Having completely failed to sleep last night I thought that I'd go out before dawn and get some photos across Mumbai Harbour as the sun rose. Everyone will be asleep I reasoned, so I'd be able to get a few photos without any hassle. I was partly right... It seems that when the people aren't up then the dogs and the birds take the few hours of ownership they can get seriously. I'd barely made it out of the hotel before I was being growled at by a group of dogs. Deciding that they were welcome to the pavement I moved away quickly, though obviously showing no fear... The pavements by the harbour were flocking with large crows, but they grudgingly moved aside to allow me to take a few photos of the harbour, The Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Palace and Hotel:
It's big - I'll grant you, but rather less beautiful than the 17th century one inspired by grief and love. This 20th century behemoth was apparently built by a man, having been refused entry to another hotel, with a point to make. Still if this was the usual result of an overzealous bouncer the world would be a very different place.
I digress. Apologies. Back to the Fellowship.
Feeling rather more prepared today I returned to the High Court to see if I could get a better understanding of how the legal system here works or perhaps find out more about what people think of brain scanning-based lie detection. It took a while to get in as first I had to fill out a log explaining who I was and which case I was entering to see. With no case number, name of accused or crime they may have been accused of I was struggling. Wanting to enter for general research had no place on the form, so instead, finally I was told to write that I wanted to enter for a trial in court 18 (I never did get a realistic idea of the number of courts in there or the number of trials taking place at any one time or indeed the range of trials taking place).
Sadly I couldn't take my camera in, but the inside felt like a strange cross between a bureaucratic asylum, a gothic castle and a train station. Confused looking people were passing large files of case notes between each other, if not making more copies of them in the Xerox centre. All of this in a labyrinthine stone structure with unmarked doors save from a LED ticker-tape display above each, which may have been pronouncing judgements going on inside or saying which trial was coming up next. I tried to ask a few people what was going on or what the procedures were and at one point of asking was told by an official at a door that this was the room for 'the liars and their advocates', but I never got a lot further. It was certainly the first place I've been to in Mumbai where I was guaranteed no hassle. The people in there were far to overwhelmed with the processes they were attempting to navigate than to have time to talk to me. This may well be a slight red herring for my fellowship, but I think I need to speak to some lawyers and come back for a third visit. The people inside have too much going on, but I want to find out what passers by think (or those entering or leaving) about evidence and how it is applied and where they think brain scanning-based lie dectection can or should fit in to the mix.
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