frangipani

As I was traveling towards office today, I saw this bunch of one of my favorite flowers - frangipani!

I became a fan of these flowers after staying at the Urban Ashram which has an over-flow of these! In fact, Sheetal even calls his art workshop space the frangipani! With flowers so fresh, beautiful, and attractive, who would say there isn't peace around? I wish we could all be similar to them...just as they have been captured here...

For the frangipani...

school

It was a lovely sight to see these kids enjoy their bus ride back home today. All the three of them were thrilled to see people on the roads walking, driving, smiling.

It is fun to be kids and going to school! I'm really impressed with this new project that has been started in India called Teach India. Teach India invites common people to remove a few hours in a week to volunteer and teach the kids who cannot get education! Brilliant initiative and there has been a brilliant response for the same. The video too is very inspiring. Do watch it!

Seeing such good initiatives taking a step forward, I do see a better face for humanity!

For the schools...

showers

It has been raining since the past four days. Everybody is getting back home early but what still amazes me is that the traffic on the road has still not reduced!

I took this shot today while getting back home. It was nice to see the droplets of water pouring on you while this auto guy was driving his vehicle and almost getting completely drenched. This blue wall kind of shows the wall differentiating the people on the either sides, I guess?

For the showers...

goodbye

I took this shot at the Departure Terminal of the International Airport of the city which is called the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport named after the famous Maharashtrian Historic personality, Shivaji Rao.

I honestly do not like the departure terminals. Seeing people leave their close ones, their friends, family, and others is something that makes me low. Today, one of my friends, Monil, left for the US for pursuing his post-graduation. I could see the expression on his parents' faces. They were smiling but their smiles simply said, "I'll miss you". And, surely, so will all of us! But, what makes me all the more happy is that Monil has made his parents proud! And, I'm sure he will always...

But, today, I want to share something that shook me up completely, at the airport. The lady in the shot, sitting on the wheelchair, is some random person I saw at the airport. Her son, the man in front of her, was dropping her at the airport for her to catch a flight to Canada. As soon as he got off his car, he gave the old lady a bag which had her passports and other papers and the old lady just simply looked at his face with tears in her eyes. She, it seems, didn't want to leave her son and go. But, the man took her in along with a helper to push the wheelchair. I can NEVER forget the expression on the lady's face as she was sent away by her own son. I don't know where she is going...for what she is going...whether she would be happy in Canada or no. All I know is that, she was going all alone across the seven seas to some place away from her son, which probably she did not want!

How I wish this world could be a place where we all could simply choose where we want to be. Sometimes, you just want to run and find the solution to complete this incomplete...how I simply wish!

For now, wishing Monil all the luck and enjoyment.

For the goodbyes...

smiles for all

So, how difficult is it, after all, to smile?
We, at MAM, set out to give the city the answer!

26th of July is a date that this city will always remember. In 2005, there were floods all over the city due to which many died, many saw the others dying, and many were praying that they either live or die. It was a dreadful date, which will always remain in the memories of the people living in this city. But, what MAM set out to do was something totally different.

Thanks to our dear friend, Brijesh, who works for Godrej Locks, he managed to get 2500 raincoats sponsored by his company to be distributed to street kids and other poor people! What made it more exciting was when we thought of distributing the raincoats randomly on the streets of the city holding a smile banner with us, not asking anybody to smile but simply reminding them that smiles are meant for all! The outcome? - "We distributed raincoats to random people who were getting drenched, but overall just stood and smiled. People in their cars, bus, rickshaws, cycles and carts, waved at us, smiled back, showed thumbs up and even gave chocolates to us! So contagious was the spirit, that we were soon joined by a trans gender, few security guards, a sweeper and few locals, who held the smile cards with us", as Madhu quotes in the MAM blog.

I feel terrible that I couldn't be a part of it as I was at the Urban Ashram this weekend as there was an important programme there today. Just got back home and I saw these shots taken during the raincoat distribution drive. But, I'm sure that we're soon going to have many more of such fun activities in the city!

After reading and seeing all of this, tell me...is it really that difficult to smile?

For loads of smiles for all...

transitions

Two things that come to my mind at this moment -

1. Lots of apologies coming your way this month. This is the third time, a shot has skipped the post and it kills me as I write this. Sincere apologies as yesterday, there was no electricity at the Urban Ashram in the night, when I reached, and thus, I couldn't post the shot.

2. Every time I come to the Urban Ashram, the blog cooks up an excuse to post a shot taken here. Thus, presenting to you the store at
the Urban Ashram.

Transitions is what it is called. It is a simple way of Sheetal expressing his style, love, and art. You will find books ranging from Gibran to Osho to Buddha to Paulo Coelho to comics of Amar Chitra Katha (which I've been glued to since morning). When you turn a bit, you will find scented candles, which Sheetal is extremely fond of and he'll display the sculptures of Ganesha, Buddha and other Gods which he has displayed at the other end. You walk a bit more and you will find clothes in white, which will all whisper to you - peace! The floors are red as you can see with yellow prints of leaves left on them. And, the best part of the store is that every time you leave it, whether you buy something or not, you will not leave empty handed. There is a bowl at the cashier from where you can pick up your free Tsunamica Dolls. And, of course, you will be leaving with lots of smiles and a promise to yourself which says,
"I'll be back". Transitions...well, aptly named eh?

For transitions, the always changing change within us...

travel

Yes, it looks pretty much the same as it looks in this shot. This is, once again the expressway between the city and Pune. It is strange how in this particular frame, you would just see a vehicle whipping through the wind. There is a speed limit on the express-way but people don't really follow it as this is the time when they can really enjoy their driving! Loud music, fingers tapping the beats on the steering wheel, the green mountains dancing to your tunes, and a peaceful smile on your face is pretty much what I experience every time I drive on this highway!

I guess you must've guessed it well enough - I'm on my way to my shelter for peace -
the Urban Ashram! But yes, do keep coming as I'll keep posting!

For my travels...

blurred

I'll tell you why I chose the title. A few years ago, I wanted to shoot a documentary on the railways of the country, which would include this city's local trains too. The people who drive the trains, the drivers, would've been the heroes of the documentary film...but the film never got made! It, along with the heroes, got blurred...probably and hopefully to be clear sometime later, in the near future!

This shot was taken as the local train was reaching the station. Around 5000 people commute by these trains everyday, which leads to it being super packed! It is an integral part of the life of a common man in this city. What is good is that they have now come up with the smart card system for all the local transports so that reduces your frustrations while you stand in the line. Agreed I don't like traveling by trains in this city, but I also wonder, how this city's life would be had this not been here...would it all be the same?

For the blurred thoughts...

rama-sita

Back to mythologies. This beautiful shot was taken by Akash when we were at the Vedanta Academy. The place is truly peaceful. I hardly spoke much when I was there as something within me just wanted to remain in silence and feel peaceful.

I really loved these statues of Lord Rama and Sita. Amidst the green lawns, they stand in white just delivering a smile to you the moment you look at them. No wonder, Lord Rama is an inspiration to so many. Gandhi was one of them. Despite all the hard times when one could easily get carried away, Gandhi stuck to Rama's strict adherence of satya (truth) and dharma.
Even when Gandhi was shot, his last words were Hey Ram, Hey Ram! Be it during birth, prayer, meditation or death, Lord Rama is remembered and chanted always. Where Rama is known to be the seventh avtar of Lord Vishnu, Sita is believed to be an avtar of Goddess Lakshmi. It is said that Goddess Lakshmi chose to bring herself to Earth as Sita. It is said that Sita is known to be an institution of the perfect qualities a woman must have. Together, the Rama-Sita story forms the Ramayana. Till date, this original story remains and I'm sure will always remain. I guess some names just remain...to make you in sync with life.

For the names...

skywalker

Yes, a normal scene on any evening in this city! But what is really cool in this shot, I feel is the new yellow sky-walker that you can see in the background. These are the new sky-walkers constructed in the city. They stretch from the Bandra-Kurla Complex to the Bandra Station. It is amazing as the people on the streets can avoid the traffic completely and they can reach their destination (between these two spots) in few minutes.

I'll take more shots of the sky-walker soon but for now, this one looks like a brilliant piece of engineering done in the city!

For the sky-walker...

panipuri

I possibly couldn't miss out on this shot when I saw this stall on the streets while I was passing by Bandstand today. This is the stall of a panipuri vendor. Panipuri is almost every person's favorite in this city. It is also called as golgappas, phuchka, gupchup etc in other parts of the country.

A panipuri is a very popular street snack in India. It is basically a round puri which is then made hollow and is filled with chilly water and a slight mixture of potatoes and a few other ingredients. Trust me, it is delicious to the core! The best part is that this snack gets over in less than five minutes! And, you would just want to have more and more and more...and more! Since it becomes too spicy, what you get at the end is a sukha puri, which is my personal favorite and I wait for it! It is basically a similar puri minus the spicy water...it reduces the spicy taste that gets created in you.

I really don't know what to say...for people in this city - SURELY have panipuri! For people outside, try it out with an Indian there! Trust me, you would not want to miss this! Probably you could check out the recipe and try making it at your house...reminds me to remind Mom to make it at home soon!

For the panipuris...

relax

Many a times in the late evenings, post office hours, you would be finding such situations on the stand still streets of the city. The traffic of the city forces you do remove your shoes, life your legs, and relax!

It is a tedious job to drive on the city streets during a few hours as there are so many cars and lesser roads, in comparison. What the basic problem in the city roads is the bottleneck that the roads ultimately form. I feel they are the major source to this trauma! But, as they say, who doesn't have problems...if you have a solution, talk! Well, I haven't heard anybody saying this line, to be honest! But, well, yes, be it anything that disturbs you, don't crib if you cant take it. If you can crib, relax for a bit and realize that we have all the opposites within us. If we can crib, we can gather moments of patience too...right?

Thus, in simple words - relax! There was something that I keep telling people who panic - Breathe, it'll be ok!

For relaxing...

crack

I took this shot at the Industrial Area of Andheri. This is where majority of the top companies have their offices. It is very close to where Veerappa works. Such trucks are very common to find. They carry the goods from one city to the other. I want to travel in such a truck once in my life, at least! I'm sure I'll love it and enjoy it as much as I love and enjoy this song.

Looking at this shot, I realized that it would've been a completely incomplete shot had the crack not been there. We all do have cracks and low points in our lives. But its only with such cracks that the picture looks complete. After all, imperfection also has perfection in it!

For the cracks that help us become stronger...

malls

Times are changing faster that thoughts, I guess. A few years back we hardly had any of such huge malls in India and today, we are filled with them at every second foot.

This is a shot taken at the Inorbit Mall, which happens to be one of the city's biggest malls. One could almost get lost between the crowds of faces that enter these malls everyday. And, the best part is that you can find anything and everything under one roof! All I wait for is my favorite brand - GAP to enter one of these malls.

Amazing to see ideas grow into such destinations! And every time I feel this is the biggest one can get, I get reassured that there is more coming. I really now wonder, what is next...

For ideas...

It is wet!

Apologies, firstly, for skipping a day! I had a pretty rough day yesterday. I was caught up in a traffic jam and it took me nearly 4 hours to reach home from my work place, which normally takes me just about an hour, to the max. Later, when I reached home late in the night, just as I was about to post the shot, the lights went out and there was no electricity till early this morning, due to heavy rains! I, once again, apologize for the skip!

I took this shot today as I was walking to catch an Auto to go to Parul Aunty's house; today being her birthday! But, nobody was willing to go till her place at Mulund due to the heavy traffic jam on the roads of Powai, due to a landslide on the other road! I walked up at least 4kms today until finally one Auto driver agreed to take me to my destination. It has been raining heavily since morning. The monsoons are reminding us in their own way that these months are their's! Its fun to see the wet roads and the greenery all around us. Check out the building at the end of this shot...you can hardly see the top of the building due to the fog! I guess the monsoons are going to be ruling now. And, letting them do so now, we shall get our umbrellas and rain jackets in place!

For the wet weather...

chain - community videos

Any smallest place on this planet would be filled with problems. And, its easier than the problems to find people headlining them well enough using all the possible vocabulary known to them. The people who stand out, I feel, are the ones who know there is a problem but use their dictionaries to find the solution and then let that speak for itself.

Recently, what MAM initiated as one of its verticals, is the community videos. The concept is simple - one of our volunteers goes to a community and teaches them the basics of the filming process through which the participants (community) can go out and shoot videos which would depict their own localities in a personalized and understandable way which could be related to very easily, by them and all. The outcome being that yes, we do talk about the problems but we save our words and actions for the solutions.

This shot was taken during the process of one of the community videos program. This lady who is filming is a wife and a mother staying in the slum area of Dharavi. She was one of the participants of the training that our volunteer had conducted and today, she just finished her first short film showing one of the many shades of the area. I'd like to share an incident here that we heard. In Dharavi, it was becoming difficult for the residents to get their rashion card. The person allocating the cards was delaying the procedure by many months for no good reason. The power of film/media got these participants of the community videos to get up one morning and go to the person allocating the cards, with a camera, and asked him to give them a reason on tape as to why they weren't getting their rashion cards! The outcome - all the people got their rashion cards in the next 15 days!

Today, Neha, our volunteer, has trained 9 such participants the basics of filming which help them to go out in their locality and profile the various faces and lives of their community. Tomorrow, I am sure, when these 9 are ready to train another 9 each, who could perhaps simply continue the trend, it would simply take all of us from imagining the power of this chain to actually going beyond just seeing it. Tracking down solutions and then enlightening them by something beyond talks IS empowering, isn't it?

For this chain, to live and grow...

mess

It is strange how at times when you see through a mess, you realize that things beyond it are visible more clearly than without it. I realized a similar thing as I saw through these trees planted at one of the streets of Andheri!

When you try hard to find something, but not with complete focus, however hard you try, however simple the destination be, you will never find the way. However, if you are focussed, determined, and confident that you know what it is like on the other side and you know where you want to go, the messes and the turns just filter out the doubts and the obstacles...only to ultimately make you reach the final spot, just as you thought you would!

Dream...walk...think...but beyond all, know all of these that you have defined for yourself, in whatever way, completely!

For the mess...

now to next

What do you like the most in this picture? The colors? The vibe? The furniture? The arc? The door? The whole shot? Or simply, nothing?

I took this shot when I was sitting at the Mocha coffee shop today. Mocha has been famous for years now and its tag-line is precisely very apt - coffee and conversations. I love the chocolate avalanche and the cappuccino that Mocha makes, specially.

I was a bit unclear about lots of things...primarily about where I would join in for work. But, since the last few days, slowly, things started clearing out in my head, giving me a better picture which seemed sure for me. And, then, I heard Swami Parthasarathy's talk today and all the unclarity seemed to fizzle out leaving behind an assurance and a feeling of content. Yes, I am joining MAM full-time! And, this is surely one feeling and decision that I feel the best about.

The door, I guess, for now, is my favorite spot which got me take this shot. The doors are ultimately what help us lead to the other room, the other space, the other world. It is the door that once opened, opens us from now to the next. And, we realize that even though the next is totally new, totally fresh, it is somehow linked to what we have and are, now. And, you might not really know the next world and the next time, but you do know what it is like now and everything related to it is in your hands. I just realized it...and am soon going towards the doors leading me to the next...

For the door...

heavenly

And, the rains have hit again! It has been raining since the last night, heavily! Today morning, the showers weren't really stopping but the most surprising part was what you can see in the shot taken. The mountains that you can see in front of my window had water flowing from small openings which looked heavenly in the rains.

Natural waterfalls are something really rare to see in this city. With it being so crowded and giving such less scope for nature to exhibit itself, getting to see something like this is surely art worthy!

I'll keep it short today as I've sprained my hand...

For the heavenly frame...

filmy is good

Let me put it in the simplest way that I can - I LOVE good food! And, I LOVE trying out new restaurants.

I had heard a lot about this restaurant called "Firangi Dhaba" but never really got a chance to go there! Recently, when I was shooting for "Veerappa", I saw the nameplate of this restaurant and decided with myself, that I want to check out this place. Today, when I went to office and it being a Wednesday (the day when Meghna fasts), we decided to go out for dinner and guess which restaurant Meghna suggested!

The restaurant is very vibrant and colorful and that is what I love about it. The theme of the walls is films! Thus, all the walls are filled with posters of Hindi Films of all eras! I really liked this concept as you are bound to start discussing the old films and what you loved in them and what your didn't! It was a good evening at a good place with my favorite people! For all those in the western suburbs, I strongly recommend this restaurant in Malad...great ambiance and very good food too...what more do you need!

For being filmy by some/all...

objects

After spending the weekend with Veerappa, I guess we need to come back to the other side of the city too. This shot was taken on the streets of Marine Lines. But, to be very honest, almost every street of this city has these objects moving on it at any time of the day!

The black and yellow colored taxi gives one of the faces to the city whereas the red BEST bus forms the giant on the streets which nobody can mess around with. The city has its colors and its faces which amazes me each and every day...more because every day, every moment...this city has something new to say with these travelers.

For these objects of the streets...

veerappa - the film

Yes, today is a special post and thus, let me keep it short -

Presenting to you Veerappa.

For his desires, his dreams, his passion, his survival, his life and above all the boy himself...

veerappa

Today, by posting this shot, I am ending the story that I have been getting to you since the last two days. This is a shot of none other than Chooha (Veerappa, as his real name stands). He got damn thrilled when he held the camera. I managed to teach him the zoom effects and the importance of a lens. Hope he remembers them.

By now, you guys are pretty much well versed with Appa, Timesh, and Veerappa. Now, I'll tell you how and why I met them. When the
"I am the CHANGE" Film Project got launched, despite being one of the organizers, the filmmaker within me, probably, just stood up and said "Go! Shoot!" and there I was deciding with my standard editor, Akash, to shoot a short film in 101 hours! The film will not be a part of the competition but we did it just for the kick of it. We randomly chose a topic which turned out to be a social issue - child labor!

So that is how we got in touch with Veerappa. We filmed him on Friday. We spoke to his Dad on Saturday morning asking him if we could take Veerappa out on Sunday for half a day and interact with him on the camera. He pleasantly agreed, asking for some money, but later in the evening, he turned out to be funny and began cutting our calls and refusing to send Veerappa anywhere. We tracked down the address and reached where Veerappa stays, at 7am this morning. Luckily, we saw Veerappa and Appa walk towards their workplace in the morning so we requested Appa if we could film Veerappa just for about an hour later in the day and he agreed. As, we began conversing with Veerappa later in the day, we got to know that his father was drunk last night and thus was funny. Veerappa spent the night at the temple, near his house, last night. We had a great conversation with him and I was happy that the film would turn out to be brilliant. But, I really wonder if it is nature who wants things to remain this way or it is some completely unknown force that demands the lives of certain souls like Veerappa to pause where it is now. The recordings of his interview didn't turn out to be good due to some technical problem. Thus, I had to re-think a completely new concept and re-edit using only texts now! Hope, it works!

Despite the film, the concepts, the creativity, the thought, the intention, I am unable to forget a simple line that Veerappa said to me -
"I want to go to school"

For Veerappa...

timesh

I spoke to you about Timesh yesterday...here he is! Timesh is in the 9th grade. He goes to a school in the mornings and then comes here to work with his father. He loves drawing and playing basketball! The man sitting here in the photograph, is a car mechanic who works in the same locality as Appa. He is one of the friends that Timesh and Chooha have.

Strange isn't it? I've hardly seen Timesh and Chooha playing with each other, forget other kids of their age. Timesh is always taking newspapers from this end to the other so that Appa can spread the newspapers as a base to keep all the vessels. Little does Timesh realize what he is actually holding and what is happening in the world outside what is created for him. The more I think of these two kids, I realize that these are just two out of about half a million! May Timesh and all these kids' smiles stay just the way they are meant to be...

For Timesh...

chai-wala

This guy here used to have a small stall on the streets where he used to sell chai. He is perhaps the most famous in the Industrial area of this place called Andheri. Everybody goes to him in their breaks during office hours.

Now, this man has shifted to a truck where he arranges his vessels and ingredients. It makes it easier for him as it protects him and his chai from the rains. Its great how Appa, as he is called by all, comes here early in the morning at 7am and is here till as late as 9pm. And what is even greater is that at any point of the day, he would at least have on customer! Yes, what is not great is his employees - Timesh and Veerappa! Timesh is Appa's son who is in the 9th grade and comes and works here after his school. Veerappa (Chooha, as everybody calls him) has not gone to school since a long time. His father, though, has been promising him that he would be going to school in the next 4 days. I'm really hoping his father is telling him the truth...

For chai and the chai-walas, particularly...

jalebi

It is undoubtedly one of my favorite sweet dishes in the Indian cuisine. It is called the Jalebi!

The Jalebi is a very famous sweet dish in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The most interesting part of the Jalebi is the way it is made. The way the cook makes the circles on the pan to form the shape is a sight worth watching! It is at times, eaten with curd too, to get a better taste.

I took this shot today over dinner at this restaurant where, according to me, you get the best Jalebis in this city - Urban Tadka! I have written about Urban Tadka earlier too so you can imagine how much I love this restaurant. The ambiance, the food, the look - everything is just perfect! I particularly love this restaurant also because the head knows me so well that he very kindly gives me a plate of my favorite Jalebis as a complimentary sweet dish, like today...thus, you can see the small note that says "Dil Se" which means straight from the heart! Till later, I relish the taste once again...

For the Jalebis...

eastern express

Imagine the roads to be empty at this time of the day...can you guess the time through the shot?
Well...it was around 1 in the afternoon...but I'm sure nobody can make that out from the shot!

The black clouds seemed to find their way to pour the rains on the city. Its been predicted that in the next one week, the rains are going to be hitting its peak. Lets wait and watch!

Btw, this is known as the eastern express highway. Its one of the roads that I very frequently drive on. Of late, there have been loads of accidents here, though, due to the slippery roads. Last week, there were 17 accidents over a course of 4 days! I'm praying that it stops at that count. Talking about count, we're counting the number of hours left for the "I am the CHANGE" Film Project to roll which begins tomorrow morning at 6:00am IST till the 7th of July! The excitement is building up!

For the eastern express drives...

flashes

Don't be scared!! We were the stars!!

This was all the press that got gathered today at one of the multiplex theatre where there was an event launch. Since morning, it was raining heavily, due to which two of the events got canceled where as two were to happen...this was one of them.

The event that happened was the launch of the "I am the CHANGE" Film Project 2008. It invites 101 filmmakers from all over India to shoot a 5 minute documentary film on 101 NGOs in 101 hours! Imagine!! The entire Project is being mentored by great actors from the Indian Film Fraternity, out of which some were present too! Pretty big, heh?! Guess who the initiative is by...!

For the flashes...