Tardeo Road (Keshav Rao Khadye Marg)

Work Space Mumbai Series.
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Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road

The statue of R K Laxman's Common Man.

Lala Lajpatrai Road

Lapataganj - Haji Ali The subway and Haji Ali shrine surroundings are filled with missing faces and contact numbers. 

Western Express Highway, Bandra (E)

 Bad Breath.

Service Road, Western Express Highway

What October heat?

Mumbai is hot all year round. The heat made sticky and sweaty by the sea salted humidity that corrode window bars, vehicles, wreck havoc with electronic circuits and make buildings look older than their actual age. As the monsoon withdraws around Deepavali, Mumbai gets a second wave of summer. But life goes on... at Mumbai pace.

Sec 16, Vashi

 Light....run!

Outside the local Shiv Sena office, a few days back and before the election results.

Sane Guruji Marg (Arthur Road)

I didn't contest the recent Vidhan Sabha election but I was invited to join the government at a local train station on the Western Line this morning.

A young man in his twenties on his way to work gave me a warm smile and asked me if I have 15 minutes to spare just as the local I was waiting to catch was rolling in from the South. As I quickly scanned to see if the train was overflowing with people, he started off with a broad smile, "I welcome you to join the God's Government". But trains have the habit of moving at a faster pace than it appears to the human eye (as many deceased track crossers could have testified). The crowded train was in even before he completed the rest of the sentence and robbed me of the pleasure to observe his idea pitch. God's Government. That's an interesting opening line especially when the election fever is high. I would have surely told him about that line carved under the dome of the Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore that says: Government's work is God's Work.

SV Road Sky Walk, Bandra

The Sky Walk that connects Bandra station and SV Road has been taken over by a group of crows. And a group of crows is called Murder.

Jambul Marg, Vashi

Mumbai's favourite flower during festivals. It's a non-stop procession of hundreds of Mahindra pickup trucks/jeeps loaded with the golden harvest during festivals on the highways leading into Mumbai. And it's a treat to watch. On my way to Mumbai from Bangalore during Dassera, I saw it arrive on the turbaned heads of farmers at the nearest town. On the backs of on Bajaj M80s and Hero Honda CD100s. And then on Mahindra Pick-ups and Tata lorries to Mumbai where they are sold on the streets and in the markets. A golden treat, all the way from Kolhapur District to Mumbai. The tentacles of this city reach a long way. And the celebrations too. Happy Deepavali, India. You are very beautiful.

Note: The boy in the picture was accompanying his father. He was NOT made to work.

Mahim

Vashi

BOM Flight Path Like any city that is built on islands, reclaimed land and is surrounded by water that threatens to submerge it the day we melt our polar caps enough, Mumbai is an admiringly beautiful city when seen from air. The transition from the green Shayadris to the mangroves of Thane Creek within seconds when you fly in from the east. The lights of the JNPT and the nuclear reactors as you take off to the south east. The sardine-pack peninsula of South Mumbai surrounded by the shimmering blue sea to the south. Seeing a test match being played in the Wankhede. The reassuring purposefulness of the local trains we see zipping up and down the western and central tracks. The growing sea of lights of the gridlock on the express highways at night that looks beautiful even when your number is 14 on the landing list and you are forced to circle the city. Yes, the city with the Queen's Necklace is a sparkling goddess at night. But my favourite descent into Mumbai remains from the rarely used North West descent. It's best when you come in from the Arabian Sea as the fishing boats from the western waterfront are coming in with their catch. With birds circling the boats. Then you see the fishing docks, markets, the koliwada, the rich sea-facing homes and you glide in so close to the rooftops, you can smell the Bombil frying in the kitchens. In the above picture, you see a couple of planes slowly gliding in for a descent from the east, above Navi Mumbai.

Goregaon + Bandra

East or West. A railway station is the best place to catch voters. Millions use the Mumbai Suburban Railway system everyday. And at peak hours, people from every strata of the society; from stock market players and government employees to daily wage workers and students have to pass through the station nearest to their home or work. Above: The MNS candidate (Election Symbol: Railway Engine), Dr Uday Mashelkar, former Principal of Patkar College who is contesting from Goregaon, outside the station, smiling at voters on their way to work. Below: Congress and SP make their pitch outside Bandra station. 

Bandra

 It's interesting how the old and the new co-exist in this inverted anthill shaped city called Mumbai. The latest and the oldest methods of making a living continue to have their own space here.

Bandra

A familiar name in Mumbai local train resurfaces on Platform 1.

Mahim

Blind Faith.

Hundreds of people walk carefully over the dirt, oil and moss covered rubble that leads to the grave/shrine, a few meters from the low tide line in Mahim Bay. I asked several of the faithful, both Hindu and Muslim, walking up to the shrine with roses and jasmine in hand: Who was the holy man buried there? No one knew his name.

Mahim

Florist.
On the way to the small grave/shrine that's only accessible during low tide in the Mahim Bay.

Guru Nanak Marg, Bandra + LBS Marg, Sion

After a whole night, and a day of grim, grey rain; the sun casts an eerie orange glow over Bandra Station in the evening, from behind low-hanging clouds. 

  The Anti-Jaago Re Campaign.

Mahim Bay

Sea Link - The sea treats us the way we treat her.






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Vashi, Navi Mumbai

East meets west on Mumbai Streets













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Sector 10, Vashi

Tying a turban

Sector 10, Vashi

Mumbaikars love to dance on the street. And there are enough excuses on the calendar to invite the high decibel, adrenaline injecting drummers from Marathwada region. These Shivamanis come from towns and localities from Nashik to Kolhapur. This region is home to hundreds of bands who make a decent living, giving Mumbaikars their regular dose of heart thumping music.

This band is from Rajgurunagar - Pune, as advertised on their t-shirts.

The influence of these bands spill over the border into what is called the Bombay-Karnatak region of Karnataka. Bands from Belgaum, Hubli and Haveri who play the same style of music are in great demand in Karntaka too.





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