The Mumbai Portal, that is stationed at Azad Maidan, as part of the marathon, is a way for Mumbaikars to correspond with their own from across the world
Pic/Datta Khumbar
This golden yellow metal box is not just a shipping container, but a window that opens up to strangers across different continents. The Mumbai Portal, which is a part of the Mumbai marathon, is a huge screen that encapsulates conversation with 30 different portals across the world.
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There is a huge screen on the front, a lamp on the right with an air conditioner surrounded by mikes and speakers. The conversation is relayed in a way that it feels that people are having actual conversations in the same room.
For instance, on Friday night, Ola driver Kanchi Shah, 30, shared her experiences with another cab driver from New York on several issues; including safety of women. All this happened inside the golden yellow container kept at Azad Maidan, which is part of the Mumbai Marathon.
Women cabbies
Most cab drivers in Mumbai don’t have female drivers. But one rare cab driver, Ola’s Kanchi Shah, spoke to driver Samuel Howusu from New York, who works with Lyft. Howusu originally belongs to Ghana but has been staying in New York for the last 10 years. “We had a conversation for almost 40 minutes. The first thing that he asked was the time, which was around 10 pm, and then asked if Mumbai was safe for women this late. This is the perception of people in other parts of the world. We then discussed the issues faced by women cab drivers and passengers at large,” Shah told mid-day. She added that despite there being a 24-hour helpline for women, there is a need for better infrastructure and conditions for women and that the response time in times of emergency, needs to be quicker. “He was enquiring about the ease of doing business in India,” said Shah. They talked about the road traffic conditions in Mumbai and New York as well. Shah has been riding her vehicle for the past two years now and is a resident of Malad.
Portals like these exist all over the world, right from New York City to Berlin, Iraq and Gaza. This is the first time that such a portal is being set up in Mumbai, and it will be operational between from January 12 to 15.
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