Mumbai ka KALAGHODA: People or characters

Any festival is sort of incomplete without the people and

Kalaghodha is incomplete without the milieu of people who make it...

so here are those which stood out in the crowd of hundreds..

                          

 Raavan.. it was quiet a hit with families and kids crowding around him as he mouthed the dialogues from the 80s TV serial 'Ramayan'. The other heads seem quiet angelic but the look in the eyes of this man does look villainous but in sort of a comical way ;)  

After the Aryan era we come to the Mughal era with the duo of Akbar Birbal.. Akbar does remind you of an ancient image of 'Prithvi Raj Kapoor' in 'Mughle-azam'. However Birbal is far from the clever diplomat that he was. He looks more like a sun-baked south Indian actor with an ugly wig.

 Langoor..

"such a contrast to the metallic transformer statue shown earlier - white to black, ancient to modern and nature to science"

Long back I went for these weddings in Punjab, they were rich and luxurious, the amount of decorations and expense was huge. But the most peculiar decoration in these weddings was these people dressed as characters like Shiva, tiger, Hanuman, etc and made to stand on tall tables for hours. People saw them in awe as they stood their without even blinking their eyes. As kids we were excited and started betting on longest time they will stand and how it must be a Guinness world record to stand like this.

But now when I look back I feel it must be such a physical torture to stand like an exhibition, and sometimes even mental torture. How can it be a pleasure to watch someone in pain!!

      Now this thing on the left..
A woman wearing white flowy dress with golden leaves on her head, marching from one end to the other and followed by elvish servants carrying her veil.
it was some sort of tree fairy or forest spirit... like a mobile art with a message..
Abstract they say!!!
surely something about nature... but I couldn't figure out exactly...
how could I with it walking around - surrounded by burly lady guards...
 (sorry for the picture.. just couldn't get a good one with all the lady guards around it...)

Finally there can't be a bigger example of art and people. Yes the people behind the beautiful art work and creations.. this man who worked on this carpet loom is actually blind and he still managed to create these colorful and neat rugs...

It just made me feel that sometimes in the flow of our opinions and judgements we tend to forget the efforts and sweat of the make that goes into the creation.

the kids here can't become wizards but they still have a chance to become potters...

;) sad joke but couldn't resist it...

finally the closing with 'chana jor garam' walla..

for that matter

Mumbai or any city, kalaghoda or any festival, 

is incomplete without them..