After lunch, my friends and I headed towards south Mumbai to experience ‘Kala Ghoda Festival’. Being last day of the 10-day-Festival, it was too crowded and we kept getting lost into the crowd. It was like every thirty minutes we would call on our mobile to find each other. We all had different interests and while I spend most of my time shooting the pictures, my friends were more interested in shopping knick knacks or eating.
Somewhat, not only do the art in any form attracts me but even the artist at work. This man worked skillfully on sculpture of a man,
I moved closer to see this artist shape a strip of plywood
There were also some children learning Warli painting for Rs100, they had made cute greeting cards.
There was a big crowd near the stage where there were different performers at different times, there was music playing all the time and everyone could be seen shaking their heads and tapping their feet. We stopped there to have a cup of coffee.
And there was bigger crowd at food stalls, Imagine a Pani Puri for Rs35. I get better Pani Puri in my lane for just Rs12! How they loot public at the fairs!
There were kiosks where they abused political trouble makers
And others that abused their own government for bad sanitation in the country
Children enjoyed the story telling session at BHNS auditorium
And towards the evening, I enjoyed the performance poetry at Sassoon Library, which was the nodal point for literature and poetry.
It was a very tiring day though fun, fun, fun!
I am not sure if I am proud of eight Oscar awards. But here, this is the truth that we try to hide under the carpet and pretend that it doesn’t exist. There are always resigned attitude of many Indians saying ‘What can we do?’ This movie “Slumdog…” hits us hard, real hard. Many of my friends (abroad) have pointed out this to me many times in the past saying that they are very much troubled by the poverty of India, especially when they are in their relaxed state in the luxury of their car, munching on a bar of chocolate and then see a dirty, stained face, peeping into their car window with helpless look, begging piteously.
Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh quotes, “The film was a fairy tale and shouldn't be confused with what life is actually like for India's poor and that Boyle had to make "Slumdog Millionaire" upbeat because the true story of what it is like to live in a slum wouldn't have appealed to audiences.”
And this is the truth, the reality that only Indian who lives in close proximity to those shanty slums finds it hard to ignore. It made me squirm, cringe, reject and reluctantly accept. It was so honest that I was benumbed by its content. There were times that I wished that he had not stripped my City of Mumbai like this.
But the story worked! One year ago, when it was released, no distributor was willing to buy it and now, world rejoices at its success. Eight Oscar awards! It suddenly acknowledges India’s existence and indirectly, Bollywood importance in world cinema.
Hopefully, world’s attention will clear the debris.
I only hope that those child stars, Azharuddin and Rubina, who walked the red carpet at Oscars will not return back to their shanty lives. I hope their life will change forever……
