Celebrations

Looking at those plastic chairs brought back memories of Anandamela (a Bengali children’s magazine published fortnightly). They used to feature pictures of common objects in obscure ways, and you had to identify them. I know this picture is a far cry from those—anyway, some sweet memories to reflect upon from the fourth floor while taking this picture.

In India, celebration is a part of life, whether big or small. However, it’s not like the West, where Christmas is the main event. Here, different communities celebrate different festivals in a BIG way. You are always amidst BIG parties of communities. You can’t miss them—the reason is very simple: the bright choice of colors that catches your attention, even if you don’t want to notice, which is, once again, different from the West where black, white, and sometimes red are the primary colors of their clothing.

Similarly, there are some big or small events at work as well, although not as fancy as those year-end parties I attended abroad. As the Indian economy and companies enjoy the Bull Run, these celebrations have gained a few extra feathers on their wings.

These two pictures were taken at PCP, (Peninsula Corporate Park) Lower Parel. This used to be a big cotton mill before. Cotton mills were moved out of Mumbai in the ’70s after the long and famous strike by Shakti-Samanth. Now, all those mill areas are getting converted into posh malls, offices, or residential apartments.

If I am not mistaken, it was a party thrown by Diageo – the big liquor company (Johnny Walker, Smirnoff, and other big labels).