Mornings of Mumbai - Dadar Flower Market: The journey

18th February, 2015
5:15 AM
Vashi railway station, Navi Mumbai

Dawn is about to break, and sun is yet to peep out,

Roads devoid of horns, and calmness all around.

As I board the train and while I embark the ride

Crowded coaches at six take me by surprise.

And while the train heads Dadar,

All that I witness further makes me wonder!

How pleasant is the view of Vashi creek,

Shores of which are dotted with innumerable white migratory fleets.

And the not so pleasant scene along railway track,

Lined with people discarding their biological crap.

From cramped lanes and weathered shanty houses to sky kissing towers,

The route had all the extremes to offer.

While my eyes wandered out and gazed around,

The destination arrived unnoticed and a push from the back got me down.

With the vividness of the journey in heart,

There I reach Dadar to explore its signature wholesale flower mart...

Storm of flowers and riot of colours,
Six thirty in the morning and unbelievable horde of people!!!

Mornings of Mumbai

A lot is said and written about ‘The city that never sleeps’ but then unless you don’t live it each day by no means you can fathom what this ‘Maximum city’ is all about. After relocating to this city, for months I went exploring aimlessly. As I shoved my way across its streets and maddening crowd one thing that struck me explicitly was the unremitting transformations in the character and mood of the city. It almost felt like a  fabric wherein its people, its suburban railways, other form of private and public transport, its streets, its real estate are intricately woven together to form a very complex labyrinth. At times while crossing a shanty settlement by train or while passing by sky kissing towers, this city seemed like a mystery to me. A mystery where in it appeared as if the city is offering you it’s entire range of ingredients and it’s left to us as how do we combine them, merge them and use them in a way best suitable. As they say ‘mumbai main toh sab bhagte hi rehte hai’, may be this is one of the reason. Everyone is occupied and running around to gather and bring together ‘their’ ingredients.

Amid these ingredients that this enormous city has to offer what captivates me the most is its ever-changing mood. And few moods are such that they are not visible upfront and one has to actually move out of their comfort zone to experience them. Each morning when most of us are pushing ourselves out of the bed there is a section of society who are keeping things ready for us -may it be your dudhwala or the car cleaner or your puja flowers and newspaper delivery guy. Such activities are innumerable and they silently and seamlessly take place without we having even a hint of it. With this came the idea of ‘Mornings of Mumbai’.

‘Mornings of Mumbai’ is a photo explorative effort to understand the dynamics of each morning in this ‘city of extremes’.

An early morning walk sometime in October 2015

Moraj Junction, Navi Mumbai

5:30am - Palm beach road - Before the dawn breaks... 

6:00am - How about few more naps before the day begins...

6:05am - Last five minute nap as the sun rises...

6:10am - The dawn

As someone takes a lazy nap, there is someone waking up to the rays...

6:15am - The morning action begins... time to sort...

Early morning feast... 

A foggy morning and time to warm up and burn some calories

6:45am - All sorted... time to deliver some hot news at the doorstep...

 Time for some hot news with some tea... Wanna join :)

 

Mount Mary Festival, Mumbai - The celebration of hope and faith

Mount Mary Road

19^th September, 2015

Groups of people walking towards the Mount Mary church

The most sought after festival of Christians after Christmas in Mumbai is unarguably the Mount Mary festival, held at the Mount Mary Church, Bandra. The festival is a week-long affair accompanied by a fair held on the Mount Mary road near the church complex.

The wax miniatures and two young lads 

The fair largely has stalls selling wax dummies of various things like a house, a baby or that of a limb, boat etc. The whole idea is, for all that you wish for, buy a dummy of the same and offer it to Mother Mary. It’s a faith with which people come to the festival that Mother Mary will fulfill their wishes.

What surprised me the most is that it seemed less of a Christian festival than a celebration of faith. And this was evident from the crowd which visited the festival. It had more number of Gujaratis, Maharashtrians, Punjabis, etc. than Christians.

The idols of  Lord Jesus

The beautiful interiors of the Mount Mary church

While a whole lot of people walked on the demarcated pathway, for me it was a blissful cloudy afternoon, walking up the Mount Mary road, feeling the south west monsoon winds and the intermittent glimpse of the sea and rushing waves from the narrow aisle formed by the towers along the road. And the religious ambience around added to the whole experience.  

The serene environs and the wild waves forming the backdrop

Juhu Beach - As the sun sets...

An evening of February 8, 2015...

Colourful beach wear and decorative shacks,

Swanky beach side bars and feet tapping music.

When its beaches, all of these is what we think,

But then there's much more to it than just these sumptuous things.

Some scattered candyfloss vendors,

And some astrologers on the move.

One selling smiles on a stick,

And other making you grin with his fancy future picks.

Some ‘bhuttawalas’ here,

And colourful ice gola stalls somewhere.

One warming up the evening with its roasted corn and tangy spice,

And other freezing the taste buds with a plate full of flavoured ice.

As the young folks rejoice the waves,

Kids try their hand over the sand and its cave.

While some couples share love over a coconut,

There are friends posing for a groupfie against the sea, the shack and the hut.

The beach and the sand may seem the same each day.

But these small little activities make it a place that is different every day.

Eyes Closed

Eyes closed,  

With darkness within,

Dark enough to exhort to search,

Search for light, Light that is contained inside,

Light that surrounds outside, which cannot be seen, but can only be felt,

With eyes closed...

Eyes closed,

With prayers within,

Prayers to get strength,

Strength to differentiate,

The right and the wrong,

Even with eyes closed...

Eyes closed,

With dreams within,

Waiting to get alive,

To live a moment,

A moment to remember and recall,

With eyes closed...

A lot to see and lot to feel,

With eyes closed…

Just be with yourself and listen,

With eyes closed...

Kanyadaan

Marriage... The most awaited event in everybody's life... Everything has been written and said about it and I have nothing more or different to add to it.

But, there is a small ritual which when happened during my marriage, touched my heart and would like to share it...

After Kandyadaan and Mangalphera, groom holds the aanchal of his mother-in-law, and promises to leave only when she would fulfill his demand... He asks his mother-in-law to gift him something really precious and only then he would let off his aanchal...

After listening to her son-in-law's demand, with tears in her eyes, says that " My dear son... I have already gifted you the most priced possession of my life, my daughter... What more precious gift can I give you?"

With this answer, nothing was left to ask or say...

And a mother gifts her 28 years of hard work and love to a man, who, she expects would love her daughter more than her...

I salute to the parents of a daughter...

15th August

Food is for the perishable
Exploring one’s identity is what makes a Soul alive

It is freedom…
Freedom to think
Freedom to be what you are
Freedom to be what you want to be

Without…
Without which a soul dies
And, the search for the identity ceases to exist
The identity that is bonded with this Land, with this Country

It’s the Independence Day!
And let us not forget the indispensible gift of this great Nation to us - FREEDOM

But...
Still a lot is left to set free

On this day of 15th August,
Let us make an effort to set our minds free

Free from prejudice and discrimination
From hatred and fear
Let us stand up for what is right
And gather courage to say no to the wrong.

Happy Independence Day!
Let’s celebrate freedom