Posting my story of Mumbai Photo Marathon. I know it’s late, Kapil, Prakash and Ameya have already written about it, Naveen did a mention. But here’s my version!
22nd April 2007, Sunday. Mumbai Photo Marathon 2007
Reached Borivali station at 5.15AM. Missed the 5.15 train. After a couple of rounds to different platforms, came to platform #7 for the 5.26AM train towards Churchgate. Since I had some time, requested the motor man for a photo. He hesitatingly obliged – confirming that the photo will not be published anywhere! I did not want to miss capturing the source of Mumbai rush! The suburban trains – and especially the motormen who drive the trains! Inside the train compartment it was a totally different sight. No passengers! Totally empty compartment. No fourth seat fights, no sweat, no pushing around. Sit where you want!
Picked up Nikita from Goregaon – she was waiting on the station and got in the same train. Got down at Vile Parle and took a rickshaw to Juhu Beach. Got a call from Bharat. He said he has reached Juhu Beach and asked where we were. I said I am reaching in a few minutes, hold the sun. Don’t let it rise. I want to take some good shots of the sun rise. And Bharat chimed: “Sun never rose from the west!” Juhu beach is on the west coast, and we missed it completely! In my mind I said: “What a perfect start of the day! I wish the rest of the day goes well!”
Being on the Juhu Beach for five minutes shook away all the clouds of doubt from my mind though. It was a lovely morning. Sandy beach, joggers here and there, hundreds of pigeons and crows having their breakfast, calm sea and pure air. I wish I could have this everyday! To top it up, the Mumbai Photo Marathon participants started coming in. I was glad to see people turning up actually!
When I scheduled 22nd April as a “Mumbai Life Photoshoot” in my calendar four months ago, I thought I would go alone with my camera and take pictures of the Mumbai life. I didn’t expect anyone else to be with me. One day I read about the Johannesburg Photo Marathon through Kapil’s blog, and got excited! Thought we should do something similar to that. Invited Kapil and he was happy to join. A few others too mentioned their interest. Then I got engaged! 21st April would be one month anniversary of the engagement. With a bit of nervousness I told Nikita about going on a photo shoot on 22nd – a different way to celebrate our anniversary. She liked the idea and we were now a team. Over the next two weeks, about fifteen other people joined in. Kapil and I posted to various blogs and forums about the event and people just picked it up! I was actually thrilled and surprised by the response – especially the response from Magnet!
Magnet colleagues deserve a special place in Mumbai Photo Marathon. Not only they jumped to the idea, they even made it real! The logo, ID cards, managing that everything was in order – everything was taken up. Prakash, Ameya and Ashok did a great job. I and Kapil had to only initiate!
So at 6.30AM, here we were. Me, Nikita, Bharat, Prakash, Ameya, Sai, Naveen and Prem. All ready and eager for the day! We introduced each other and went on picturing the pigeons and crows. The dogs running around. The people taking a jog. A few families and tourists who were playing. And a cute little boy Aryan who was playing with his dad. The sun did rise from the east, but we could get a few good shots from the west side! Chintan joined in a bit late but he too started clicking around enthusiastically.
By 8, we had taken hundreds of pictures each. Some exhausted their batteries right there! We brainstormed about what could be the next good photo opportunity place, but nobody had any brilliant ideas! So we decided to hop on a bus towards Bandra. Ameya and Sai said they will take a bike ride and will meet us at Dadar at 10.
On the way to Bandra we got down at Linking Road in the hope that we will get some good pictures. Not many people on the road, and all the shops were closed being a Sunday morning. I could get an interesting photo of a man drinking tea sitting on the edge of the footpath. Probably the first tea made on the roadside tea stall! As we started moving towards Bandra station, we got more interesting stuff. Traffic police catching an auto rickshaw for breaking rules, giving us a photo, and people asking us which newspaper we belonged to! I took photos of a vegetable seller and others around it told me to put it on page 3! Some even asked what time will this be on TV! Naveen had interesting answers. Whoever asked him which press he belonged to, with a straight face he would say: WordPress! The press in the word made it look credible!
We decided to stop for breakfast at a restaurant. Shared pictures taken so far and stories about them over light south indian breakfast and coffee. It was close to 9.30 when we finished, and another set of great photos were coming! Some people joined the queue to buy their train tickets while the rest took the opportunity to shoot around Bandra station. I got some wonderful pictures of the food stalls right outside the station. The juice seller, fruit plate stall, vada pav stall and others. The road side food stalls are so much a part of Mumbai culture that it’s difficult to ignore them! The ones around train stations get thousands of customers everyday – doing many times more transactions than McDonalds et al. Each stall has a story of its own! In less than 10 minutes, I had 5 great photos!
We rushed in the station, took the 9.40 Fast train towards Churchgate. Prakash and Chintan missed the train (got busy taking some pictures I think!) and came by the next.
Dadar had come to life by this time. The bridge was full with people moving from one platform to another. The trains were rushing in and out and the typical Mumbai life had its spring time! Outside the Dadar station, I got some stunning pictures of flowers, barbers and commerce happening in the series of little shops in a congested lane. We had decided to meet at the Jumbo Vada Pav stall outside Dadar station at 10. But most people were lost clicking photographs by this time!
The rest stood under the bridge observing life around and waiting for others to join in. Kapil came up. Ameya handed him his ID card, the itinerary sheet and a few letters of permission if the need arises. By the way, the ID cards were amazing. They helped us stay clear from any trouble! If anyone asked us for what we were doing, all we had to do was flash the ID card and say we were doing the Mumbai Photo Marathon! People happily posed with a broad smile on their face after that! When I took such photos, I even heard comments like: “Hey, you did not take the photo. Don’t cheat me. Where was the flash?” or “Light nahi laga saab, photo liya kya” – and I had to explain that flash is used only in low light conditions!
Shabbir and his friends – Archeet, Mrinalini and Damini joined us at Dadar. Arun and Sanjay too.
The shutter-bugs kept clicking their cameras and capturing the mood of the city. Dadar is an area full of activities and this provided good opportunity to catch the roadside Mumbai. We walked through the roads and lanes, passed the Siddhi Vinayak temple. And kept clicking. By this time, the legs started hurting. The heat was on. And we were getting tanned! The group was now divided, and moving towards Haji Ali, our next stop. Didn’t get much to photograph at Siddhi Vinayak since it’s a high security zone. We got good pictures of the church and the traffic though.
By 12, most of us were at Haji Ali. It’s a beautiful place and full of people. After a round of juices at Haji Ali Juice Center, we started to move into the dargah. Lots of stalls on the path to the dargah. Toys, stone rings, flower sheets and even beggars. Lot of photos here. Prakash ran out of batteries again and again, and Naveen was on the verge of losing them. The flow of people coming to this religious place was never ending. Many even enjoyed the rocky sea shore. There was a military man taking video shooting of the sea – this looked odd, but provided good photos! The crying beggars were the most uncomfortable part of the time. It was displacing to see their condition, and them begging at such a place.
Bharat had to leave, so he left from there. Promising to develop the photos and put them up within 3 days.
Everyone was hungry by this time, so we decided to hog on some food. The easiest option was Satkar restaurant outside Churchgate, since we had to go that side. So we hopped in taxis and reached Churchgate. The Marine Drive road was almost empty – unlike the weekdays. And we cruised smoothly.
Satkar food was ok, and we were hungry. Things finished quickly here! I had a tough time convincing the restaurant manager to charge our battery cells for a while.
After the pav bhajis and sandwiches, and some other filling Indian delicacies, we were ready to hit the road again! But before that, something important! A group photo! We assembled outside the restaurant and positioned the camera for a nice group photo. 10 seconds timer and click! We were captured! The photo did not have all the marathon participants, but covered most!
Taking a left from Churchgate, we began towards the fort area. Hutatma Chawk, the deserted fort area, all old buildings, empty roads – this was all contrasting the theme for the photo marathon, but we were very enthusiastic about the whole thing, so kept taking pictures.
While we were walking, Kapil suddenly turned around and held the camera on his belly. For a minute I couldn’t figure out what he was doing. Then I realized he was shooting busses and taxies on the road. Keeping the camera at belly level gave better photos! After this, we went one step ahead, even kept the camera one inch above the road and took photos. Nikita had to pull me from jumping on the road twice. But people enjoyed the action!
We walked a lot, took a load of photos, had sugar cane juice to refill our energies and kept walking till we reached the Jahangir Art Gallery. The area from here was busy. One painter was doing some work and was running away from the cameras as he did not want his parents to see what he was doing! He thought the photo will be coming on TV!
We saw tourists coming from all over here. Some with Lonely Planet, some with relatives. Everyone started clicking around. As a matter of fact, some had already stopped all foreigners they saw on the way, stopped them, and took photos. Tourists form an integral part of one society! A lot of cottage industry wouldn’t have survived in Mumbai without them!
When we checked our watches, it was 3.40. Reaching at Gateway was still a while away, but we decided to move forward any way. The passage through small roads to the Gateway was eye catchy. Shops on both sides of the footpath. Interesting and beautiful artifacts being sold. Locals and tourists haggling for a deal. Lots of colors and shopkeepers shouting to grab your attention. I would be surprised if I didn’t get some good pictures here!! Heck, we even shot the beautiful chandelier in the passage of the Taj hotel.
Gateway of India is a tourist attraction of Mumbai. The temperature was soothing out when we reached and the place was full of people. Families were posing to capture memorable moments, ice cream sellers were waving candies to attract people. The balloon guys were shouting to grab attention and photographers were making a request to sell their instant photos. Boats and ships were getting set for a safe harboring, and kids were playing with their parents in the garden. Scenic place full of energy and action!
At this time, close to 4.15, most of us gathered in a garden near Gateway of India. Everyone was tired. They had a great day, but now wanted to go home and have some rest. So people started leaving. Sai, Ameya, Prakash, Arun, Sanjay and Naveen left. I took a quick nap while the others discussed. Prem kept shooting and Kapil was generally having a good time. Shabbir and group had not yet finished their visit to Crawford Market yet. I called up and learnt that they were soon reaching.
5PM. Designated time to meet at Gateway. We met. Shabbir had exhausted his 4GB memory card clicking more than 500 images in raw format. We exchanged stories of the happenings of the day, and decided to call it a day! We could still take pictures on the way back, officially the Mumbai Photo Marathon was not yet complete!
So we came to Churchgate station and took a train towards Borivali. Got down at Goregaon in between to go to InOrbit mall. InOrbit mall is jam packed on a Sunday – mad rush of people. And as expected, there was. Right at the entrance, kids were on to buy some animal shaped balloons one was selling. Not 4-5 kids, but 40 kids around a single person with their parents. Every second child seemed to have those balloons that day! The owner would have made a lot of money that day!
We took photographs in and around the food court and headed out. Had to attend Murphy’s – a long time friend – wedding before I call it a day. Had fun at the wedding reception, dropped Nikita home and I came back home.
It was a long and tiring day – 5AM to 12AM. But it was well worth every minute! What a great Mumbai Photo Marathon! Thanks to all participants for making it such a wonderful experience!
Logical Next steps:
- The Mumbai Photo Marathon group on Flickr hosts the best photos from the event
- Photos on my gallery
- Interested in the the next photo marathon? When should we have it?