When I am down, depressed I come here to Bandra Talao I find it more enlightening than a religious place , I come and listen to these ear cleaners their impending fate of being evicted from here after having served the public for 40 years ..Kassim bhai was telling me he cleaned ears for one anna and the Nandi talkies was built in his time ,, his father gave up his job as a farmer to till ears and so Kassim and Nabi his brother clean years for Rs 20 .
The Bandra Talao is being revamped and renovated once they sat inside now they sit on a few slabs and do their work without creating nuisance the dirty cotton buds are kept in a tin box ,, My American friend Alex wants to have his ears cleaned once he comes to see me in Mumbai ..he only wants them to disinfect their ear picks .. these guys are plumb poor ,, sometimes I pay them all three including a Hindu guy Raju without having my ears cleaned ,,
But mostly I sit and self shoot videos in selfie mode ,, and on You Tube these are my most visited famous videos ,,
I sit chat with them and last time I sat with Kassim he told me a drunk at had fallen in the pond there is no security and kids come and fish here , most of them fish , and throw the catch on the roads ,,I have documented the Bandra Talao for many years now ,, but it is the earcleaners that mean a lot to me , they wait for me and if I have time I will sit with them ,, today while I was shooting a local drunk came and caught me to shoot him I blasted him .. this place is home for drunks and drugaddicts ..I shot two videos ,, one was about 14 minute ,, and the other a short one ,,sometimes I pay for the guy who is having his ear cleaned ,,
Both Kassim and Nabi have fields that the children till plough , the kids dont want to be ear cleaners .. Raju does not say much about himself.. he is quiet reticent ,, when business is bad their end they walk the streets cleaning ears .. today was a bad day ,, no business no fucked Acche Din..
One of the Municipality Arbab had told Kassim to go back to his native place ,, but they wont budge from here ..and these are stories that I shoot and share ,,earlier I bought Nerjis here as she loved feeding the pigeons ,, and shooting the ear cleaners ,, but now she hardly goes out busy with her I Pad.
After my ears were cleaned I crossed the road bought bloodworms from my friend Naeem and walked back home wife is in Delhi with my daughter ,,
