Mankhurd Village

Villages of Mumbai: The primary and middle school in Mankhurd Village. 

The school is not a government school but it looks like one. So does the art on the walls.

Panjrapol

Villages in Mumbai Series: Hen coop in Panjrapol, Deonar.

This hen coop is in a little slum where the residents rear chicken. It's rare to find such a hen coop in this space starved city.

If you look at old maps of Mumbai, you will see a large Panjrapole or animal shelters in what is now the densely populated market area in town. This however is another Panjrapol close to Chembur and there are no animal shelters that I have seen around here but we do have a bloody large slaughter house a couple of kilometers away.

Deonar

Traffic jam. 

Bakrid is here and so are shepherds from the western parts of India to probably the most profitable market for them, this time of the year.

Mumbai Gaon: Vikhroli

                                Christ Mandir or temple 

Mumbai Gaon Series: Vikhroli Village. 


Tucked between the Eastern Express Highway and Godrej/CR  line is a little East Indian village of Vikhroli. It's one of the hundred odd villages that dot Great Mumbai.

Here is a little cycle repairing shop that I chanced upon which I shot a few images of for my friend Cycling Sultan (Instagram @cyclingsultan). One of the little things that make up a village in Mumbai I guess.

Kopri Gaon, Navi Mumbai

Among all the Ganeshas arriving at the village's immersion pond, a Vishwakarma statue accompanied by songs of a different tune and language. The Anant Chaturdashi day was also the Vishwakarma puja day.

Dr Choitram Gidwani Road: Wadawali Village

Vachanalay: The Surviving Newspaper Reading Stands of Mumbai. 

Wadavali Village, one of the villages gobbled up by Chembur and has become an island village is a Shiv Sena stronghold or so it seems. Here, the Sainiks religiously continue to keep newspapers for people to read and not just Saamna.

Desai Village

Territorial Markings - The statues of Mumbai.

Raj Thackeray was here yesterday to inaugurate a large building project next to this old agricultural village. The Lodhas are offering kilograms of gold these days and some goodies every other day for city dwellers like you to come and surround and choke this old agricutural village near Shil Phata that has this imposing statue that proclaims its identity to people like Raj, Lodha, you and me.

Wadavali Gaon

 

Statues of Mumbai. 

Chembur, like the rest of Mumbai is dotted with many villages that continue to live at a pace of its own. They usually come alive during festivals when the people take a pause from the Mumbai pace and say namaste to their neighbours.

I found these interesting statues on the roadside where the people of this locality collected money to feed a lot of poor people to commemorate their favourite godman, Sai Baba. They had a list of the people who had contributed too.

 

Borla Gaon, Govandi (E)

This Day But That Age.

In the middle of our concrete jungle is a little village with a little temple that has a large courtyard that is surrounded by trees. It's winter and the nights are cool. There's the moon shining bright and visible through the haze and city glow. It's time for some traditional songs that have been sung for decades on a night like this is Western Maharashtra.

This temple courtyard in the Koliwada marks every full moon, the start of summer,the end of the monsoon, the new moons, the solstices and every important festival.

There's something happening here all the time.

It's as if television hasn't entered the lives of the people who live here yet.

        

Chuim Village

Work Space Mumbai: NorBlack NorWhite's Studio

This is the work space of two girls of Indian origin from Canada who now live and work in Mumbai. Their roots go back to Punjab, Gujarat and Hyderabad. Today they are not just discovering those places their parents came from but the whole Indian subcontinent. And the best thing about their discovery is that they make into beautiful wearable fashion. 

Much has been written about them and you can see their work on their website. I ll show you some images from their workspace. 




Fabrics and sartorial magic from all over India can be found here. You could call it a museum of the Orhan Pamuk kind dedicated to lovely little things from across India.



Actually, they don't have to travel the subcontinent in search of roots and threads, inspiration can be found at their doorstep in the Bandra area village called Chuim.

  The way to their work space.




How can you represent Bharatmata without her millions deities including the patron Saint of the NorBlack NorWhite dyo - The Nor Black Not White Michael Jackson.




    

Roots. Blood. Roots.

  An art piece created using photos from the family album! With images like these in the family album, I'm not surprised that they have left Canada behind for India.

 

Here's a look at some of the books that I found lying around their workspace. Desktop travel into different parts of the Indian mind. This is their Man-Friday. Anyone who has done business in Mumbai will understand how difficult it is to get people with skills here you can trust.

And finally, I was here because of these guys from BMB London who were doing a story about these girls as part of a series on the new India.