In the middle of the afternoon , in the middle of the week, I captured this wonderful shot of Haji Ali Mosque built on a rocky promontory off Mumbai’s shoreline, accessible by a walkway that is submerged at high tide.
The sun was high and the sky was blue so different from the picture I captured earlier in the week and earlier in the day from the other side ( or what we often call the back side ;) )
Here the sun is still weak and the sky is a pale grey blue.
Isn’t it amazing how the same place and sky can look so different?
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The Haji Ali Mosque and Durgah was one of the places that was part of a current national debate on the right of women to unrestricted entry in places of worship. It is a popular pilgrim spot and has thousands of visitors especially on Friday and other Holy Days , when it wears a festive look with flags and buntings fluttering in the sky and balloon sellers and street food vendors thronging around.
For more skies from around the world do visit Skywatch Friday.
Yesterday morning as I drove down the Kemps Corner flyover I came across 7 men desultorily painting the bridge . With each man painting only to the extent his hand could reach on either side, it wasn’t surprising that it took so many of them to do the job . What was surprising was that despite their number ,it took them all day to finish the job.
Further down the road on Marine Drive a huge white tent was being put up on the sands of Chowpatty , behind temporary walls of corrugated sheets. In the blistering heat, gardeners were planting petunias in newly painted flower beds.
While returning home on Monday afternoon I was shocked to see a huge ugly statue of a man with an umbrella. To my mind, the umbrella looked like a bomb and the statue looked like that of a terrorist.
The roundabout opposite the Hinduja building has been spruced up in the colours of our flag while three proud cockerels were marching on the grass.
And all along the road were posters announcing the #Make In India campaign where a magnificent lion struts across bearing the message that promises a business opportunity.
The whole city seems to be getting spruced up with dilapidated municipal buildings getting a much needed repair job, road dividers actually being put in place and the nooks and crannies in the pavements being swept clean.
Finally, I could see the might of our MahanagarPalika actually in action.
My favourite though is this colourful lion strutting across a lush green garden in at the top of Marine Drive, truly geared up to #MakeInIndia .
While I am happy that the city is clean and finally livable, isn’t it a shame that our civic authorities don’t bother to do this on an everyday basis? Don’t we, the tax payers of India deserve a better life? Or is that only the privilege of those who choose not to work?
I’m in the bus again on my way home after an overnight trip to my parents’. Somehow going to Poona always brings back memories of growing up, perhaps kindled by seeing them . Somehow visiting Poona in February always reminds me of a wedding of a family friend that I had attended.
R was the first of my friends to get married mainly because she was older than us by a few years. I was fascinated by her because she was bold , confident and absolutely sure of what she wanted. She wanted a lifestyle before any of us knew what the word meant and she made sure she got it.
So when she found the guy of her dreams, she made sure she married him. Being a girl who wanted a lifestyle meant that she didn’t want to settle for a traditional Hindu wedding the way it was conducted for her parents and grandparents and their parents before them. She wanted something more contemporary, affordable and intimate.
I now don’t remember much of the actual ceremony but I do remember that she had planned to have it solemnised at her grandparents’ home in Poona. This was in the days when wedding planners weren’t on the radar, so she planned everything down to the last detail – tight from the cards which were a departure from the traditional to the menu. But what stands out most is the song which was playing in the background over and over again “love is in the air”
What is it about February that makes one think of love? Who was St Valentine ? And why is his appeal universal ?
According to history ,Valentine was a priest who helped young Christian lovers get married so he has come to represent love or more appropriately “young love” .
There is something romantic about a tragic or doomed love story and hearts always beat faster when they hear about Romeo & Juliet or Laila & Majnu. Star crossed lovers hold a special appeal like strawberries , cherries and an Angels kiss in Spring , chocolates as red roses .
Next week the market will be flooded with inflated red heart balloons, long stem single red roses and boxes of chocolate ready for gifting to your Valentine.
So is it any surprise that February brings with it the promise of a new romance, memories of an old love and a general feeling that love is in the air?
