Kala Ghoda Festival 2024

Had been to the Kala Ghoda Festival and took some general pictures of Mumbai, like this night shot of the Mumbai University

Sauntered into the Westside store (opposite Kala Ghoda) and saw these young boys from Live 101 keeping the customers entertained. They were playing my favourite song by Bob Marley.

Marley's classic song No Woman No Cry was inspired by his experience living in the trench town area of Kingston, Jamaica. The song reflects the hardships and struggles faced by the residents of the ghetto with its lyrics portraying empathy and hope for better times. The song was recorded in 1974 and the live recording was released as a single in 1975.

The song is meant as an encouragement that life is worth living for - a beacon of hope shining in the darkness. The title and the main refrain "No Woman no cry" means, Woman, don't cry.
Another non festival picture was this pretty woman trying to sell some trinkets at the Regal crossing.

Mumbai was looking all colourful with the new double decker electric bus

Took me back about six decades when I travelled by tram on the same road and the fare was 10 Ps from Byculla to Regal.

We patronized an old Parsee joint Jimmy Boy in the area for dinner. The "sunny side up on kheema" not only looked great but was really yummy.
Their concept is to serve Lagan nu Bhonu (Parsee wedding food) at their restaurant. Jamva Chaloji.

It was heartwarming to see this study centre in the heart of the city where students coming from underprivileged backgrounds can come and study and fans and lights and charging points are provided for them. These two pictures below explain it all. (behind that board you can see youngsters sitting and studying)

Now for some festival shots. This catapult reminded me of the ones we made by cutting the Y from a guava tree and tying rubber strips from discarded cycle tubes. Now it is a part of the Channapatna toys in one of the stalls.

I was impressed by the pencil sketch done by Ashish Mahajan at the Cooperage Bandstand Garden. Had a chat with him and he said that he usually takes about 6 to 8 hrs to finish a pencil sketch of a portrait. (you can see him in action in the video) The charges too were cost effective.

We saw this pottery workshop where one gets a feel of the potter's wheel.

There was an exhibit by the Indian Navy opposite Lion Gate with the title Lest we forget. It was crafted from the recovered memorabilia of INS Vikrant as an offering of everlasting tribute. This too took me down memory lane when I was posted on duty on the Vikrant from the NCC during the Navy week, way back in early 70s.

There was a stall by The Good Doll where each product is handcrafted by women from underserved communities using natural and upcycled materials that are ethically sourced from within the region.

Kala Ghoda is an yearly event and it is a good platform for people to showcase their product/talent. This was started on a small scale 25 years ago.
Hope to click more pictures next year.