Was spoiled to spend time with David and his lovely wife Charmayne in their apartment in Mumbai. In addition to being warm, generous people, they are a couple who see India through different eyes. They were some of the first people I met who shared my obsessive love for India and who seemed to be equally enthralled with all that is unique, traditional, kitschy and absurd about life in Mumbai. And, David captures it on film. The taxi photo below screams Mumbai to me. Everything about this photo - the colours, the chaos and the traffic! - are what I love about Mumbai. This photo makes me want to put on my dancing shoes, race over sealink and head to Bandra for a night of cocktails. (It also makes my heart race in anticipation of fighting over an excessively inflated taxi fare.)
In David and Charmayne's apartment, my over-stimulated little eyes fell onto a copy of their book Itinerants: Mumbai's nomads. I instantly fell in love with these beautiful photographs of people from all over India - from villages and coastal parts - who were all seeking out better futures in Mumbai. As someone who after merely two months decided to start calling Mumbai home, I relate to their desire to be in this city. For me, Mumbai is an adventure. It is a huge, rolling beast that sweeps you up and takes you with it in a surprisingly open and welcoming way. I was also all too willing to throw away any of my culture to embrace the somewhat kitsch aspects of my new home's cultures (nose-rings, kurtas and piles included.) However these nomadic peoples David captured with his camera appear to me to be holding on desperately to their cultures and their families. They see opportunities in my beloved Mumbai but are disconnected and often isolated. They are mysterious.
Mumbai is full of people who make their living on the street. We see them and yet we don't; they often live lives isolated from our reality.
Do yourself a favour and spend some time getting lost with The Itinerants here.
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