Hope and Hindutva - Mee Mumbaikar
Shooting the Ganesh Visarjan at Nana Chowk on the way to the Girgaum Chowpatty beach, has its own quintessential charm.
I was first introduced to this pictorial adventure by my Guru Shreekanth Malushte and his son Himanshu.
I have been a Colaba guy but hardly visited this place during Ganesh Visarjan.
And I saw the beauty and grandeur once after I had moved to Bandra Bazar Road.
On Visarjan day normally I shot Lal Bagh Cha Raja in the day time and from Ganesh Gully moved barefoot walking away to Girgaum Chowpatty.
And breaking my Ramzan fast at Nana Chowk.
I would shoot till midnight than catch a cab come home to my parents house at Strand Cinema.
The following morning return to shoot the Lal Bagh Cha Raja as he arrived after a long march.
This year 2008 I skipped Girgaum chowpatty instead followed Lal Bagh Cha Raja on foot, without footwear , and this was the first time I did so, this marathon effort, and I broke my fast at Byculla.
The volunteers of Lal Bagh Cha Raja saw that I was taken care of , and also gave me fruits for my next days fast that I thought I would bring in at Chowpatty.
However I had to abort folowing the Raja till his final destination.
I am a diabetic and my sugar levels were causing me discomfort, so I left from Kumbharwada , walked from Null Bazar to Bhendi Bazar and took a cab home to Bandra.
This was a great experience especially at Nagpada where the Muslims felicitate the King Of Kings of Mumbai..This was what I wanted to shoot Hindu Muslim amity, this is the free spirit of love for all religiosities and faith that comes from being a Mumbaikar..
This is the true magic of Mumbai , and no politician worth his salt can ever take it away by his parochialism or factionalism.
Mumbaikars are a breed apart, I saw the erstwhile Shiv Sainiks serving cold water to the processionists during Moharam at Dongri on the way to the Shia cemetery at Mazgaon..
We are one inspite of the color of our spiritual clothes , and this is Mumbai that my father and mother migrants from Lucknow chose for me and the Shakir generations to come after us..
My father came to Mumbai at the age of 17 - and he and my mother lie side by side at peace at the Rehmatabad Shia cemetery..
Yes Mumbai remains with you after death takes away your flesh..
I cannot think of any ther place that will ever replace Mumbai...
And it is dieties like the Lal Bagh Cha Raja that beckon us to become a part of Hope and Hindutva of our collective nationalism and Indian ethos.
Hope and Hindutva - Mee Mumbaikar
Shooting the Ganesh Visarjan at Nana Chowk on the way to the Girgaum Chowpatty beach, has its own quintessential charm.
I was first introduced to this pictorial adventure by my Guru Shreekanth Malushte and his son Himanshu.
I have been a Colaba guy but hardly visited this place during Ganesh Visarjan.
And I saw the beauty and grandeur once after I had moved to Bandra Bazar Road.
On Visarjan day normally I shot Lal Bagh Cha Raja in the day time and from Ganesh Gully moved barefoot walking away to Girgaum Chowpatty.
And breaking my Ramzan fast at Nana Chowk.
I would shoot till midnight than catch a cab come home to my parents house at Strand Cinema.
The following morning return to shoot the Lal Bagh Cha Raja as he arrived after a long march.
This year 2008 I skipped Girgaum chowpatty instead followed Lal Bagh Cha Raja on foot, without footwear , and this was the first time I did so, this marathon effort, and I broke my fast at Byculla.
The volunteers of Lal Bagh Cha Raja saw that I was taken care of , and also gave me fruits for my next days fast that I thought I would bring in at Chowpatty.
However I had to abort folowing the Raja till his final destination.
I am a diabetic and my sugar levels were causing me discomfort, so I left from Kumbharwada , walked from Null Bazar to Bhendi Bazar and took a cab home to Bandra.
This was a great experience especially at Nagpada where the Muslims felicitate the King Of Kings of Mumbai..This was what I wanted to shoot Hindu Muslim amity, this is the free spirit of love for all religiosities and faith that comes from being a Mumbaikar..
This is the true magic of Mumbai , and no politician worth his salt can ever take it away by his parochialism or factionalism.
Mumbaikars are a breed apart, I saw the erstwhile Shiv Sainiks serving cold water to the processionists during Moharam at Dongri on the way to the Shia cemetery at Mazgaon..
We are one inspite of the color of our spiritual clothes , and this is Mumbai that my father and mother migrants from Lucknow chose for me and the Shakir generations to come after us..
My father came to Mumbai at the age of 17 - and he and my mother lie side by side at peace at the Rehmatabad Shia cemetery..
Yes Mumbai remains with you after death takes away your flesh..
I cannot think of any ther place that will ever replace Mumbai...
And it is dieties like the Lal Bagh Cha Raja that beckon us to become a part of Hope and Hindutva of our collective nationalism and Indian ethos.