The old premier taxis in mumbai are on their way out. many of them are ancient, and falling apart. their owners still drive them as though they were in a F1 race, and there was no other traffic around. Now who will get into an argument with someone who doesn’t mind their car getting bashed.
Yesterday was my mother’s birthday. We had gone to Inorbit to pick up a gift for her. Adorning the entrance was a large tribute to the father of the nation. irony, anyone ?
Technorati Tags: Inorbit, father of the nation
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Yesterday, was the day when most of Mumbai was out saying bye bye to Ganpati. The little home Ganpati’s had their joyous send offs. 
Accompanied by band baja, and scores of bad dancers, the Ganpati’s wove their way through the streets of Mumbai to the sea, where they will be immersed. 
Families, devotees, and just fun loving citizens turned up to have fun, mauj and masti.. on a day that has come to taken on carnival like proportions. 
And what is amazing about this festival, more than any other religious festival ….. is the tenderness and absolute love with which people observe it. IT has gone beyond rituals and rites…. and into something where ‘God’ has become a personal friend, child, ….someone for whom people have affection and fondness, not fear and compulsion. 
A word of praise for the Mumbai Traffic Police …. once again the men in Khaki, kept the traffic unjammed, ensured that no one got stuck…. and all in all the good humour and cheer was maintained. Yesterday, I was in the area between Khar & Juhu - attending a baithak ….. it took me all of 40 minutes…. that is despite seeing 52 large Ganpati’s going for immersion. Pudcha Varshi… Laukar Ya…. you are already being missed
Technorati Tags: Ganpati, Mumbai Traffic Police
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Everytime, my phone service provider decides to change names, the service provided to me has a major case of hiccups. In the 8 years that I have been with them, they have been Max Touch, Orange, Hutch and now Vodafone. Not that it normally bothers me - except that today their network fully went inactive on me and a couple of others that i know. I went into their website … and dead again. Finally an hour later the networks came back to life again and so did their website. Guys, you are in an extremely competitive, service industry. The market is not only price sensitive but also quality sensitive. Telling large chunks of your market that their phone can only access emergency numbers is not the best way to start out. And though I love the little pug, and would really appreciate it if my network follows me ….i get kind of pissed off, it trails me half an hour later.
Technorati Tags: Max Touch, Orange, Hutch, Vodafone
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Mumbai gets geared to welcome its favorite deity. Over the decades it has moved from being a Maharashtrian festival to something lots of others follow. This Ganpati is made almost in the style of Srinivasa of Tirupati - check out the tilak on the forehead, and the adornment at the back. This time last year, I took possession of the Lonavala house. This time two years ago, I was in hospital being operated for a gallstone. And the year before that SR, SK and I were running helter skelter trying to put on air our first show as a production house.
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There was a time when a taxi ride was a treat. I have chlidhood memories of travelling by taxi between Churchgate and Colaba. The taxi driver was invariably a Sardar in a white outfit with a great turban. As a child, i was fascinated by the taxi and the fact that it could go anywhere, and the men who drove it were the equivalent of knights in shining armour — you must also remember that in the time I grew up Taxi Drivers, coolies and trade union workers were represented as heroes in films. Today, they may have been marginalised — but in those days, they had an aura. A taxi trip is something that one anticipated and looked forward too. But today, in the suburbs, with a whole bunch of cheap, air-conditioned vehicles for hire, and a car of my own — the prospect of going by taxi is actually minuscule. A a few weeks ago,however, i did catch one from Vashi back home. The driver was an old Sardarji — must have been about 75. Had fascinating eyes - a wonderful voice and a great sense of narrative. He had got year some time after independence and started working here driving his cab. The Bombay that he knew and the Mumbai that it has become — are two different places. He spoke about the demographics of everything - from ‘women of negotiable virtues’ to the ethnographic profile of vegetable vendors and how it changed over the decades. He had a view on practically everything. And I wished that i could make a documentary on him. Somehow — in this crazy rush to produce beautifully packaged fluff — are we forgetting the real stories? The interesting ones?
The Bandra Worli sea link. When i sometimes take the worli sea face route - i get to see the work in progress. Each time i am there - the link seems to have inched ahead. Aah if only the rest of [tag]Mumbai enjoyed such road construction speed.
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Sphere: Related ContentThere are few days in Mumbai like this, when the skies are blue and cloudless - and the suns shimmers through (as opposed to blazes down) on us. Today was one such day. Great Day and a great full moon 
And this a cloud free moon rise. 
I photograph a lot while commuting - anything that catches my eye. Here are some from the daily commute
children playing on the street. My car was stuck at the signal and these were like a few feet away. And they seemed to be having a ball.
This was again at the traffic signal - somewhere near andheri subway. There was this guy whose face was lived in and whom the light favoured - so clck.
And then there is this - possibly one of my own personal favourites
On the day of the Mumbai blasts.
My experience with clicking on the street has been positively positive :). No one has objected so far - in fact people end up asking me to take their pictures.
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One of the great features about the Sony DSC H2 is the menu option to shoot in sepia or in black and white. It actually makes a huge difference shooting in that option, and shooting in colour and processing it later with photoshop. In the latter mode I ended up losing out on the detailing. But, here on a manual mode - with a sepia/b&W setting - you can fiddle around with aperture, white balance and detail - to get what you want. Having said that - this has turned out slightly redder than i would have wanted - but waht the hell, one clicks and learns! Am eyeing a Digtal SLR now. But, first we have to get some new orders:)
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