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

beings of the streets

bullock cart and public bus on indian roads mumbai traffic by kunal bhatia

the slow and the fast. on a sunday morning in south mumbai's business district. for more photos from this set, see the links in the previous post.

watching the world go by

mumbai street photography man sitting on divider vehicles passing by kunal bhatia

the in-between is sometimes the best place to catch all the action. shot on a sunday morning at d.n. road in south mumbai. view the entire set: on flickr or on facebook (no log-in is required for either)

monsoon mood

rainy day mood empty road in mumbai by kunal bhatia

on a rainy day, four monsoons ago. shot with the nikon e7900 point and shoot in august 2006.

the moon at 50mm

moon lit sky in mumbai by kunal bhatia with a canon 50mm prime lens

i really want to get my hands on a zoom lens; but i'm going to have to wait till the end of the year. photo clicked on the oscar diamond terrace.

game over



a doll lying on the roof of a house in versova village.

title courtesy: mumbai paused

mumbai university library

mumbai university library gothic architecture interior by kunal bhatia

the reading room at the mumbai university library.

bombay town

horniman circle mumbai town gothic architecture commerce centre by kunal bhatia

very bombay.

jeans of our times

embroideried jeans kitsch mumbai fashion by kunal bhatia

taken with my cell phone a few weeks back at a service centre.

custodians of knowledge



the state central library in andheri/e was a pleasant surprise - neat, clean, air-conditioned reading rooms, a decent range of books, staff that's polite to talk too, green lawns accessible for outdoor reading and more. open to all, at no charge.

the reading room was filled with a whole lot of college students immersed in their exam books; but otherwise there didn't seem to be anyone using the library's collection. i think word about the library needs to spread around. article here.

the staff was quite accommodating and allowed me to snap some shots; some even willingly posed in front of veneer-clad, moulding-framed cabinets with tinted glass and shelves that are yet to groan under the weight of their contents.

a moment of solitude

sitting by the sea and reflecting thinking at marine drive in mumbai by kunal bhatia

thinking and reflecting on things gone by and those yet to come

mumbai sleeping - 4

people sleeping on the road in mumbai by kunal bhatia

a running series, previous posts: 1, 2 and 3

study centre

study centre in s k patil udyan garden in south mumbai by kunal bhatia

a couple of days back i had posted about a study centre in girgaon. while the text was quite descriptive, the photograph wasn't. i found another photo of the same in my arhives and am posting it today. for a write-up, see the original post here.

the final journey

Chicken hens being taken to the butchers by carrying them on the streets in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

on their way to the butcher's.

hanuman and hues

iconography and art hanuman over a gateway of a traditional house in versova gaothan mumbai by kunal bhatia

hanuman guards a house in the versova fishing village.

desires and compulsions

housing project in madh and versova malad creek fishermen and jetty in mumbai by kunal bhatia

a luxurious housing complex in madh makes its presence felt, over coconut trees and fishing boats in the brackish waters of the malad creek.

fifa times

Local Football team at Marine Drive in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

with the FIFA world cup on, this bunch of young footballers have all the reasons to be euphoric.

love and the city

Couples sitting at Marine Drive in Mumbai. Recreation open space sunday evening activity photo by Kunal Bhatia

in this space-starved city, with teeming crowds on one hand and self-appointed moral police on another, the sea-faces offer some solace for those in love.

another photo from this evening here: love and longing.

housing block

Photo of a residential housing tower building in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

a residential tower in versova, typical of most housing blocks in mumbai. other housing photos in mindless mumbai here.

lamp-shade

Indoor light photography of a bed side lamp in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

shot at home with the 50mm prime lens. SOOC [except for the watermark overlay]

polarised-lanterns

Prithvi Cafe at the Prithvi Theatre in Juhu in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

i recently bought a circlar-polariser and mounted it on the 18-55. for the next few days i forgot that there was a polariser attached to the lens and never remembered to use it while shooting. but last week i kept reminding myself to swivel the polariser before clicking. then one evening, i kept turning the filter trying to capture the ambient lighting of prithvi cafe. but to my frustration all the shots were turning out rather dark. i was in a hurry to leave and couldn't give it much thought then.

later that night i realised that its counter-productive to use a polariser in low light conditions. after cropping the portrait shot to a landscape-format, these chinese lanterns hanging in the cafe make for a decent shot. just shows how far i have to go with my photography.

for a quick run through about polarising filters for digital cameras, go to DPS here.

sand, sea and sun

juhu beach in mumbai by kunal bhatia

at juhu beach.

study-space

S K Patil garden udyan study centre in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

at a 'study centre' in a garden in south-central mumbai. now for those wondering what a study-centre is, the idea is thus: there are lots of students in this city who may not be privileged to have a study-conducive environment in their houses. the reasons could vary from dense living conditions (consider 6+ people living in a 225 sq ft tenement), noisy neighbours, lack of electricity etc.

this setup occupies the corner of the s.k.patil garden in girgaon. it's furnished with individual desks-and-chairs under a PVC-canopy with tubelights and fans. a separate adjacent pavillion provides a tiny space for a class or a group-discussion. in case the gate is locked up, one only needs to climb over the wall to get in. this photo was clicked on a rainy july evening, hence the spartan crowd. we learnt that its completely occupied in the exam-season.

---
clicked with my old nikon point-and-shoot while studying the girgaon neighbourhood for a college project, in july 2008. girgaon is a neighbourhood in the inner-city precincts of mumbai. it's relatively well off when compared to other inner-city areas such as null bazaar and offers a microcosm of a particular way of living to document and study. more girgaon / girgaum photos on mindless mumbai: central mumbai skyline, and photos of chawls 1, 2, 3.

update: see a better photograph of this study-centre here.

there's no place like home

Cab drivers in Mumbai asleep in their cabs parked on the street. Photo blog from Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia

cab drivers asleep in and on their cabs.

in praise of haji ali

Qawali singers at the Haji Ali shrine in Mumbai by Kunal Bhatia. Islamic place of worship in Mumbai. Religion. Photograph.

for all its fame, success, power and peace mumbai/mumbaikars often turn to the almighty in temples, churches, mosques and often a combination of all three. the haji ali dargah located on a little islet of the worli coast is popular with the devoted, cutting across religious lines. here sufi musicians perform qawali, a devotional form of music. the setting with views of the city skyline, the lapping waves and the soulful renderings make for an engaging performance.

by the sea

two women standing by the sea face coast in bandra by kunal bhatia mumbai photographs daily photo image pic blog photographer blogger

in this crowded, bustling metropolis, the sea-face offers some solitude. at bandra bandstand. right opposite the building of the previous post.

monstroussness in the sky

building at bandra bandstand by kunal bhatai mumbai photographs daily photo blog photographer blogger pic pics

at bandra bandstand. see other photos in mindless mumbai tagged architecture or housing.

bright hues and coloured lights



clothes on the clothesline in harmony with diwali-lights and decorations. at khotachiwadi in south-central mumbai. khotachiwadi is a neighbourhood of the east indian community with a bunch of quaint old wooden houses. in mumbai's wadis and gaothans life seems to move at a pace very different from the bustling city that envelops them.

another pic of khotachiwadi in mindless mumbai here. and a set of photos on flickr / facebook

birthday wishes

political hoardings in mumbai by kunal bhatia

political hoardings seem to be the most prominent signage in the cityscape. here, not one nor two nor three, but over half a dozen birthday wishes line an entire stretch of an interior road in dn nagar, andheri. perhaps the arrogant worm's happy birthday song would be the perfect accompaniment.

theme day: funny signs

funny sign in an auto rickshaw in mumbai by kunal bhatia

this is the sign in the auto-rickhshaw's rear view mirror:
more
    love
        give
            spean

i have no idea what it means. i had first posted this photo in january 2008 and a couple of people tried to decipher the meaning. view that post and its comments here and perhaps you can come up with a better explanation.

this post is for the june 2010 theme day: "funny signs" at city daily photo. click here to view theme-photos from cities across the globe