This morning while chatting with one of the Indian sweepers for the apartment complex I asked him what is the significances of having the white powder smeared across his forehead. He told me that it is a form reminder of the impermanence of life, that when we die and our body is being cremated all that is left is the ash. The ash used he told me is actually made from cow dung and is imported from India. The picture above  of the dilapidated shack falling apart in the mud reminds me of this same sense of impermanence. For the past few years i have been taking this same picture just to keep reminding myself of this end to all things including myself.

It is not an easy effort to build houses on the water and in the mud and the pillars are often rotted or eaten by barnacles if not sheathed with a fiber glass tubing. These are the few homes and storage houses for the fishermen who ply the sea for a living. I have been coming to this jetty for over fifteen years now finding some solace from the rhythm of the day to day life of living in the city. Flying proudly in the skyline are the Country and State flags.

Against the skyline of tall apartment buildings fishing boats lay stuck in the mud at low tide and the boardwalk stretches towards the highway that runs filling the air with the constant roar of traffic. This part of the seashore is actually reclaimed land including the freeway and most of those now living in the low cost apartments were once people living along the shoreline and most were fishermen by trade. 

I load these pictures to share what it is like in my life, one of those places that i have spent my time to escape from the monotony of living in an apartment where most tenants keep to themselves and barely say hello in the elevators until I take a jab at them with some off the wall greeting or comment. I have been reminded that relationships with others is a very crucial aspect of life and being congenial is an art when living in a multi-racial society.