The village behind our apartment

Earlier this year I did an online photography course.  One of the modules of this course was documentary photography.    I had no idea how the local people would react to me taking photos of them, but I first started taking photos in the village behind my apartment (I'm sure this village has a name but nobody has been able to tell me what it is called.  Rickshaw drivers don't seem to know it and when I direct them through here on the way home they can't believe that I live right next to this village).

Village restaurant

Local barber shop

The greengrocer

The assignment called for black and white photography, but to me this didn't really capture the essence of this village.  The people's lives are vibrant and colourful.  I think the colour photos show this much better.

The general store

Another barber - I found this photo quite poignant - he seemed sad to have no customers

The local delivery man - he comes round selling things.  The children just out of school were running along behind his bike.  

Republic Day

This rangoli welcomed us to the courtyard this morning

One of my neighbours called round last week to invite me to the flag raising ceremony for Indian Republic Day.  We met all the other tenants in our apartment complex in one of the courtyard gardens.  The dress code was orange, white and green, the colours of the Indian flag.  Lex and I made a point of trying to dress in these colours too (I actually wore an outfit made out of material given to me by our housekeeper in Thailand and then just draped a green scarf over the top).

The ceremony started with the national anthem, followed by the raising of the flag by the youngest and oldest members of the apartment community.  There was Indian music and dancing and a fancy dress parade for the children.

This little boy was Lord Krishna

This baby was dressed as a sunflower

This baby was dressed as a bumble bee

Just another Saturday night in Bandra

Last week something amazing happened.  While I've been writing this blog for friends and family, so they can keep track of what we are up to in India, I got contacted by someone else who had found my blog - or more to the point had found one of the photos on my blog and wanted to know where I had taken it.  He also offered me some more suggestions for places to go and take photos.  I followed up on the first suggestion last Saturday.  Lex and I had to go to Bandra anyway, so we decided we'd "discover" Zig Zag Road.  We walked up it, then down the other side of Pali Hill until we got to the beach.  These are the photos we took.

My camera was on "Intelligent Auto" for taking the photos above.  In fact I think they have turned out more orange simply because of taking the photo straight into the sun, which has caused the rest of the photo to become a silhouette.  Contrast this with the photo below, as the sun was just sinking below the horizon.  I found the colours of this fascinating.  I always assumed the brighest colours would be around the sun itself and that higher up the sky would be turning darker - but look at what actually happened!

We have lots of suggestions for other places to go to take photos now too.  We'll be back in Bandra again soon.

Sankranti - a kite flying festival

Smita told me that I'd missed this (she is my cultural guru who tells me about all the Indian festivals).  The festival of Sankranti is when the skies over cities in Maharashtra fill with kites from before dawn until well after dark. The festival marks the days in the Hindu calendar when winter begins turning to summer. On what is usually a bright warm sunny day with brisk breezes to lift the kites, everyone takes to the rooftops and roadways to fly kites and compete with their neighbors.  I guess I will have to wait until next year to get photos of this!

Colaba Causeway Heritage Walk

Prince of Wales Museum

Today Lex and I went to the Prince of Wales museum to see the Paramparik Karigar, an exhibition devoted to the heritage and tradition of Indian craftsmanship.  Twelve traditional art forms were on display together with 14 artists who are working in these styles today in different parts of India.

Flora Fountain

We'd taken the train downtown (we're getting quite the experts at this - it only takes 15 minutes on a fast train as opposed to an hour by car).  We decided to do another of the Heritage Walks of Mumbai.  This one started at the Prince of Wales museum and continued down Colaba Causeway past the Flora Fountain dedicated to the Roman Goddess of flowers.  Colaba was one of the original 7 islands of Mumbai.  In the eighteenth century it was leased to a Briton and developed into an important British cantonment.  A causeway was built to connect the main island with the southern islands and Colaba was the first island to be connected by this causeway.  An elevated road was built and then later widened.  The area is a mixture of old and new, smoky cafes, vibrant restaurants, streetside bazaars, trendy boutiques and upmarket residences.

We walked down Colaba Causeway to Sassoon Docks.  This dock was built by Albert Sassoon in memory of his father Sir David Sassoon.  Here the fisherfolk trade their fresh catch, and women work to prepare the fish for selling all over the city.  What we saw were people peeling thousands of shrimp that were just lying around on the dock.  Amazingly after this sight, Lex actually ordered a seafood lunch!

Sassoon Docks

We continued down Colaba Causeway until we reached the Afghan Church on Colaba Point.  This was the entrance of Bombay harbour and adjoined the military parade ground of Colaba Defence Station.  The church was built in 1842 in memory to the martyrs in Afghanistan, after the conquest of Kabul.  The tower and steeple are now a landmark for incoming ships.  Every piece within the church is dedicated to a deceased soldier.

We turned and walked through Cuffe Parade, an upmarket neighbourhood built on reclaimed land in the 1960s and now with tower blocks over 30 storeys high.  On the edge of Cuffe Parade is Dhobi Ghat - the world's largest open-air laundry.

Dhobi Ghat

We walked back.  Our original aim was to get lunch at Leopold's Cafe, but it was heaving with people, so we walked a little further to the Indigo Deli instead before catching the train back.  My stepometer is showing I've walked over 20,000 steps today!

Elephanta Island

Thanksgiving - a day off school - and a great reason to take a day trip with friends to Elephanta Island.  To get there we went down to the Gateway of India and took a one hour ferry ride to the island.

There was a toy train on the island but it didn't go far and we preferred to walk.

 The caves on Elephanta Island are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The caves date from the 5th to the 8th centuries.    The caves are full of rock carvings dedicated to the god Shiva, and some to his wife Parvati and all are over 5 metres tall.  Unfortunately many of the beautiful sculptures have been destroyed by the Portuguese who used them as target practice.

This was my favourite of all the carvings.  It's called the Trimurti and is over 6 metres in height.  The three headed Shiva represents the essential qualities of the god:  creation, protection and destruction.

After going to the caves we went shopping, but Sharon and Kylie went home - this is the shot they got on the way home of Haji Ali's Darga.  I've been trying to get a shot like this for months!

Sunsets of Goa

Beautiful, beautiful sunsets over the Arabian sea.  What more can I say.  Enjoy!