Lalbaug Ka Raja &others in 2009

Scenes from 2009 are unlike yesteryear. Ganesh Immersion Day for the first time since the bridge at Lalbaug was torn down. I parked myself on the terraces of Shroff Building, diagonally opposite the gates of the Raja.

Others +the Ganesh Gully Ganpati passed by &finally, through the gates, Lalbaug Ka Raja. Thousands had gathered already &thousands more were on their way to catch a glimpse of Raja.

It is the first time that I’ve seen Raja.

I shot briefly from the terraces of Shroff Building &thereafter, joined in the procession. I reached close to Raja who had taken a U-turn. Raja was on his way to Bharatmata Theater.

It took a while, through crowds of impatient devotees to find stable footing. By then, the crowds had grown. I walked to Curry Road Railway Station &head home.

I’ll post the photos soon.

Next year, I hope to catch Raja near the mosque @Byculla. I heard that Muslims join Hindus in festivities for a bit. Apparently this has been tradition since the past 25 years or so. Anybody knows anything about this &at what time does Raja reach the mosque?

Click here for photos of the festival at Lalbaug in 2009.

Have you seen this man? Sure you have!

Beachboy Peedrooo, of Portuguese descent. You have seen him, for sure, seen him in sunny Goa. Welcome to the Peedrooo Appreciation Forum. If you have photos or videos of Peedrooo, please post the link as comments, and a bit about your interactions with, this evergreen fisherman. He’d said to me:

I am known far and wide, in the land of the King, as Pedro from Goa. I am always here, this, is where you’ll find me, for I have called you. You want to see dolphin? Dolphin?

A couple of my links, of the past:

http://shaaaks.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/my-friend-peedrooo-from-goa/

and

http://shaaaks.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/formula-goa/

RIP Madhavan

Vineeth, Aniyan Kutty’s nephew, paid a courtesy visit, to his one room kitchen apartment, in Hindu Colony, Matunga. Aniyan Kutty, remember, has been living in this apartment ever since he moved to Bombay, from his native, Kerala, in 1961.

“Vineeth, so good to see you. You know, that, I have always been very fond of you.”

“I know, Uncle, that is the reason, I have come to see you.”

terror attacks, Bombay, India

This afternoon, I was going through photos, there are these, just after the recent terror attacks in Bombay:

Four things that I have learnt since blogging on WordPress.com

If I have nothing good to say about someone or something, I must not say anything at all. Exceptions to the rule..

movie/actor/producer/director
music/band/song/lyrics
television channels/the media
sports person/team
artist/photographer
etc.

Mr. Bombay Body Building Contest photos

“All of us represent different gyms in Bombay!”

“Shaaaks, bugger. Bugger, shaaaks! Which gym are you representing?”

“ए चिराग इतना लेट? चल जलधि कर”

“हाँ हाँ.. There is this one gym, in Chinchpokli!”

“Do you workout there?”

My friend Peedrooo from Goa

Portuguese influences in India. I love to read about the times of the Portuguese and visit relics. Let me see, I’ve been to Damon, Vasai, Chaul/Revdanda, Fort Cochin.. where else? Hmm.. of course Goa!

“Baba, come, put your suit, poota! No running in the house. And don’t keep this here. And don’t keep this there!”

Christmas celebrations at a Goan family’s house in Bombay, India
Merry Christmas, everyone!

“Kevin! Don’t eat the Shankarpalis. We have to go to church! After church you eat!”

“But I want! I want!”

“Kevin! Behave yourself! I’ll tell dada to beat you with belt? I’ll tell him?”

“The people must be accountable? What the hell is he talking about?”

On the 17th, I’d blogged reasons behind my decision to not vote in the upcoming elections. Mumbai was hit by terror three days ago. The manner in which these terrorists carried out their attack is an embarrassment to the nation, leave alone the government. The Congress have always been incompetent and have raped the nation, its economy, infrastructure etc. but the only reason they’ve come into power time after time is because of their ‘secular’ talks.
Do you think they should come into power again.. elections are coming up very soon..?

Travels through the south of India and money making opportunities for travel photographers

2003, January. I backpacked through the south of India. During my travels, I emailed my friends every now and then, updating them about my adventures. Copies of those messages sit in the ‘sent messages folder’ of my Yahoo! Mail account. Gmail didn’t exist then. I glanced through some of them today. I find them funny now. Back then, I wrote differently. I had different priorities. No digital cameras. Read on: