Of People and Places

A sketch of a woman at Sethani Ghat, Hoshangabad On a cold morning, a woman offers prayers to the river Narmada at Sethani ghat. She is more sparrow-like in real life than in the sketch. She walks briskly up the steps, readjusts the shawl to cover her ears snugly, and disappears into the crowd. Even at this early hour, the road to the ghat is fairly crowded with devotees, wayfarers, sadhus, cattle, stalls selling poha jalebi, religious items, stray dogs, umpteen tea stalls (serving the best tea in the world!) goats, goatherds, boatmen. All Hoshangabad posts from this blog -  The Signalman of Hoshangabad   The Saptaparni tree in Hoshangabad Nostalgia in a bottle In Bachchwada Dhana in Madhya Pradesh Bandrabhan

A watercolor portrait of our neighbourhood fish seller, Fayyaz (First published as a part of The Great Indian Project with In Frame Magazine, Chennai) This is Fayyaz. Every morning my mother glances out of the balcony from our 6 th floor apartment and on the days he is spotted in between the dense leaves of the copper pod tree, there is a special gleam in her eye as she says "Shall we get some fish?”   Then my father calls him and asks him what is available. I and my mother go down with a steel dish, and a lid. Cut fish doesn’t make for a savoury sight, not even among fish-eaters. His moped with its crate of fish announces itself by smell before sight. Some call it stench, some call it fragrance. Make of that what you will. A worn out piece of wooden plank is his makeshift chopping board, as he expertly guts the fish, removes the scales and chops them into pieces. Comfortably standing against the scooter that looks ready to topple the minute he shifts his weight – he rattles ...

Abhishek is working in Eklavya Publications – A man of many talents, he has an abiding passion for literature, is well-read, opinionated and can break into song at the drop of a hat. His djembe has been a source of delight for many of us, when at sunsets and full moon nights he sings and plays, his eyes shining. The music makes us forget our troubles, at least for a little while. He often writes poetry in the form of songs and sets them to music.  This is a conversation in two parts. This is part one of the conversation-- Were you interested in theatre right from childhood? My interest in theatre came in much later, after I came to Bhopal to study Mass Communication. In the villages and the cities where I lived or in the schools that I went to as a child – there was never an atmosphere where somebody was reading, or somebody was interested in poetry, theatre or the arts.  I moved constantly with my parents, and I have lived in many places but it wasn’t...