Moving Mumbaikers

Mumbai traffic is justly famous.  Mostly it's just an obstacle between where you are and where you want to get to but recently I've been trying to capture the people who drive, pedal or push their way through the noisy scrum.

Some people are aware of me, some pleased, some not so pleased and some are in their own worlds.  I haven't quite mastered the art of capturing people just as I'd like to but I'm sharing some early attempts.

 This chap is rather delighted to be snapped spinning through the city.

 The gentleman driver is oblivious or perhaps only seems so due to his shades. I like to think that in his mind he's in the opening credits of some blockbuster movie.  The lady passenger on the other hand looks mildly annoyed.

 The passenger is decidedly put out.  The driver seems quite pleased with the attention or at least happily bemused.

 This is closer to what I originally set out to capture. Deep in his own world and entirely oblivious to me.  I want to know what's worrying him.

So participation, recording or just being another annoying or puzzling factor in the transport of Mumbai.  I'm not really sure where this will take me but I'm up for the journey.

Advertising

 All your health and beauty secrets.

Calling all rankers to accounts.

I could go on about the interesting juxtaposition of advertising and aspirations to everyday life or I could just post these and move on. 

Moving on.

Ganesha Ornaments

It's time for a new blog header picture so I chose this one, colourful, hand painted Ganeshas. 

I found them at the Khala Goda Arts festival and this is one of the few pictures taken there, it was just too busy but serves me right for turning up on the last Saturday afternoon of the festival.  It was a jolly crowd though all hell bent on getting their pictures taken with the installations or swarming over the stalls selling all manner of bright and beautiful things.  I'll go again but go earlier next time.

Flora Fountain, Mumbai

Probably the prettiest traffic roundabout in Mumbai, Flora Fountain doesn't always have such a dramatically blue sky behind it.  Indeed, it didn't on the day I took the picture either.  It was a cloudless day but I suspect I had been fiddling with the colour settings on the camera and forgotten all about it by the time I took this picture.  Still, it's an optimistic view of the air quality in central Mumbai.

This second image shows a favoured pigeon perch.  I'd really gone to try to get some images of people riding their bikes, ricks and so on but the traffic was a bit too slow to capture what I was looking for.  Instead I got this lovely stone lady wondering why her hand was smelly.