My “now” song: Oh re taal mile nadi ke jal mein

Posted on by sudhagee

Do you ever have a song, an idea, a storyline, or an image stuck in your head? And it just refuses to go away? For some time at least? I have this with music — it could be a song, an instrumental piece, a jingle, etc. This becomes my “now’” song, and the “nowness”  (pardon my English here) could be for any length of time.

My “now” song is Oho re taal mile nadi ke jal mein from the film Anokhi Raat and sung by Mukesh to music composed by Roshan with lyrics by Indeevar.

This song was a hot favourite during my college and University days in Pune and I have some fond memories associated with it…

  • of listening to this song on Vividh Bharati
  • of singing along while completing whatever assignment or journal I was working on at that time
  • of hostel gatherings and antaksharis where this song was a ‘must sing’.
  • of hearing this song rendered at every field trip and class picnics by a classmate who only knew this one song.

I was in Pune last week and met some friends from my University days. As it usually happens with old friends, there was some talk of the present, a little of the future and a lot of reminiscing about the past. And one of the things that came up was this song.

I sang the song then and I’m still singing it after a week. 🙂

Mumbai Lens: The two bus stops

Posted on by sudhagee

Deonar Bus Depot is a major bus stop in Mumbai on a route that links Navi Mumbai to Mumbai via Chembur. A few important bus routes originate from this stop and many other routes pass through the bus stop. At last count, 19 bus routes have this as a bus stop. And considering the number of bus routes that plying by Deonar Bus Stop, it is a fairly crowded one, especially during office hours. So, one would expect that being a major one, Deonar bus stop would have some seating space and shelter.

Wrong. This is what the bus stop looks like:

Mumbai, Bus Stop
The wait for a bus. Oh for a bus ! This photo was taken around noon

And then there is this bus stop on Marine Drive in South Mumbai. This bus stop services just two bus routes and I have rarely seen it crowded.

Photo: Nita Jatar Kulkarni. Please click on the photo to go to the original page.
Photo: Nita Jatar Kulkarni. Please click on the photo to go to the original page.

Both the bus stops are constructed and maintained by the cash-strapped and corruption-ridden Transport Division of BEST. That still doesn’t explain why two bus stops in the same city maintained by the same organisation have to be so different and get such differential treatment.

Why? Oh why?

Mumbai Lens is a photographic series which, as the name suggests, is Mumbai-centric and is an attempt to capture the various moods of the city through my camera lens. You can read more posts from this series here.

A contest “interview”… and some afterthoughts

Posted on by sudhagee

It all started with a tweet about a photography contest organised by a hotel chain. A friend tagged me with the suggestion that I participate. This was about 6-7 months back and after thinking about it for a couple of days, I decided to participate. I submitted the requisite information, uploaded 3 photographs, and for the next couple of weeks followed the other entries submitted for the contest.

After a month, I lost interest in the contest as the organisers had not kept to the original deadline and there was no information as to when it would end. As the weeks went by, I soon forgot about the contest. So imagine my surprise when I got a mail from the contest organisers last month. The mail said that I had been short-listed as one of the contenders for the finalists. And since I was required to connect on a telephone call with them for a brief discussion, would I please share my contact details and suggest a convenient time for a representative to call me?

My initial reaction was to send a polite response saying I was not interested. But I do not like leaving things half done and felt that I should see the process through. Besides, getting “interviewed” for a photography contest was a first for me. I mean, I have been interviewed and grilled for scholarships and jobs, but this was… well, intriguing. So, I wrote to them with my contact details. I had received the mail on a Saturday and on Monday I was leaving for one of my travels for 5 days. In my mail, I requested the organisers to contact me before Monday or after I returned from my trip the following Saturday.

I got a call from a representative of the organisers the very next day, that is Sunday. After the initial, usual pleasantries were exchanged, and the disclaimer that I was only a contender for one of the final spots and not a finalist was conveyed, my “interview” began.

Continue reading “A contest “interview”… and some afterthoughts” →

Moonrises, sunsets and sunrises at Kinner Kailash

Posted on by sudhagee

Before my trip to Himachal Pradesh, everyone who knew I was travelling there had something to tell me about the place. More so because this was my first trip there and also because I would be seeing the Himalayas for the first time.

So, I got to hear about the weather, the roads, the people, the rivers, the food, the vegetation, the various mountain ranges, the monkeys, the treks, the hotels, the temples, the local culture, apples, snow, wildlife… But all of them missed out on telling me about the breathtaking Himalayan sunrises and sunsets or for that matter, Himalayan moonrises and moonsets.

The first sunrise and sunset that I saw were at Fagu and Sarahan respectively. They were beautiful and I may have even termed them as spectacular, if I had not gone to Kalpa and seen the sunrises, sunsets and moonrises over the Kinner Kailash range; they redefined the words “spectacular” and “breathtaking” for me.

On my first evening at Kalpa, our group visited a gompa at Kalpa village. Our visit ended around sunset after which we were generally wandering about. Suddenly I heard Doreen, our tour leader, call out to us in an urgent voice to hurry and see the moonrise.

We all rushed to where Doreen was standing and saw a bit of the moon from behind a mountain peak getting ready to make its appearance for the night. And over the next few minutes, I was witness to a moonrise like none that I had seen before and, perhaps none that I am likely to ever see.

Kinner Kailash, Kalpa, moonrise

Continue reading “Moonrises, sunsets and sunrises at Kinner Kailash” →

Serene Sarahan

Posted on by sudhagee

Sarahan, Apples, Himachal Pradesh“Have you had Himachali apples?”  the three women ask. “They’re really good, you know. The best.”

I am at Sarahan in Himachal Pradesh walking around and exploring this pretty little town, when I meet the 3 women and get into a conversation about apples with them.

“I know. I’ve had them in Mumbai,” I smile.

“Oh Mumbai,” the first woman says in a dismissive tone. “After all the travelling the apples do, they won’t taste the same.” The other two women laugh.

“Yes, they won’t,” the second woman insists. “You must have Himachali apples here. In Himachal.

“Would you like some apples?”asks the third woman.

“Sure,” I say. “I’d love to have an apple.”

Within minutes, I am biting into an apple that one of the women gives me. It is fresh and juicy — a little sweet, a little tart — just the way I like my apples. And the women are right, the apple tastes like nothing I’ve had before. “They’re perfect,” I say to the women.

That is the cue for the women to give me more apples and before I know it I am clutching a paper bag full of apples and saying thanks and goodbye to the 3 women. They refuse payment from me and say that my appreciation is payment enough and send me on my way !

Sarahan, Apples, People, Himachal Pradesh Continue reading “Serene Sarahan” →

Travel Shot: The sculpture with a smile

Posted on by sudhagee

I came across a very unusual and rare sculpture at the sculpture gallery of the City Palace in Udaipur last February. It was a sculpture of a woman with a smile. What’s so rare about a sculpture with a smile, some of you may ask. Then let me tell you this:

I had seen many types of sculptures — abstract, life-like, larger-than-life, surreal…

I had seen sculptures made from a variety of materials — stone, wood, metal, mesh, ivory, silver, bronze, papier-mache…

I had seen sculptures seen in stylised poses — at dance, at war, making love, in thought, in action…

I had seen sculptures with expressions of anger, agony, pain, peace, serenity and sometimes even with blank expressions, but never a smile. Each time, I left a museum or a gallery or a site where there were sculptures, I would always wonder why. Until I saw this sculpture.

City Palace Museum, Udaipur
The sculpted smile

It was a beautiful sculpture. In spite of the damage to the face, I could not miss the lips turned up in a smile. I’m sure that if the eyes were clearly visible, there would have been a naughty twinkle in them. I promptly named her Muskaan, the one with a smile so infectious that I smiled back at her in return. Did you also smile when you saw Muskaan, dear reader?

I hope that in 2014 I see many more smiles around me — on sculptures and on people and on my blog too.

Happy New Year ! 😀