Further down I meet an uncle in black shots and striped t-shirt who was on his daily morning walk helps me to the right direction and even offers to walk with me. Amidst old builds with rotten wooden balconies on which long cotton sarees and faded bed sheets are hung to dry an abrupt turn take me inside a small lane. As I enter the lane I immediately feel as though I have entered a movie set. The entire place is disconnected from the chaos outside. It’s a different world out here. I can’t see many people out in the lanes except for the one paavwaala and the macchwaali. Sunday Eight o’clock is still eagerly for people here. It truly feels like a Sunday. This is Kotachi Wadi

Khotachiwadi is a heritage village in Girgaon, Mumbai, India. Houses built are made from the old-Portuguese style architecture.

It was founded in the late 18th century by Khot,a Pathare prabhu, who sold plots of land to local East Indian families. There used to be 65 of these houses, now reduced to 28 as old buildings are being pulled down to make way for new skyscrapers. -Wiki

It seems like a spec of Goa has fell right in the middle of Mumbai hustle bustle. I am a bit amazed that there Mumbai has beautiful tiny cottages amidst the concrete jungle. Houses have verandahs (let me see when was the last time I saw a house with a verandah….ding ding ding not in Mumbai until now). Even the space in front of the gate is decorated with bright mango tile chips, tree barks, stones and huge wooden urns. The bright colors on the walls, old-Portuguese style architecture, wooden framed balconies and the bougainvillea fences truly makes this place a photographers delight.

Washing activities were already in full swing at 7am, dhobis were busy trashing the clothes against the flogging stones. I rarely saw them use a brush except the whites and the light colored lots. The laundries are called ghats row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone Every day at the break of dawn thousands of bundles of dirty linen from all over the city: hospitals, hotels, household, shops, parlors and where not is brought in here where the clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch, spun in desi dryers and hung out to dry. Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles all this for a small fee. The clothes are tracked using tags with unique code system written with special black ink which does not get washed away.

The dhobi’s work collectively and have their union group. This is mostly a family business for many which have been passed from one generation to the other since decades. I am not sure of the business details but it’s seemed that it’s pretty much impossible for a new comer to penetrate into this business easily. The washer men are particular that no room for outsiders and to keep this as a monopolized career options for the few.

Some 35+ shutterbugs go clicking inside the ghat and the locals are amused about the paparazzi attention they are getting. They are used to having tourists shoving the camera at their face but they still are not able to comprehend the reason of this attraction.

Mumbai Shutterbugs

Looking at the serious shutterbug activities in Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi I was beginning to get a complex. Presenting our very own city shutterbugs. These are a buch of photo enthusiats, who meet periodically at a common place to capture some amazing pictures and share some cool tips. I had attended one of their outdoor shoots at the Dadar Flower Market. Its still in its infant stages, by which I mean there is a lot of stream lining to be done and loads of scope for improvement that is if they want to do serious photography with loads of fun. Nevertheless I am glad that these bunch of people have taken the initiative to come together. My take on the entire group is that most of them are pretty new to photography but there are quiet a few who has an eye for details. I also feel that such group get together is a great opportunity to learn/share new photography tricks/tips. So cheers to the team and hoping to see a lot of activities from these shutterbugs.
To dig more about this group’s activity check this link here.

Read more here

Here are a few pictures taken by yours truly :)

In the end am sure that Nikita would want to take a double barrel gun and shoot the judge and then the rest who help him make this decision. Also the gov/ law have set a bad example with this incident. First it is not that we have hundreds of Nikita’s walking in every day asking for court’s help to abort a child. Secondly the one person who has faith in the laws and wanted to go about the right way has been bowled out. After this I don’t think that people will have any hopes of receiving the justice to any issue. The moral of the story is such incidents will make the people loose faith in law and justice. And more importantly its is high time for India to change/amend certain laws.

Trust me its a bit high end for a middle class office goer to indulge in on a regular basis. But is worth the money, once in while. The ambience is absolutely relaxing and gives a feeling that you are on a high end Spa but hte noise outside the SPA pulls one back to reality. For more details go to www.heavenonearthindia.com

Look this guy has himself done some it of shopping :)