It’s a community that makes up a tiny fraction of the country’s population, yet has had an immense impact on the cultural and industrial landscape of India in general, and Bombay in particular. Driving through South Bombay, the Parsi presence is pervasive- streets, museums, libraries bear the names, legacies and stories.

A group of people that has maintained it’s own distinct and strong cultural identity despite the small numbers. One that has led to a stereotyping of sorts- the typical ‘Parsi Uncle’ is idiosyncratic, eccentric and nostalgic.

Exploring this distinction, lingering on the stereotype and then pushing beyond is Sooni Taraporevala’s collection of photographs, ‘Parsis: The Zoroastrians of India’, currently on display at the Chemould Prescott gallery. Spanning a course of decades, her photographs are an insider’s perspective of her people, presenting both black and white photos from the eighties and more recent colour prints from the last decade.

A rickety wood-paneled elevator takes you up three stories in an old-school colonial style building to enter the gallery – a beautiful and spacious venue, especially for Bombay! The photos range from portraits of family members to intimate scenes from the everyday lives of the many Parsis that Sooni has shot over the years, especially in Bombay but also in Gujarat and Pune.

Interspersed in these daily moments are snapshots from special ceremonies that few outside the community are witness to. While preserving the air of nostaglia that has come to represent Parsi culture and personality, there are also a few glimpses into the future- the direction the new generation is taking.

A special red room in the gallery is dedicated to portraits of famous Parsis in the field of art, culture and science. It’s a room that Sooni would fit right in, being one of the stalwarts of the Parsi art scene, writer of several renowned film scripts apart from her photography (including Little Zizous which she directed as well).

The entire collection is available in the form of a book, a mandatory addition to the bookshelves of those curious for insights into one of the many fascinating groups of peoples that make up the city of Bombay.

The exhibition is on till May 4 at Chemould Prescott. Check it out Bombay peeps! Easily one of the best photo exhibits we’ve seen in the city!

One of the greatest classical musicians alive today in India is somebody that few outside the circle have ever heard of. Hidden behind the shadows of her world-famous ex-husband, Ravi Shankar and shrouded in a self-imposed veil of secrecy, Annapurna Devi is considered to be one of the world’s finest sitar and surbahar players.

Born to the acclaimed Ustad Allauddin Khan, she studied under him and devoted herself to the mastery of the sitar and then the surbahar, a much tougher instrument to understand. A whirlwind marriage to Pandit Ravi Shankar saw her performing alongside him at concerts where experts had no doubt about her superiority in music. Driven apart by his jealousy and philandering, she eventually stopped performing in public completely.

It’s a practice she follows till today, living a life isolated from the world in her home in Bombay. She hasn’t performed in public in half a century and her students are taught only through singing rather than playing. There are no photographs of her from the last few years, no recent recordings. But her riyaz remains uninterrupted inn the privacy of her home, in the early hours of the morning.

It’s the story of one of the last few pure practitioner of the art of Indian classical music, a woman who’s talent incited both rapture and envy. Read a beautifully written and detailed account of her life HERE.

We explored the magical North East of India – a land of mountains, rivers, fresh air, beautiful textiles and a culture so distinct from the rest of the country. Coming soon.

Sing it back!

Paying tribute to the incredible Professor Postman, an art show of ideas and concepts, created and inspired by Prof. At False Ceiling Gallery, Ambedkar Road, Pali Naka. Till Jan 20.

RIP maestro

We popping up! Come through to False Ceiling Gallery this Sat+Sun, Noon to 9 pm. Fresh, exclusive pieces, art installations, vintage pieces from our travels. Details HERE.

By the banks of the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad, Gujarat is a treasure trove of old goods, a bazaar that’s existed for the last 600 years.

Every Sunday morning, the informal lanes of the Ravivari bazaar are set up by hundreds of tradesman offering wares ranging from utensils to paint to old books and watches. There’s a characteristic blend of the past and the present. Shiny pots and pans, cheap readymade garments, electrical equipment are all present as would be expected in any market in the country.

But dotted throughout are little treasures, often camouflaged by junk. Beautiful bronze coin holders, old  jewelry, pipes from a past era, old switchboards from the British times are mingled with knick knacks that boggle the mind.

It’s not a pretty, cosy market. It’s a sprawling, crowded, dusty space that offers the chance to dip in and out of the past. It’s a walk through a quintessential maze of India, from one end selling furniture, old and new, till the other where old magazines, jewelry boxes, toys and  antique telephones are strewn on the ground, full of untold stories and histories.

By dusk, the thousands of items are packed up, ready to be brought back the next week. Plans exist of the market being displaced  from this space that the bazaar has called home since 1954. The rationale is one of  riverside beautification.

The bazaar has  of course, moved locations over the past 600 years but the city no longer affords other spaces large enough to accomodate it.  Hopefully, the value of tradition and the livelihoods of thousands of tradesmen and their families won’t be forgotten in the name of development.

Storyteller extraordinaire and wisdom queen d’bi shares at the INK Talks in India, rocking her NBNW gear.