
A little girl jumps with a steel glass as a red flag roars with wind, she stays on the small hut which is attached to the pavement.
Mumbai, the city that never sleeps! Pulsating, alive, on the move, vibrant, fun – this is Mumbai or, as it is still frequently referred to, Bombay. The most modern city in India, it captures the spirit of the changing pace set by liberalization and modernization.With a population of 13 million, Mumbai is India’s largest city and its most diverse, cosmopolitan and westernized.

An adult woman learns cycling on rather small red cycle.
Mumbai has a transfusion of various communities, following different religions and customs. Mumbaikar or Bombayite are the terms used for the inhabitants of Mumbai. Mumbaikars are lively people, who live life to its fullest. It is a city which will make you feel poor and rich at the same time.

A Hijra in a red blouse takes some time out to rest and get some fresh air. The term Hijra is used for third gender and describes individuals who are categorized as neither man nor woman. As per estimates there are between 5 and 6 million Hijras in India.
Being Mumbaikar and staying here for the past 27 years, I have very close connection to Mumbai and its people. This essay “Random Red Numbers” is dedicated to several unnoticed people of Mumbai known for their warmth, love, anger, boldness, determination and courage just like the color red symbolizes. This project shows the random essence of Mumbai’s life around the Marine Drive pavement with the help of red numbers on walls, which were written by the local municipal body during a recent, extensive refurbishment and general neatening-up program.

A red shirt and denim jeans kept for drying under the sun on the pavement and a crow flies by. Each year Marine Drive also witnesses several people drown, particularly teenagers during high tides.
Marine Drive is a 4.3 kilometer long boulevard in South Mumbai that stretches north from Nariman Point’s high-rise buildings to the infamous Chowpatty Beach, located at the foot of Malabar Hill. The great wall, the queen’s necklace or simply Netaji Subhash Chandra Marg, whatever you may call it, Mumbai’s Marine Drive is popular among the young and the old alike. It’s the ultimate seaside promenade, where Mumbaikars come to escape the claustrophobia of central Mumbai, gratefully eyeing an endless horizon while strolling or jogging along the broad windswept promenade. Marine Drive is crowded with a diverse population of tourists, joggers, cyclists, street performers, kids, people from the aristocratic elite to the homeless and poor.

A black pigeon with red legs on the pavement, a small red plastic wrapper on the floor and beautiful Mumbai city in the backdrop. There are half a dozen legal kabutarkhanas in Mumbai, but almost every area has four to five illegal ones.
Marine Drive is where Mumbaikars come for a few moments of freedom from the stresses of commuting, of high living costs, of cramped homes. It is a place that breathes possibility.

A father and son in a red wheelchair with red cap on the morning walk.

A tired Alsatian with red collar and Mumbai in the backdrop. Hectic life, long work hours and sometimes no social life, but the young love Mumbai.

An old man in shiny red shirt.Mumbai is the perfect gateway to the fashion world thanks to its proximity to Bollywood.

A cyclist with a red cycle on a morning ride. The bicycle is a poor man’s transportation, the hobby of a rich man and a fitness activity for everyone.

A Madari with red slippers on with his jamurah (Monkey) resting after a street performance. Street performers are fading away just like the sparrows in our city.

A young, excited kid with red floaters on runs to have closer look at the sea – probably for the first time.

The red bike’s parked and a kid with racing t-shirt on takes a snap of his ride.

People representing all walks of life come to Mumbai. It is a place that breathes possibility.