Victor Brothers, in central Park Street, is one of Calcutta's most famous auction houses. This place has been here forever, it seems, dealing in everything from antique furniture and memorabilia to jewellery and art. So, of course, yours truly decided to 'strike a pose' - for the right price! :)
Of course, when I went there, the shutters of the auction house were down, but I managed to get some neat snaps through the black shutters and the musty glass. Some interesting snaps, I thought.
Something gorgeously Grand about a horse-carriage - even when it's a cheesy silver one at the Gateway. Well, Calcutta is also dotted with horse carriages. From the equally cheesy silver ones (they have swans snaking out from behind the passenger's seat!) that park at Rajabazar with their undernourished steeds, to the slightly more sedate ones that take families and kids for joyrides at the Maidan, around the Victoria Memorial. Like the one on top. :)
And, though I've never really clambered on one of them for a buggy ride, I've always found myself wishing I did. Guess I'm just too much of a silly embarrassed pansy to go on one by myself - now that would be silly, na?!
I loved this one, with the good ole Amby! :)
I'm a self-confessed Fabindia Freak. I've checked out all the Bombay outlets within habitational areas (cross the Mulund and Malad stores off the list, please!) and the super-sized dukaan in Delhi GK, and also the one at Connaught Place there. And, on my recent Calcutta trip, the newly opened Fabindia at Gariahat.
Have always been completely hooked on to these gaudy silver chariots that go up and down the Gateway road and Nariman Point, offering pleasure rides. Appeals to the ditsy drama persona inside me, and I make no bones about it all. :)
Took this pic, a couple of Saturdays ago, when I went shopping with Stephen to Colaba. We poked in to all the shops there, didn't buy much, and then walked over to the Taj Hotel to take a leak. And, o yes, we played tourists and took snaps of the sea and the gateway. :)
It's crazy, the number of lamps I have in my li'l room. Have bought bulbs and bulb holders and wires etc from the same electrician, and whenever he sees me walking down the road towards his shop, he asks straight away what wattage bulb I want. Scary shit.
Took these snaps of VT/ CST (Victoria Terminus/ Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus) ages back, one Saturday, coming back home from work. Actually, the way I see it, this entire photoblog is a way of ensuring that the digicam doesn't gather dust in the cupboard, unused and neglected. So there was Grand Old VT - Bombay's very own World Heritage site still in daily service - just waiting to be snapped up.
VT is the main terminus of the Central Railway line, the less posh cousin of Western Railway. I normally prefer the CR, by the way, since its much less crowded than the WR in the mornings, while going to work. Of course, most of the time, I'm rather late for work so I hail a cabbie - but since the cab usually passes by VT, I still get to ogle the building. :)
To Versailles, anyone?
Fort is the place to be if you're a banker in Bombay. :) And yes, if you're into Public Relations like I am. This used to be the old Bombay Castle or Fort St. George, built by the British in the 17th century, but of course, the old walls are all torn down now. Today, Fort is the financial hub of the city, and though upstarts like Nariman Point and the Bandra Kurla Complex have stolen away some leading financial firms, a Fort address is still a must-have for any bank or fund worth its name. :)
The Citi Never Sleeps: Those are the pillars of the Citibank Fort office on D.N. Road, on top.
Lawrence and Mayo - another Fort institution. Love the old-world style of all the buildings here. Reminds me a lot of Calcutta, I guess - City of Palaces, and all that! :) When you come to Fort, it's a brilliant amalgamation of the city: old style, rag tag vendors, the art circuit and loads more.
Love the old ruins down there - I have no idea where they're from, which old building collapsed or got demolished, but that's all there is to them - still standing, even though they're surrounded by frantic hawkers these days. :)
And then there's the Goddess - never far behind from where there's money to be made and deals to be brokered. Perched precariously on top of one of those old buildings near Horniman Circle, you can easily say a silent prayer that the stock market won't crash.
Judging by today's 450 point crash on the Sensex though, don't bet on it! :)
The J.B. Petit Building sits bang on Khadi Bhawan Chowk on Fort, which leads into my office lane. The building is this great big old hulk, now occupied by HSBC, built by the J.B. Petit Fund. Aaa, those rich ole Parsis and their trust funds! :) Behind the office building, is the J.N. Petit School For Girls. The archways are amazing to get lost in.
... And that is the Khadi Bhawan itself, down there. Took a close pic of some of the designwork on the huge pillars, and that's put up there. The KB is basically where you can get all those over-priced pieces of Indian culture you would love to sell off in a flea market somewhere in the US. And then, they'd be bought by a Las Vegas bordello! :)
Love the pattern. Reminds me sooo much about those schematic diagrams in class 7 geography text books - the river and its distributaries and its deltas. :) Only, this is Dr. D N Road, in Bombay.
Flora Fountain is a complete Bambaiyya landmark. Bang on *hold on, real tonguetwister here* Hutatma Chowk, the place is a complete traffic stopper. Literally. The traffic snarls here at office time, right in the heart of the city's financial district, are terrible. :)
