The Kala Ghoda Arts Festival ended yesterday. I attended it several times during last nine days and I feel a great creative high and am transformed, inspired and profoundly energized! There are so many things to share but one of the best things that I witnessed was avalanche of tales that emerged subtly from most unexpected spheres. Some events pose very interesting opportunities that create situations compelling us to visit spaces never visited before and give us completely different perspective about life!
This year, the entrance of Kala Ghoda Arts festival was flocked by hawkers, mainly women, huddling for some space for their interesting products and its equally interesting display. I had noticed these stunningly beautiful women from the very first day of the festival. They were often seen struggling with policemen who were trying to drive them away. It was obvious they had not taken any official permission to sell their products on the premises and I often noticed them united while sharing torments; whether it was fighting, cajoling and even manipulating the local authorities to allow them to do their business.
I hesitantly started to build rapport by interacting with them when they were not surrounded by customers and were laughing and sharing jokes. It was their raw, enchanting beauty and breathtakingly beautiful sense of dressing that drew my attention initially but in the process of our several encounters, I discovered their sensitive, intense and very vulnerable emotions of piercing agony that had festered and was breeding, making a cozy home within.
The outcome of my interactions with them was a sardonic pastiche, a vicious cauldron of urban destitution. Like thousands of people who migrate to Mumbai chasing an elusive dream of better opportunities, these women hailed from different parts of the country. Most of the times, their husband or the patriarchal figure in the family was not seen around but their invisible hold was difficult to miss.
The challenge I face whenever I come across such people is striking a delicate balance and capturing their photographs without intruding their personal space. I am not interested in mere snapshots but also want to know about their real life where a complex human drama unfolds as the backdrop. Catching up their life stories that unfold strand by strand and understanding their challenges for survival is always deeply inspiring experience.
Far too often for these women, struggle for the everyday existence turns ugly. Beneath their painstakingly nurtured inscrutable personae lie layered insecurities, aggression, inadequacies and deep pain of alienation. Their everyday life involves physical, mental and emotional abuse from their family members, local goons, Police or even from other dispossessed inhabitants just like them who compete to outpace everybody, in the race for survival. The desire to stay ahead of others is so potent that it doesn't matter if they steal, scavenge or beguile their way through life. Some of these women manage to find respite in temptations of this ravenous metropolis, some get lost over period of time and some really thrive very well despite all the odds!
It is amazing how these beautiful women have smartened due to their urban existence. Their love for life, despite all its problems is evident in the way they dress and the dreams they have for themselves and their families. I gravitated to these powerful, beautiful women because they are much more REAL than many of us. These are the kind of people whom we see every day at many places but barely notice. Behind vibrant personae and attires of these women lie many layers of human emotions so easy to relate for anyone.
Meeting these amazing women was very rewarding experience. I know I am going to meet them again for some more rendezvous.
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