Aviraj’s Blog on Posterous

You can call me Avi

My turn on the new Bandra-Worli Sea Link (lit up at night)

After an awesome dinner with my buddies from Directi, we all decided to make a trip to the brilliant new Bandra-Worli Sea Link that was thrown open to the public after 9 years of construction work. Given that we were in the last hour of toll-free access, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic until we actually got onto the 5.6 km long, cable-stayed bridge, which is now, undoubtedly, an icon of Mumbai's landscape.

All we could get were these pictures from my cell-phone camera which, surprisingly, turned out quite to my liking :) Thanks for helping with the pics, Ro and Char.

           

Mumbai Uninterrupted - A Photo Essay

A few months back, I had created this photo essay as part of a small project. Felt like sharing it today. Feedback appreciated.

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One look at the bustling Mumbai tells a million tales. Take your pick – you may choose to see the social divide, the hypocrisy in the classes and the struggle of the masses. Or you may choose to see how beautifully they decide to stick around and find their own place under the sun.

These photographs don't intend to capture extraordinary people in ideal situations. Instead, they capture the obvious in the most evident circumstances. That is where the city and its people surprise themselves. At a glance, you see what keeps the city ticking – doggedness, aspiration, innocence with a dash of sass and belief that in the end, the jigsaw puzzle will find its piece.

May be that is why there are no misfits in Mumbai. The watchman who dares to strike a pose beside branded apparel chuckles while he does so, the man standing in a corporate glass high-rise is not the mere speck he may appear to be and a street that has a bit of everything, big and small, can always make space for more – that is Mumbai ticking for you.

THE GLAMOUR AND THE GRIME

In the backdrop of dreams, reality bites.

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THE GOD OF SMALL THINGS


So what if you make a living off others’ refuse? So what if just a wall separates prosperity from poverty? God’s still looking after you.

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CHILD'S PLAY

The city's urchins are a force to watch out for. Street smart, brash and cheeky, they know their way around the worst of the days. Yet, amidst it all, they always have a moment for innocence.

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CUPPA LIFE, ANYONE?

If you're a Mumbaikar, you know what chai (tea) means to you. It gets you going; it makes the grind easy to get by. So what if the glass doesn’t shine?

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THREE STAGES OF PROSPERITY


In Mumbai, those at the bottom of the pyramid don’t have to look too far to see what's above.

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NOTES FROM THE DISPLAY


Everyone in Mumbai wants a slice of the 'in' pie. And no matter who is looking, or for that matter, not looking, no harm in gearing up for your big moment, right?

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CONNECTING PEOPLE

Some things are for everybody. Like a private moment amidst the din. Or a swanky cell phone amidst the grime.

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STAR IN THE SKY

You may be a speck in the corporate ocean, but that doesn’t stop you from thinking you’re the king.

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UNDER THE ARC LIGHT

There's not a single soul in the city who doesn't have an impossible dream. If you’re not in the spotlight, at least you can be under it.

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LIFE’S GOOD ENOUGH

You may not live in a swanky apartment building, though you can always hope. But then again, who cares?

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© Copyright - Aviraj Saluja

Slumdog Americans

Strange, then, that India still seeks vindication in the West. An Indian who makes it big in America makes it Very Big Indeed, but saying that an American rock band is big in Japan is a joke at their expense.
via in.news.yahoo.com

Interesting take on the bigger picture, which the world is now showing more interest, in post the hoopla over the show-stealer at this year's Oscars.

Slumdawg, millionaire?

A couple of days back, I finally managed to catch the (10) Oscar-nominated 'piece of art', Slumdog Millionaire. Yeah, right. The moment I finished watching it, I knew I wanted to write about it. But as always, I was too lazy (and sleepy) to bother.

Then today, I happened to revisit this blog post that my friend had rather eloquently written, and I read, long back, but had totally forgotten about 'it. Today I see what he was talking about. And seriously, he's said exactly everything I wanted to say about Slumdog Millionaire.

"Well, there's nothing to it really. Very simply, it hasn't touched Indian audiences to that degree because we're quite accustomed to watching 'uplifting' and inarguably illogical tales (a slumboy from Mumbai who speaks in chaste English with a Brit accent?) that Bollywood keeps churning out as it endeavors towards its mindless target of producing 200-300 mindless movies every year. While Slumdog may have enough in it to instill 'hope' in Americans, for a people that has to tackle corruption, abysmal governance, politics of hatred, and unbridled competition with a billion of its own kind on a daily basis - not to mention a terrorist attack thrown into this cesspool every month or so - Slumdog can't make the grade for 'uplifting' entertainment."

Read it here: http://blog.avirup.com/2009/02/much-has-been-made-of-rather-lukewarm.html. It's way better written than I could ever write.

And that's how it started

ref: http://twitter.com/aviraj/statuses/859460122

On a slightly related note, I just happened to pass by twitterholic.com today and noticed that I'm the 119th most followed twitterer in Mumbai. I'm surprised it's that high, considering I quit actively twittering back in September. In fact, since then, my followers have increased by almost 20 (that's a 50% increase). And the highest ranked person I know on that list is my friend Maneesh (@itravin) who's at #55. Considering that he quit Twitter right about the time I did, I think that reflects on Twitter's lack of popularity in Mumbai, or rather India as a whole.

Then again, I don't care much about Twitter really. I've used it in the past only for personal updates, not professional, and to that effect I think it's quite a pointless time hog. My account is alive only to drive a little traffic to my blog :)