There are a lot of subjects in Mumbai , if you really put your heart into it and you pursue it doggedly , and you use your inner res-courses to add beauty to the subject of your choice .
I was an avid learner and I pursued my subjects , whether the Bawas Rifais Malangs , Naga Sadhus the beggars or even the transgender ,I did not give up .
I shoot them even now and add them to the respective sets at Flickr .I shot religions , rituals faiths , movements anything that was curious photogenic , I shoot drug addicts to but from a distant as these are dangerous denizens volatile and are unpredictable .
But however here in my backyard it was the Dabbawala that fascinated me with his hardword, professionalism, simplicity and above all humility .I shot him eagerly , I shot him to promote his tribe , his zeal and his passion .There was no other agenda , and I hot him as a street photographer chronicler and as a documentarist.
I talk to them , I respect them and pursue them with a poetic energy.
The Dabbawala is Mumbai , the best of Mumbai , you cant have a Mumbai without the Dabbawala or the Dabbawala without Mumbai.
There are always around offices , you cannot miss them at Fountain , Nariman Point or BKC or at the main local suburban railway stations.
On the humility of the Dabbawala everyone earns his merit , film makers , advertisers but has anyone really genuinely done anything for the Dabbawalas kids families I am not sure of.
Will you see a Dabbawala own transport system , fleet of cars , mini trucks , I doubt it , he and his cycle are what Dabbawala dreams are made of.
