Dadar Vegetable Market

One morning, a fellow photographer and I decided to visit the wholesale vegetable market in Dadar in central Mumbai, for photography. So, as we went around exploring the vegetable market, we spoke to some of the sellers there to know more about the place.

The market opens as early as 3-3:30AM in the morning. At this time trucks laden with vegetables for sale arrive, and the sellers set shop. 

One of the sellers told me that buyers start pouring in, as early as 4AM. The buyers are usually caterers, canteen/restaurant cooks, local vegetable sellers, and also those buying for their home. 

The vegetables come from all a huge variety of places, north and south, east and west of the country.

Each vegetable sold here has stalls dedicated to solely selling that vegetable only. Some sell according to meals cooked.

The market is fast paced, as you would expect any business in Mumbai to be.

The air in the market is filled with the smells of chillies, potatoes, tomatoes, leafy vegetables, etc. But the smell of chilli is the most dominant, and there is a lot of chilli dust. So watch your nose, while walking through there. 

Abandoned Laundry Shop

Another one of the several street sights I captured in Chennai during my PhD days over there, made into a sketch. This one is a closed down laundry shop (from the writing on the wall that says "Ramesh Ironing and Dry Wash"). Here is the sketch.

Abandoned Laundry Shop

Dear House Owners

Most house owners (especially the upper middle class ones) live on a massive prejudice. This is a prejudice towards unmarried men and unmarried women. In most of these so called 'societies', youngsters with jobs in a city new to them are often told either by the brokers or directly by the owners that 'we don't allow bachelors' (referring both female and male bachelors). Bachelors get very raw deals, when it comes to that. They get places to live, which their parents find uncomfortable, when they visit them. They get fleeced both by the brokers, and by money-minded owners who will readily accept them as tenants, due to their desparation for a place to live.

 In the brains of these so called 'homely' house owners (brains so small and narrow, that even an electron microscope can't see them), bachelors aren't humans, they are ogres, that ought to be ostracized for not being in that institution called marriage. You know what, we bachelors are mature working adults, I hope you've read the word 'mature'. Below is a note to these so called 'sanskaari' owners.

(Not so)Dear House Owners,

  FUCK YOU!! FUCK you and your hypocrisy, for you were unmarried at one point of time, or you have kids who will grow up (or are grown up) to face the same prejudice (prior to their weddings), when they settle in a job in some other town. You are that (cancerous) scum of the society that believes that people cannot have friends of a gender different from theirs. You believe that friends of different genders are only there for having sex (a fictitous character from a comedy sketch explains it better here. Actually that line of thinking clearly reveals who is a bigger pervert. You are the reason that our society will never ever become progressive. There is a lot of amount of sexism in you, about which all my female friends will tell you lots more, and more. You are the ones who display tonnes and tonnes of casteism as well. You better hear about it from every one of the people you've oppressed based on their caste, and that list is long, really really long.  You are the most judgemental people on this planet.

So long you 'sanskaari' barnacles.

Yours (not) Sincerely,

A Bachelor

A Close 'Companion' From Hyderabad

Everytime I am home in Hyderabad for a short vacation, I go for my evening walks in the colony in which I live, and I walk on this one road, which has on its side an old Standard Companion lying parked there for who knows how long. It's been a nice subject for my photography, thus triggering my fascination for clicking old cars. Here's my photographic 'Companion' in a sketch.

My Favourite Tea Kadai

My favourite tea kadai.

Kadai (கடை), for those who don't know Tamil, simply means a 'shop' or a 'stall'. My student life lasted ten years, the first five of which were spent in a university in Hyderabad, doing my undergrad and postgrad studies, and the next five were spent in a reasonably well known (atleast among nerds) institute in Chennai. The tougher five of those ten years were in Chennai, as I needed to work twice as hard as I did in college, and the atmosphere there was a tad lonely. Thanks to a very close friend from the neighbouring journalism institute, I came across this tea kadai run by a very sweet Malayali uncle, and his two cooks. Ever since my second year in Chennai began, I used to go there every evening for that one cup of tea, and biscuits, to just relieve myself of the academic stress. Very soon, I developed an attachment to that kadai. Enjoyed my little conversations with the cooks, and sometimes with the uncle. I miss Chennai a lot, but of all, I miss this kadai the most. So on one of these days, when I was feeling very nostalgic, I decided to draw a sketch of this little shop (from a photo I took of the place). In the sketch is one of the cooks, and a customer who after a hard day at work, came to have some tea (or pick up a smoke), while probably waiting for his food at a hotel nearby.

The Good Ol' Chennai Local

In the five years of my Ph.D in Chennai, I used to spend my weekends exploring parts of the city. On many occasions, I used to take the local train to go out. The Chennai local isn't a madly crowded one, like its Bombay counterpart, thus, a ride in them is quite a joy ride. One day, I decided to randomly go for a ride in the train upto its last station (Chennai Beach) and come back in the same one to my stop (Indira Nagar). On the way, I clicked a photo inside my bogie, which I made a sketch out of. Here's the sketch.

The Good Ol' Chennai Local

Peace of Mind

Like any young person in his/her early twenties, I joined facebook and twitter. Peer pressure is what pulled me towards facebook. I must admit I did start spending too much of my free time on it, posting updates, photos (silly ones back then in 2009) and more often than not, it spilt over to my study time. Then came games on facebook like Angry Birds, Crazy Taxi etc., which ate up quite a bit of the free time I had during vacations.

In the end of 2010, the development of photography as my main hobby began, with the posting of a huge bunch of pictures from a trip to Delhi and Agra, in December of that year. The likes received made me want to post more. Thus, after finishing my Masters, five months later, in May 2011, I started posting pictures I took from my DSLR camera. As far as photography sharing on facebook was concerned, I was ok with whatever response I got, after all, it's something I did for myself.

Apart from photos, I would post shared posts, news articles, and sometimes my own opinions, jokes (my horrible sense of humour :P) and sometimes, I would tweet from my twitter account (which was then linked to facebook). My senior during my PhD years, started making judgemental remarks about me being 'online', I would shout back telling that the thing is logged in on my phone, whether I am using it or not. That was the first time I saw red on being on social media. As work got intense, I reduced posting to about one or two posts a day. Plus it started to dawn on me that a lot of people may think I'm an attention seeking monger. A lot of people in my list (my mother and father's friends included) started messaging my sister, and I used to get scathing messages from her now and then, even if I had reduced and controlled my posting. Added to that the amount of negativity and hatred in the posts on my news feed had increased exponentially, which started to make me a negative person as well. Thus, I decided to deactivate my account for a month at a stretch, then go back to it (at least for communication with friends whose numbers I didn't have) for three or four months, and then deactivate it again. During the deactivation periods, I would sit and read, which I enjoyed hell of a lot. But each time I would get back, I would see more of hatred and negativity, of course there would be the odd positive, inspiring posts (a photograph by one of my photography idols or a piece of artwork by two of artists whose works I love to see). But the problem was that this negativity started eating up my time. Same thing on twitter as well (as far as the material I would see is concerned). 

What did I do next? Nothing surprising. Before leaving for Poona for my post doctoral studies this January, I deleted my facebook account. Alas, the peace of mind. One big key realization was that facebook and twitter, which are 'social' media, made me unsocial in real life.

Bird With a Swag

There was this red-vented bulbul, which I had spotted on a pipe, with one leg on a bolt. Had clicked it, and decided to make a sketch from that. Here it is.

Chowmahalla Palace

One of the four Mahals (mansions) of the famous Chowmahalla Palace in Hyderabad, which is a short walk from the Charminar. 

Sketch details: Pen sketch. Used Staedtler's 0.4mm pigment liner for the entire sketch.

Pondicherry

Almost everyone who's visited Pondicherry would have visited the Paradise Beach, Auroville, Rocky Beach, and walked through the French lanes, which have the colourful buildings. I had spotted one such, with an Ambassador car parked next to the building, and clicked it. Decided to make a sketch of it. Here it is:

On a street in Adyar

The streets of Chennai have interesting sights worth clicking. One day, I had gone for a walk through the lanes of Adyar, and saw an old Lamby (Indian Lambretta) lying abandoned outside a shop. Had taken a picture of it. A few weeks ago, I saw that photo and decided to make a sketch from that.

Somwhere in IISc Bangalore

Trees are one of my favourite subjects, when it comes to nature photography. In mid-August, I visited the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India, for a couple of months. It was one of the prettiest campuses I had seen. At one spot over there, I spotted an interesting looking tree, clicked it, and sketched it using a pen. Here it is:

Enjoying the Sea!

Almost every beach in Chennai has a bunch of boats moored at some point at the beach. When not in use they make for great benches for people to sit on to enjoy the evening by the sea.

Charcoal on paper.

If you love your hometown, nothing wrong in talking about it.

   Some people think that I am too "south Indian", and have an issue with my (semi)south Indian-ness (the fact is that I am a Hindi-Telugu person). Yes, I grew up in Hyderabad, and I love that city, as much as any of you loves your hometown. Yes, I have been in Chennai for the last 5 years, and I like that city too (it's my second home). Naturally, I talk quite a bit about them, mostly through photos, but sometimes while talking (those things about the 2 cities which can be talked about with others). Honestly, if you have a problem with it, or if you think I am too "south-ish" (or "madrasi"), then I don't give a damn (apologies (not) for sounding too harsh)! 

  Interestingly, I see these very people brag on and on about Dalhi (oops sorry, Delhi), and Bombay (a word which isn't censored on social media), like how the "national" news channels do. But somehow that's 'legit'. Hail Double Standards, Hail!! See, I have no issues with people talking about Dahli or Bombay (after all those 2 are great cities, one's the "City of Djinns", and the other's the "Maximum City", alright subtle plug over ;)) as that makes me know more about those 2 cities, but let me also talk a little bit about the cities I love. 

  NOTE that the same applies to those (the ones who use the word "northie") who have an issue with north Indian's love for her/his part of the nation.

The Good Ol' Chennai Local!

In the 5 years, I have spent in Madras, I have travelled quite a lot in the cream and dark green local trains of the city. The locals here are an alternate lifeline of the city (the main one being the buses). But the locals have their own charm, especially the MRTS (Mass Rapid Transit System) whose trains run on an elevated track passing through the gigantic stations, like a serpent getting in to a hole in a mound and getting out of its other end. You get a nice view of some of the surroundings (especially on the Eastern side). Below is a sketch of a local at Indira Nagar Station (one of the elevated stations). Used a fountain pen to do the sketching.

The Chennai Local.

The city beyond its malls.

A lot of times, when I have talked with a lot of my friends about the big cities here in India, one of the main topics have been their malls. I had a question, guys, isn't there a lot more about a city, big or small, beyond malls?

Well, there's a lot more to a city than just glass and concrete structures called malls.

Some cities have the delights that are called beaches, both sandy ones and rocky ones, clean ones and dirty ones, teeming with people and vendors, especially corn-sellers whose stoves let out sparks that attract every budding photographer :P .

Some cities simply have amazing weather, and pretty places to see around them, and hang out there.

 Some cities have beautiful monuments, some of whose interiors have the finest works of art inside them, some of which are a result of some good engineering and kickass architecture, and some whose ruins have a tell us the story of a glorious past.

Some cities have most charming dialects, which are a delight to the ears. Arey chicha, ye ek dum kiraak hai.. (Hyderabadi for "Hey dude, this is awesome..").

Some cities have the most kickass or kiraak(as we say in Hyderabadi Urdu) food you can get on the planet, the thought makes me crave for some biryani and kebabs.

Some cities have the good old local trains, which come in several colours, white and violet, red and yellow, green and yellow, blue and white, colourful as they are, and they are delight to travel in, despite the fact that they get quite crowded at peak hours.

Some cities have the prettiest streets ever, with vendors selling things ranging from roasted snacks to plastic toys, and the colourful little edifices, old and new, on either side of the street. Added to that the general hustle and bustle, around the shops, bus stops, stations etc.

Chennai, as I see it.

 I have spent several weekend evenings or full Sundays, going to various places in Chennai for photography. I've been capturing the quirky colourful streets, the local trains, the greens of IIT M, the beaches, and the hustle and bustle in general of the city. A part of me loves this city.

Crowds at Marina

The popular Schmidt Memorial in Besant Nagar beach.

Kalikundram Road

4th Cross CIT Campus on Bhogi morning

Covelong Beach, Kovalam

Besant Nagar Bus Stop.

A scene from Tharamani Bus stop.

 After all, there is a lot, a lot more to any city than just those big glass and concrete structures which we call malls.

At Mylapore

Hustle and bustle at Marina

Napier Bridge.

The Velachery local.

Remembering Rohith Vemula

"The value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind. As a glorious thing made up of star dust." - Rohith Vemula

 Truer words have never been said.

 Dear Rohith Vemula,

   You would've turned 27 today. It's saddening that a bright mind like you has left us to due to a cruel system that only thinks of identity, votes and numbers.

   You have woken a lot of us up to realizing that some harsh realities exist, and it's us and only us who need to wake up a dormant system, to bring a much needed change for a better society, where people are, as you have said, treated as a mind, as glorious things made of stardust. We will fight, struggle, get beaten, but will bring about the change.

  You are in a far far far better world, wherever you are right now.

Somewhere in Edinburgh.

   When I visited Edinburgh with my sister on September 2015, we had gone on one of the free walking tours of the place. We walked through one attractive downhill street with pretty buildings around it, Victoria street. It's said that the Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter is based on this particular street. I had clicked it then, and recently made a pencil sketch of it. Here's the sketch.

Some street-side in Madras.

A new pencil sketch of a cycle parked against a bunch of  standing logs at the side of some street in Chennai. Had taken a picture of this long back and then decided to make a sketch of it. Here it is.

A street scene.