It was a warm Saturday afternoon in February, and I was spending the day wandering about in the Churchgate-Fort-Kala Ghoda area in south Mumbai and photographing anything that caught my fancy. After a nice lunch at the Tea Centre in Churchgate, I decided to cross the Oval Maidan from the Churchgate side to the University of Mumbai side.
As I walked along Oval Maidan, the iconic Rajabhai Tower and Bombay Stock Exchange Building stood tall with their contrasting architectural styles. Once I entered the Oval Maidan it was the cricket matches being played that caught my attention. It was only after a while that I looked up and saw this.
The Rajabhai Tower (left) and the Bombay Stock Exchange Building (right) appear to be fused together from this perspective!
I do not own a car (or a two-wheeler or any other type of four-wheeler) and neither do I see myself owning one. For one, I am a great fan of public transport, and living in a city like Mumbai, I have never had to worry about transport. Second, I do not want to contribute to the existing traffic chaos and pollution by adding my vehicle to it. And third, I can’t drive. Yes, I have been told it is shocking that I can’t drive, but hey, that’s one skill I’m quite comfortable not having. But all this has not stopped me from liking cars. In fact, I consider vintage cars as works of art, and seeing a Volkswagen Beetle on the road gives me a high.
I realised only lately that I didn’t just like cars. I loved them. I discovered 94 photos of cars (I counted, honest!) during yet another attempt to bring some order to my ever-growing, unmanageable, digital photos. Surprisingly, there were no photographs of Volkswagen Beetles—though there were lots of photos of vintage cars as well as photographs of strange-looking and quirky cars.
Presenting some of them the cars from “my car collection” 😀
Hampstead Village, London: A pretty strange looking car, called Cube !
Summer’s here, folks. And how do I know it? Apart from the weather, that is. The ice gola man has started doing his rounds. I saw him the day before yesterday at Vashi with his wares. His colourful cart was like a magnet and I saw many people taking pictures with their mobile phone cameras.
Different flavours and colours of ice golas. Mmmm…
I can’t have ice golas as I am allergic to artificial food colouring 😦 But hey, my eyes and other senses are not allergic to artificial food colouring and that’s how I am able to share it with you.
Happy summer and yes, Happy Holi too !
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 serieshere.
1 August 2009: Newly weds at a photo shoot at Chepstow Castle, Wales
One rainy and damp day in August 2009, I was at Chepstow Castle, Wales, walking around and delighting in its various nooks and crannies, when I came across a newly married couple having their photographs taken. During my year-long stay in London and my forays to other places in England and Wales, it never happened that I visited some historical place or park and came away without seeing a newly wed couple having a photo shoot there. When I first saw such a shoot, I thought it was a professional shoot for some bridal paraphernalia ! It was only later that I figured out that it was a tradition for newly married couples to have a photo shoot at a nearby historical site or park.
This couple at Chepstow Castle was oblivious to the rain and the muddy trails on the bride’s gown, as they laughed and giggled and posed for the camera. I waited for them to finish, so that I could pass through the door to the other side. While waiting, I couldn’t help noticing the different textures of stone, wood, metal and fabric , not to mention the fresh green of the grass in an otherwise almost monochromatic frame. Even though I felt like I was trespassing on the couple’s privacy, I could not resist taking a photograph.
As they finished, and the photographer beckoned me to come through, I heard the bride asking the photographer,
“Rhys, you’re sure the mud on my gown won’t show in the photos?”
“100% sure, darling. What’s Photoshop for?” replied the photographer.
I got interested in photography about 3 years back and as it often happens with a new interest, related things also come into the focus of that interest—in this case it was photographers and their works. One photographer, whose name kept cropping up was that of Homai Vyarawalla, India’s first woman photojournalist. While I was curious about her work, I must admit that I didn’t really go out of my way to know more about her apart from reading the mandatory Wikipedia article and the stray media reports and photographs that would appear now and then.
Homai Vyarawalla
Therefore, it was serendipity when I noticed an invite for the inauguration of a retrospective of Homai Vyarawalla’s photographs on February 25, 2011. Curated by Sabeena Gadihoke, “Homai Vyarawalla: A Retrospective” was being held at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai, in collaboration with the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts, New Delhi.
It was even more serendipitous that I had meetings near the NGMA that day and could attend the inauguration without taking time off from work. 🙂 I arrived early at the NGMA and as I was debating whether to go in or try to grab a quick cup of coffee, a car drew up to the entrance. I knew it had to be someone important, as the NGMA does not allow cars to come in. Two women stepped out, one of whom was Sabeena Gadihoke (as I found out later), and the other was Homai Vyarawalla herself. I had very obviously only noticed the invite, and not read it, as I wasn’t aware that Homai would be present for her retrospective! Since I was standing at the entrance, I found myself face to face with her. As I gaped at her, she smiled at me and said a warm hello as she was helped up the stairs. And what was my response? I continued gaping at her and just about managed to nod my head in acknowledgement !
Some of Homai Vyarawalla’s photographs at the NGMA
One morning in early November, about 2 years back, I decided to go for a walk. At that time, I was living in London. I didn’t have to go too far as Regent’s Park was next door to where I was staying.
I took my camera with me as I intended to photograph some of the beautiful trees in the park, particularly those trees, which had exposed a stunningly symmetrical structure after shedding all their leaves (see photo on the left).
After a leisurely stroll through the Park, I arrived at the place where I had noticed these trees. There was no one else nearby, save an elderly man who was well wrapped up against the cold. As I overtook him, I murmured a “Good Morning” to which I received a acknowledging nod.
I moved towards the trees and was soon clicking away. After a few minutes, I sensed someone close by watching me. I turned around to see that the elderly man, I had just greeted, had walked up to see what I was photographing.
He asked me gruffly, “Young lady, why are you photographing that tree? It’s bare !”
My Favourite Things 