic powerhouse of the 21st Century. |
Marine Drive Mumbai. Courtesy: Mumbai Travel Corp.
| The planet's second most populous nation is also the world's biggest democracy and its governments operate under the rule of law, allowing a fairly free press. India is home to a sixth of Earth's people and therefore presumably a sixth of its gay people but being gay is still very much socially frowned upon by many. Despite this, a small still-fragmented and largely affluent gay community is emerging, not least in cosmopolitan hubs like Delhi and Mumbai. |
Mumbai - India's Gateway.Courtesy: Mumbai Travel Corp. |
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India’s population: 1 billion. Greater Mumbai population: over 13 million. Visa needed for British visitors. No special jabs, although malaria tablets are advisable during
the monsoon (June-Sept). Nowadays a rupee is approximately equal to a UK penny. Time difference: GMT +5½ hrs. Most pleasant weather, Oct-Mar, when not too hot - or wet! Unlike Delhi, Mumbai has no metro,
just ride-the-roof-crowded trains to and from the ‘burbs – so it’s mainly a case of (to us) dirt-cheap cabs, plus auto-rickshaws once north of Bandra. Petty crime is no
more prevalent than in any other big Asian city - just keep your wits, and valuables, about you. Brace yourself for a high visual dose of poverty, not least
in the slums and ‘skirts. English is fairly widely spoken. Free wifi is common in more modern cafes. Dodge the holy cows and barking street dogs!
Note: To cut risk of tummy upset, always drink bottled water; avoid ice cubes, salads, peeled-fruit, buffets, street stalls and quiet restaurants; and try to eat food you can see being freshly cooked. That said, don’t just retreat – as many a timid tourist does – into the nearest Starbucks or Pizza Express! TO STAYBentley's Hotel (17 Oliver Road, off Garden Road, Colaba, Mumbai; T: +91 22 22 84 1474) is a basic, clean, secure, well-run, great-value affair, in a quiet road yet a mere stone’s throw from the “Gateway of India” and many other major Mumbai sights. Nice breakfast too. You can check out other hotels at great prices at our partners Booking.com.TO DOAs you fly in, it can seem daunting - the 30 miles of sprawling humanity that stretches southwards from the airport right down to the Colaba peninsula – itself home to many hotels, eateries and well-known sights, and so the natural place to base oneself. The "Colaba Causeway" road is brimming with restaurants, plus bars and clubs, most of which tend to close by 1am, yielding to late-night cafs.All in easy walking just north of Colaba district, take in the iconic, imposing Gateway of India and Taj Mahal Hotel, both looking out onto the Harbour, before strolling up to the Prince of Wales Museum for old Indian artefacts, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) and Jehangir Art Gallery for more contemporary fare; then ambling further up along the cricket-crazy grassy spine of ‘maidan’ parks to the Fort area, passing the imposing Raj-era buildings like Mumbai University with its Rajabai Clock Tower, suburban train network hub, Churchgate station, plus the High Court and Horniman Circle, with its Asiatic Society. Eventually, you will reach the grand General Post Office and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (a.k.a. Victoria Station – incidentally, site of that final mass dance climax in Slumdog Millionaire), and beyond it, bustling Crawford Market. Barter for cheap clothes on “Fashion Street” market (Mahatma Ganghi Road, at Azad Maidan). See a local film with the natives here, in the very home of Bollywood, at the lovely Art Deco Regal Cinema, at the top of Colaba Causeway! On the western side of the peninsula, along the Back Bay, lies the vast sweep of Marine Drive (a.k.a. “Queen’s Necklace”) - from the high-rises of Nariman Point in the south up to busy Chowpatty Beach in the north – flanked on the landward side by numerous Art Deco mansion blocks, plus stadia and sports grounds. Quite some way yet further north is another sweeping (this time bridge-spanned) bay, guarded by old Worli Fort to the south and Bandra Fort to the north. Beach-hugging Art Deco-brimming Bandra West district itself is now a trendy nightlife area, with a more laid-back, diverse, air. Further afield, Elephanta Island – with its majestic UNESCO World Heritage Site temples carved into basalt rock strata – can be easily reached, about an hour by frequent boat from one of the wharves around the Gateway of India. Or do a tiger safari - maybe even descending the Kanheri Caves - in the vast Sanjay Gandhi National Park. If feeling lazy, you can always do a Mumbai City Highlights Tour! 11 hours by train (an eye-opening experience in itself, not least in 3rd Class) from Mumbai, Goa has its own fair hippy-gay quota. With hoards of European package tourists, plus increasing numbers of the Indian middle-class, the more popular northern beaches have, however, been compared to Benidorm! QUEER AZAADI MUMBAI PRIDE | |
| Queer Azaadi Mumbai Pride March ("Azaadi" meaning "freedom" in Hindi and Urdu), is also called Queer Azaadi March and Mumbai Pride March. It is an annual LGBT+ Pride parade which has been held in Mumbai every year since 2005. It usually begins from Gowalia Tank (popularly known as August Kranti Maidan) and ends at Girgaum Chowpatty. |
Photo: NamanKoul CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons |
The Mumbai Pride Week is organized by Queer Azaadi Mumbai a collective of organisations and individuals working for the rights of
LGBT+ community throughout India. As well as being a celebration of Gay Pride it's also a platform to campaign for equal rights.
TO BOOZE ‘N BOPBecause of the legal restrictions, Mumbai's scene is spread-out and still emerging. There are a few venues offering weekly nights and occasional weekend evenings, often with a colourful and diverse crowd.Alternatively, gents oft “take airs” on the coastal promenade just south of the Gateway of India or along the north fringe of Azad Maidan, where you will doubtless be approached by rent nominally offering “massages”; or guys hook up at any number of “public facilities” - not least at the main railways station - or simply when up close and personal on a rush-hour train! As ever, beware. You can find out more about the sights of Mumbai on the local tourist website: www.incredibleindia.org.
Revised November 2024. | |
