Mumbai: mutating, never mute

On most weekends Gopal MS copywriter at Tailor a Chemburbased ad agency ambles through Mumbairsquos streets not looking for anything in particular waiting to be surprised Instead he is often bowled over Gopal 40 says street photography is the best way to find out how people change their cities one day at a time Currently he walks around Mumbairsquos villages to see how the old is being elbowed by the new Gopal runs the popular blog Mumbai Paused As the city grows around it Desai Village on the road between Sheel Phata and Dombivli has this statue welcoming newer residents moving into the highrises in areas surrounding it PICSGOPAL MS Interestingly it all started with Bangalore ldquoIn 2007 I moved to Bangalore and my wife gifted me a modest digital camera Just to put it to use I began taking photographs of the city and over two years I had at least 700 images and my Bangalore blog Which Main What Cross Road became really popular streets in Bangalore are named after lsquomainsrsquo and lsquocrossesrsquo When I returned to Mumbai in 2009 I continued doing the same thing mdashtaking to the streets whenever I couldrdquo Art as territorial marking on the boundary wall of a sardinepacked fishing village in the heart of the cityrsquos financial district in South Mumbai Mumbai Paused is about a city on the run ldquoI love cities Being an advertiser I think I took to photography so keenly because the people I write for are all out there It is an extension of me wanting to know how they live interact perceive and consumerdquo Residents of Borla Village in Chembur still congregate and mark important days in the Hindu calendar with performances like these The photographer however largely keeps advertising and street photography separate Advertising after all is about consuming and the people Gopal usually shoots and captures donrsquot have extravagant means ldquoAdvertisers who get oversensitised have to move on to films and art to express themselves better like Prasoon Joshi and R Balkirdquo he chuckles ldquoI try keeping moral dilemmas at bayrdquo In Vashi Gaon Navi Mumbai the statue of a fisherman represents the residents of the village This ambitious statue stands out in an otherwise calm bay and is in sharp contrast from the modern art sculptures that dot the more planned parts of Navi Mumbai such as Vashi Shooting in Mumbai is a heady but an equally flabbergasting exercise says Gopal and one cannot afford to be judgmental ldquoBangalore was relatively easy to shoot mdash not many people know about its secrets But Mumbai is an overphotographed city the rest of the country knows its quirks and whims because of Bollywood for instance But then this is also the one city where things keep happening around the corner mdash point your camera anywhere and yoursquoll get a great picturerdquo The Madh Fort rises high above the Madh fishing village where fish has been laid out to dryu00a0 Of all the surprises Gopal has received from this city his favourite is the metrorsquos approach to water ldquoMumbai is very democratic about water mdash you can go up to an Udupi and ask for it it is lined at the food stalls at railway stations there are piaus all around the city You do not have that in any other city I love that about Mumbai and thatrsquos the reason I hated a certain mineral water bottle ad which went against sharing water Thatrsquos just not usrdquo smiles Gopal These images can be found on the walls of an old school in Mankhurd village bordering the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre BARC Most village schools in Mumbai like these walls need urgent repairs Photographing the city however has become a tad more difficult he adds ldquoI canrsquot just go to Hill Road any longer and begin clicking I sense weariness around me It is palpable how the middleclass in gated complexes fears the unknown We are friendly but we are also moving awayrdquo A Christian shrine at Bandrarsquos Chuim Village Many old villages in Mumbai are East Indian and dotted with similar shrinesu00a0 Security in the city feels Gopal is sold rather cleverly to an anxious people ldquoIt makes good business sense to keep people afraidrdquo says Gopal with a smile ldquoI think 2611 has changed Mumbai forever it was a defining moment The psychosis is gone but security agencies continue to make the best of the lingering anxiousness You just know how friendly or unfriendly a city is when you take the camera outrdquo says Gopal u00a0