Mindless Mumbai is a Photo Blog from Mumbai, India by Kunal Bhatia. Art Architecture Food Street Urban Festivals Travel People Portraits Signs Photojournalism Candid

at work, 7 days a week

hawker vendor on street selling pens paper stationery in mumbai DN Road by kunal bhatia

connecting cst terminus to flora fountain, d.n. road is an arterial road, a business hub and a heritage mile at the same time. its multiple roles overlap especially during the busy weekdays. besides shops and offices, its usually choc-a-bloc with vendors, hawkers, shoppers, commuters and tourists. come weekends however, and the streetscape changes - the arcades are empty, the doorways shut and the streets eerily silent.

this vendor had however set up his stand at 8am on a sunday morning. with pens, diaries and other stationery items filling up his stand, office goers would be his prime customers. sundays are probably his least active days, but he's still there nice and early. that's called dedication. something to admire and to be inspired from.

find this photo on flickr and on facebook.

silhouette and sky

mumbai skyline building silhouette at night by kunal bhatia

an under-construction building's silhouette stands out against the evening sky at versova

the final bed

jagganath shankar seth hindu crematorium in charni road in mumbai by kunal bhatia

at the jagannath shankar seth electric-crematorium in girgaon, south mumbai.

mangoes in may

mangoes in a tray in mumbai by kunal bhatia

the summer months are associated with this luscious, delightful fruit. we have it in many different forms - from cut pieced to icecreams and milkshakes to its pulp and its pickles. but the sweltering summer is nearly over, and so is the mango season. i'm looking forward to the monsoons now.

watching the beach



the other day, at juhu beach

what will you discover?

what will you discover sign in hypercity mall in malad in mumbai by kunal bhatia

note to self: stagnate not. photo first posted in november 2006 here.

blowup bombay - a street exhibition of photographs

blind boys street photography exhibition blowup bombay in bandra in mumbai by kunal bhatia

at blowup bombay: a street exhibition of photographs by the blind boys. in their words: Blow-up uses the internet and social media we help you take your pictures, design an improvised exhibition where everyone is invited to come and display their work on the streets together with other photographers

it's a great concept to get people to view and talk about photographs. i printed and pinned up a couple of shots, but felt rather incompetent after seeing the work all around. the three in the photo above were quite keen to carry away some of the photos, but we were a bit too early to do that :p

premier tissues

tissue paper box in a car in mumbai by kunal bhatia

i hadn't clicked anything the entire day. was returning home in the evening, when i snapped this tissue-paper box lying in the car. this is with the canon 50mm f1.8 prime lens. the wide aperture is really great to play with, especially in low light conditions.

now what?

man washing his bike in mumbai by kunal bhatia

there are points in one's life, when one wonders "now what?" aata kay? photo clicked in khotachi wadi, girgaon on an early sunday morning. this gentleman was in the midst of washing his bike. perhaps he's wondering if he's missed a spot.

for more photos from this neighbourhood, hit up 'khotachi wadi' in the search box on the right.

khotachiwadi - mumbai 400004

khotachiwadi sign board in mumbai by kunal bhatia

mumbai weekend shoot traversed the tiny lanes of khotachiwadi in the inner-city today. originally inhabited by families of the east-indian communities, khotachiwadi is today prime-realty and susceptible to the likes of land sharks. only 28 of the 65 original houses now remain, and the recent years have witnessed increasing efforts to conserve what remains, spruce up the precinct and bring in tourists. the results seem to be paying off. though i didn't enter any of the houses, it was interesting to walk around and shoot.

the set of photos is here on facebook and here on flickr. or, for more photos from this neighbourhood in this blog, hit up 'khotachi wadi' in the search box on the right.

welcome back mm

cheers drinks in mumbai by kunal bhatia

meant to be blogged way back on 2008-04-25, this pic has been lying in a folder for over two years now. i thought it'd be apt to post this today. mindless mumbai is back after an year of hibernation. and this time i've removed the word 'daily' from the title. a lot has changed in the past year, and even more since may 2006 when i began mindless mumbai. looking back at what i've posted i realise that my perspective about a lot of things is now quite different.

whether same or different, old or new; i want to continue photographing mumbai and sharing it with the world. my point of view, my two cents. cheers!