Diwali De-Lights!

How can it not be about lights and colour? Like a moth to a flame, I went to Dadar West and captured some of the Diwali highlights. This season, the streets are galaxies and every heart is truly light-er! :)

Before and After Surf Excel :)

The Grotesque Kandheels

The Colour That Tried to Run

The Tower of Laddoos

The Disco-Tails of a Lantern

Lanterns and Lingerie

The Man who Spilt Designs

Dadar West, Near the railway station, Diwali eve... or any other day actually!

The Lanterns with the Heart of Light

The Object of Derelict

The object of derelict was an abandoned couch lying in the corridor. The foam was out, the gauze exposed, the bare wood showing. It was as if its guts were pulled out. But, in all the mess of wire mesh and stuffing, lay elegance and malleable beauty. A few photos of the object of derelict with details.

Grandmother's Concerns

Grandmother sent her sons into a world beyond her walls. She told them to go to lands far away and tell her what they saw. The sons knew the mother loved plant, flower and fruit. She never told them in as many words, but the sons knew.

When she was young, she would walk on meandering lanes collecting seeds, saplings, bulbs or stems. Wherever her fingers touched, a tree would spring from the soil and soar into the skies. It would unfurl green fronds and deck itself with coconuts. She would touch the smooth trunk and send men up to harvest the fruit. The tree was only eager to give, year after year, for it was a tree born of love.

The sons saw and the sons knew.

One went to an island and got her beautiful tropical plants. They grew verdant and tall and sprouted forth flowers in shameless colours – rich pink, red or a fiery orange. It was carnival in her garden.

The other got her fruit trees. Sapodilla, custard apple, lemon, guava and mango trees sprawled in her garden. She will pluck indiscriminately when her grandchildren come one day.

She herself planted chillies and okra and eggplant and spinach. Her kitchen was always full, always rich.

Grandmother is a concerned gardener. She will water, she will feed and she will nurture. And her sons will remember.