Tulsi.
Friday at noon, for a short while, I was running around the Chembur Cremation Ground/Electric crematorium looking around for Tulsi leaves. I was there for a friend's cremation and the last rites involved placing among other things, tulsi leaves (which an uncle had forgotten to buy from the market) on the lips . We didn't find a Tulsi plant in the relatively green grounds.
But, Madh and Versova fishing villages are among the few places in Mumbai where homes still have a place for the Tulsi or the Holy Basil plant (some now are home to the more Mumbai-appropriate money-plant and wild weeds). For the rest, Tulsi was a character from a soap.
Also, note the travelling salesman selling cloth in the last picture. Life goes on a different pace in these villages. It's closer to the pace of life in the open sea and the rise and ebb of tides.
