Mumbai Paused: Stunning pics of a city on the move

Photographer MS Gopal shot these images of India's economic powerhouse and shared them with us!

Freelance photographer MS Gopal who runs Mumbai Paused, a blog that documents the various aspects of a city that always seems to be on the go.

Gopal points out:

"Most old buildings of South Mumbai have one thing in common. They all have industry or visuals of people at work carved or engraved on them.

Since the city's beginnings, one thing has defined what Mumbai stood for. It's a city where people work hard or come from all over India, to work. The art on the buildings reflected this truth.

The buildings and the facades of the buildings of the city have gone through many changes but what happens inside and around them has not changed. The industries depicted on those buildings may have changed but the industriousness of the people has remained the same.

That is one of the dominant themes of the project Mumbai Paused. It's a blog that captures an image or a story from the streets of Mumbai and more often than not, the images tell the story of a city that is always working, always on the move, and living up to the tag that it's the legendary city that never sleeps.

Here are a few select images of people at work and their work place from Mumbai Paused. Because if one was to map the DNA of the city, we would find the dominant one would be the 'hardworking' gene."

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This is a picture of a tabla maker from Mahim. They say the greatest of craftsmen work from the most ordinary workspace. Like this tabla maker working on Ustad Zakir Hussain's tabla. He works from a small hut that's next to a footpath on Mahim Causeway.

Do you want to share such breathtaking images of your hometown or city? Simply send an email (subject: My city) to getahead@rediff.co.in with the images and a brief write-up about your town or city and we will publish the best pictures right here!

The window of an old Mill in Parel reflects  one the hottest night clubs/ studios of Mumbai called Blue Frog. Mumbai grew to its present size, thanks to the mills that attracted people from the surrounding districts and today, very few remain. 

A sculptor works in his studio in a chawl next to the Western Express Highway. Even though he knows that the dust from the stone will clog his lungs and lead to complications, he continues to  ignore using a simple mask. Safety is an alien concept in Mumbai.

This toy seller at Gateway of India sells the most unlikely toy -- an army commando action figure -- for a place like that because it was the scene of one of the gun battles during a terrorist attack now commonly known as 26/11.

Daily wage labourers of Mumbai usually wait outside prominent bus stops and railways stations across Mumbai waiting for work. This is in Vashi.

Taxis plying along the Eastern Express Highway have bright lights inside that act as the "For Hire" sign.  The driver usually sleeps in the taxi, or can be found in a cycle tea stall close by.

Above the grimy streets rise the work places that could've been anywhere in the world -- the modern glass office where millions work, connected to a network of offices across the world.

What remains of the mills are shells and a few reminders like this across town. At one time, it was one of the main employers of people in the city. This picture was shot in Worli.

News reporters fight for a sound bite from Govinda outside a studio where he was judging a televised dance competition. The crew waited six hours for the two minutes they get from each star who shuttle between studios all day and night.

In the bylanes of Dongri, in South Mumbai, you will still find a few people who continue to practice the art of calligraphy.

They can write in Urdu and Persian and survive thanks to a few who still prefer hand written invitations for weddings and other social functions.

Roof cleaners at Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport welcome you to Mumbai outside the International arrival terminal.

However, all their cleaning will not help to wash away the smell of Mumbai which is a strange mixture of the sea, sewage, exhaust fumes and money.

One of the surviving trades of Mumbai is the ear cleaners. They can be distinguished by the turban, a head-dress that separates them from the crowd in a world where people go without their heads covered.

On the busy street outside the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus, a man selling locks and trinkets strikes a fashionable pose.

A streetside vendor sells assorted things collected from various places on a Mahim pavement.

Dharavi is a low cost real estate for professions that are semi organised but large. In a city with expensive real estate, this work space provides an opportunity to smart but poor entrepreneurs and family businesses like this potter's.

This is a  newborn profession. The Slumdog Tourist Guide of Dharavi. Inspired by the movie, Slumdog Millionaire tourists come visiting the underbelly of the city.

That's the same vendor's collection you saw earlier in a different season -- summer. His wares change according to season.

Inside an old mill, one of the tens of sirens that woke up people and signalled them to get to work. These days the call of the siren is a forgotten sound. This photo was taken in Parel.

For more picutres, visit www.mumbaipaused.blogspot.com