Mumbai Lens: The zodiac window

This blog post was featured in the “Around the Blog” section of the DNA newspaper published on May 7, 2012 (pg.6).

That Mumbai has many hidden treasures is something that is underscored now and then when I experience or unearth something interesting about this city. But Mumbai still manages to surprise me with the sheer variety. For example, when I attended an exhibition at Mumbai University’s Cowasjee Jehangir Convocation Hall at its Fort Campus earlier this year, it was not just the exhibits that caught my eye.

This was my first (and so far only) time that I have visited the Convocation Hall, whose grand interiors are stunning, with elaborate detailing, stained glass windows, teak wooden seats, exquisite grill work, etc. But the the large stained glass window over the entrance to the Hall is probably the grandest and most stunning feature of them all.

The Zodiac Window at the Cowasjee Jahangir Convocation Hall of the University of Mumbai

Mumbai Lens: The changing skyline of Parel

A couple of months back, I had this twitter conversation with a friend, who had just returned to Mumbai after 3 years abroad.

@mumbailocal Gosh. All these skyscrapers! The Mumbai skyline will soon look like a mad New York.

@sudhagee Welcome back, @mumbailocal

@mumbailocal A wee bit shocked by the randomness of it all. Huge, tall buildings sprouting from the usual landscape of shanties. That. @sudhagee

I wouldn’t have thought much about this exchange if I had not seen this view the previous day.

Highrises touching the sky. View (towards Dadar) from Lalbagh Flyover

Mumbai Lens: The Shoe House

This blog post was featured in the “Around the Blog” section of the DNA newspaper published on February 27, 2012 (pg.6).

I did my first 4 years of schooling in Mumbai and without fail the annual school picnic followed the same pattern—a visit to the Byculla Zoo, followed by lunch in the grounds there; then a quick visit to the Gateway of India; and finally a drive along the Marine Drive to the Kamala Nehru Park at Malabar Hill. This is part that we kids would be waiting for—a romp in the grounds and a visit to the Shoe House in the Park (and not necessarily in that order).

The Shoe House, which is supposedly inspired by the nursery rhyme “The Old Woman who Lived in the Shoe”, was the star attraction for us. A larger than life shoe-shaped house, painted a bright yellow with red shoe laces, a red roof and red chimney—it was every kid’s dream house. We would climb the narrow stairs in twos and threes to the balcony and wave out to the other classmates and feel that the Shoe House and the world belonged to us ! Ah the thrill and joy that little climb gave us.

The Shoe House at Kamala Nehru Park, Mumbai

Mumbai Lens: Haji Ali Dargah

This blog post was featured in the “Around the Blog” section of the DNA newspaper published on January 23, 2011 (pg.6).

We almost miss the narrow entrance to the Haji Ali Dargah hidden amongst the many stalls. Actually, that is not really the entrance to the dargah itself; it is the entrance to the only path that leads to it. The path has stalls selling flowers and sweets to be offered at the dargah on one side, and beggars with unimaginable physical deformities lined up on the other side. It is nearly 4.30 in the evening and we (a friend who is visiting from Delhi and I) have joined the many people making their way to the dargah. For both of us, this is our first visit to the Haji Ali Dargah.

Just outside the main entrance to the dargah, we pick up some flowers and sweets from one of the stalls and join the separate queue for women. The din, the crowds and the organised chaos that is normally associated with such places vanish when we enter the dargah. Inside, it is quiet and peaceful and when our turn comes, we make our offerings, say our prayers and move to one side.

My friend wishes to take some photographs of the dargah, but we are not sure if it is allowed. Though there are no signs stating otherwise, we are still hesitant to take out our cameras. A caretaker at the dargah notices the cameras around our necks and our indecision, and mimes that it is alright to take photos.

Inside the Haji Ali Dargah

Mumbai Lens: The Gorai Pagoda

Some things are “discovered” serendipitously, like the Gorai Pagoda.

One Saturday morning in January 2010, I found myself with nothing to do. I was Borivali to conduct a training session on report writing, which had got cancelled at the last-minute due to an outbreak of food poisoning amongst the group I was supposed to train.

I didn’t feel like returning home or going for a movie or visiting friends who lived in the area. I wanted to see and experience something new. As I was standing outside the training centre mulling over various options, I saw a bus heading for Gorai Jetty. And I knew where I wanted to go—the Global Vipassana Pagoda a.k.a. the Gorai Pagoda, a place that I had only heard about but had not visited.

A short and sharp auto rickshaw ride later, I was at the jetty buying a return ticket to Gorai Island for a visit to the Pagoda. As I walked towards the waiting ferry, I saw this shimmering golden pagoda rising in the distance, almost like a mirage.

Gorai Pagoda

I spent so much time looking at the beautiful,magical and ethereal pagoda and taking pictures that I missed the ferry and had to wait for the next one to take me to Gorai Island for an exploration of the Global Vipassana Pagoda. But that, dear reader, is matter for another post.

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.

Mumbai Lens: The Asiatic Library

This blog post was featured in the “Around the Blog” section of the DNA newspaper published on December 7, 2011 (pg.7).

The iconic building of the Asiatic Library of Mumbai, also called Town Hall, was recently in the news for a rather sad reason. Renovation work, which had begun in 2008–2009, had been stalled due to unpaid bills amounting to nearly 2 crores ! (You can read more about this here). When I had last walked by this beautiful building one August morning earlier this year, there was scaffolding on the sides, scraped and chipped paint on the ground, and blue protective sheets covering the exposed parts. Sounds of repair work could be heard even over the traffic.

The entrance to the Asiatic Society Library