I stepped at Dadar station, Bombay (yes you are right, I am old school and I prefer to call it Bombay but not Mumbai) on 13th of October. It was 6:50 in the morning and the roads were suspiciously clean and free from the maddening crowd of Bombay. I reached my destination within 15 minutes in taxi, which usually takes more than 20-25 minutes by handling the traffic and other crazy issues. It was the Maharastra Govt. who earned the credit of keeping the roads clean for my arrival on the assembly election day. They declared the polling day a holiday to raise the voting rates of Mumbaikars (had to use, because Bombaikars is not in use anymore). Later in the evening I dropped at Dadar station and decided to take a ride of Bombay trains for some experience. The assembly polls were balloted that day and I was not hoping to cruise through the city smoothly. My experience of living in Calcutta for 21 years tells me something else which is not at all familiar to the election day experience of Bombay.
As soon as I reached Bombay, I have pinned the spots down and then I wanted some exclusive photos for my collection. Add to my pleasure was Jamil's casting for my outdoor model shoot. He is the model whom I can hire any day and even on the days when I don't need a model for a shoot. I think some people are born artist and Jamil is one of them. His expressive and outlandish thought process underpins my work. He always understands the architecture of the theme and provides the exact substance of drama required. We took two days to shoot some outdoor shots near Victoria Terminus, Gateway of India and Hajiali Darga. I tasted a different flavour on the streets than Calcutta and the snoozing hours of the city gave me a delight to see the speeding lights and dins around me. I roamed like a nomad and never was worried about the crowd who would spot me as a traveler and come questioning about what I am doing by sitting on the road and looking through the viewfinder of the camera for hours; nor they asked Jamil while he sat on the pavement beside the traffic signal near Victoria Terminus to pose for me. It is simple, people don't have time to even ask you your name.
The life in Bombay is not very easy but still its very popular and in high demands. People from different metros are dying to get settled here and youngsters are not ready to forgo any stance to pin their feet in Bombay. I was surprised to see that how comfortable people are traveling by a overcrowded train and never complaint about the inconvenience the congestion causes, and still the local trains are the easiest and fastest way of communication. Everyone is busy and every other person in Bombay is earning atleast a dime a day to survive. No one is sitting idle, actually you can not if you want to stay here. I have heard all these facts about Bombay from many, however, dint notice all these even when I was in Bombay, 8 years back. The pensive culture of Calcutta and rowdy crest of Delhi is a far off thing in Bombay. You can find anything if you know where to look for. You need to act fast if you are on the streets. No one will wait for you. Buses will not halt even if you stand in front of them to make them an unusual stop to get aboard. Even a minutes change in schedule will cause you a half an hour delay.
This is not an advertisement feature of how many ways the city is better than its counterparts. This is an account of what I have felt so far and I think a metro city should be like this. I don't crave to come and settle here, however, given an opportunity to choose between cities in India, I will any day & anytime choose Bombay for my work, and Calcutta for my living. There are issues about security and finance, and those will not fall off your back unless you are secured enough to put your roots here.
The photo shoots were not easy and I had to use my tricks to get some good captures. I bought a new tripod, since my old one is broken now. I used my new warm reflector and sigma lens to create some nice night shots. finding a good spot is not easy enough and also achieving the perfect shot is challenging. Night photography is a different flavour altogether and also requires whole lot of preparation to reach the goal. I have seen some photos on the i-net in some photographer's profile and since then I was determined to shoot something like that. I tried my level best and now it is upto my viewers to judge whether it met the standards or not. I will post the photos in my website as well as on my FB fan page later this month. I have also met the Indian legend of glamour photography, Mr. Dabboo Ratnani to talk about the prospects of assisting him in his work. Submitted my profile and still waiting for his call. However, that's a different story altogether.
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