This was shot during Ramzan in 2011 .
And this lady is a psychic , she talks to herself but if she saw me she would start muttering and making angry eyes at me I could never understand her and I think she lived somewhere in the slums of Lal Mitti.. sometimes she was with a bearded man a silent reticent person who rode a scooter .
I have not seen her since a long time , sometimes I would see her in the fish market and the moment she saw me she would look heckled , like a cat who raises her fur seeing danger ,, she was defiant but also scared of me for no reason.
I never talked to her and never did try to approach her as to what was her ire against me ..and here in Bandra Bazar road that touches almost all the bylanes far too many , Chinchpokli Road Demonte Road Jain Mandi Road Ice Factory Road and exit out towards Bandra Reclamation and the various slums that adjoin this area Indraji Nagar Rajiv Nagar and far too many and from the Shia Mosque the road branches out Waroda Road , Chapel Road and St Peter Road that exits at Bandra Hill Road again.
This area is demographically known as a Gaothan once the home of the earliest settlers East Indians ..fishing folks and the quaint old bungalows the exquisite crosses Grottos Shrine testify to their heritage of harmonious peaceful living .. even now as you enter one of the lanes you can hear an Uncle playing the saxophone .
Old music of the 50s Jazz . in the Bazar Road annex that leads out to Bomanwadi or Ice Factory lane . The houses here are noiseless , old ladies watch you as you go by and two crosses on either side .. with Lord Jesus watching you two at both ends .
There is the East Indian pride De Monte Street once bungalows a few remain but the rest pulled down with connivance with crooks from the Municipality for repairs and in their place came the ugly monstrous structures called Channel buildings built on angles that rusted so fast that the walls have cracks , the builders her made a lot of money and have risen far now building towers after the stilt housing craze got over building extra floor on a existing building by putting pillars as stilts,
We came to Bandra Demonte Street in a repair permission building . in the 90s after the 93 riots .. and we have been living in Bandra since .. originally we are from Colaba Strand Cinema .
Bandra is now our adopted home , it has given us children grandchildren , happiness sadness success failure but it has also given us a place to call home so when I document this part of Bandra and try the to draw the attention of the local representatives it is only fr the betterment of this neglected rustic Bandra where East Indians Muslims Hindus Jains and other denominations like Bohras Shias Sunnis Dalits Sikhs Parsis Gujratis all live in peace .
No law order problem here as such and despite 15 years of rotten Congress rule that did appease and created ugly slums and destroyed the once pristine beauty of Bandra forever .If you see the Nargis Dutt slum and the adjoining areas the filth dirtiness you would run a mile .and perhaps because they are Muslims seen only as vote bank their aspirations have been limited like clipped wings of a bird given partial freedom but always locked up in the cage at night.
We were traditional Congress voters but honestly if there is an option we would vote for the Devil instead of them.. they took us for one big ride ,,
And it hurts my dead parents would never imagine voting for any party but the Panja of Congress .
We have come a long way .. and we want a strong peace loving India ..and a vibrant peaceful Amchi Mumbai.
We witnessed the 93 riots at Khar Dandpada so we have really really come a long way forgotten the loss those dark memories but we have certainly not stopped cursing the political perpetrators of the Riots .. those whom we voted , those who were supposed to protect us let us down.. yet we stood behind the Congress like fools .
And this is a Bandra Blog.. of an apolitical person accidental poet and a prolific incorrigible street photographer . a grandfather too..
