For the love of Bombay/Mumbai
When Priya met Christopher Taylor, a concept emerged. She’s a novelist-poet and cinephile, and he’s a British photographer who lives in France. Now, they’ve just released an unconventional coffee table book Bombay/Mumbai: Immersions. Unconventional, because it is impressionistic and yet a deeply personal love letter to the unity in diversity of the megapolis.
Of course, there have been quite a few treasurable photo-essay books in the past, some of the most evocative ones boasting pictures by such stellar lenspersons as Raghubir Singh, Raghu Rai, Ketaki Sheth and Sooni Taraporevala, each with a distinct compassion and love for a city. It’s a city where the architecture and skyline may alter dramatically (not always for the better) but its people remain stalwartly unchanged: stoic but tremendously vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather, and politico- as well as nature-made calamities.
Leafing through Immersions, I could see the allusion is quite overtly to the Ganpati festival season. Naturally, the city without the immersion of the idols of the deity is unthinkable: yet the book also ventures into little-known neighbourhoods like Adarsh Nagar where films sets are created.
I’ll avoid any more spoilers. Right now, I just feel pretty chuffed up because I’ve known Priya ever since she was a drop-dead gorgeous girl at St Xavier’s college. At an examination, which I was invigilating, she rushed in late, bustled into her seat, and actually said, “Thank you”, when I handed over the test sheet, a courtesy that is so lacking on the campus since time immemorial.
PC, as we went on to call her, married one of my best friends, Professor Suresh Chabria and they cast anchor in Pune, where he taught at the Film Institute of India, and became the chief of the National Film Archive. Following the stint at the archive, he continues to teach and has developed a manic obsession for Kangra art.
For years, Priya and Suresh were quintessential Mumbaikars, visible at film festivals, dance recitals and art exhibitions. So, I was a bit taken aback when they elected to stay in Pune permanently.
But then Pune has its own charms, serenity and perhaps a more leisurely paced life. Priya and Suresh returned to Mumbai to host an intimate release party for the book, but you should have seen them…they couldn’t wait to rush back to Pune by the next taxi accessible. Why? What’s the hurry? “Because,” PC replied, “Because in Pune, we can actually smell the roses.”
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