I was a Mumbai-ker* in my childhood. Now I am a New Yorker and a Mumbai-kar*. At heart and in spirit, I belong to both Mumbai and New York. These cities are similar in their geography, their nature and their spirit. Living in New York is like living in Mumbai, especially South Mumbai, where I grew up. I travel to Mumbai at least twice a year. And the similarity in spirit thrills me every time.
I am a simple guy and all I usually have are words to express what I feel. But this week, I have something special to share with you all – a beautiful gift, an exquisite collection of photographs by photographer Nisha Sondhe. This gift is brought to us all by Neha Thirani of NYT-IndiaInk.
As Neha tells us:
- Nisha Sondhe, a photographer living in New York, has been visiting Mumbai since she was a baby to see family members in Khar, a suburb of the city. In recent years, she began to notice striking parallels in the everyday life of the two great cities. On multiple visits since 2008 she has painstakingly chronicled these similarities, finding more with each visit, on the waterfronts, on the sidewalks and in the market.
The Project is called The Mumbai/New York Project On the Waterfront: In the words of Nisha Sondhe & Neha Thirani:
- Mumbai and New York both teem with the hustle and bustle of urban life but are bordered by the profound stillness that only water could provide. While New York City is made up of three islands — Manhattan, Staten Island and Long Island — Mumbai was once an archipelago of seven islands, which were joined together by land reclaimed from the sea by 1838.
We include below 2 pairs of Ms. Sondhe’s photographs as an illustration of the project. For all the 16 photographs, read the New York Times article. NYT-IndiaInk will feature an installment of Ms. Sondhe’s work every second Tuesday.
(Mumbai) (New York)
(Mumbai) (New York)
Thank you Nisha Sondhe for these lovely photographs. And thank you Neha Thirani & NYT-IndiaInk for bringing them to us.
* Editor’s PS:
- The “ker” suffix means from or resident of; so Mumbaiker means from or resident of Mumbai just as New Yorker means from or means resident of New York. This is standard terminology.
- In contrast, the suffix “kar” means migrated or moved from. This is standard terminology of Maharashtra, the capital of which is Mumbai. So families which come from Mahuli, Kolhapur, Sangli etc. were called Mahuli-kar, Kolhapur-kar and Sangli-kar and so on.
- Our sincere thanks and kudos to Neha Thirani for using this proper terminology in her NYT article. It shows she is a pure Mumbaiker.
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