A Place I Like : Around City Market

[ These images are from a group show (the result of a workshop conducted by the German Photographer, Stefan Koppelkamm) called "Places I Like" at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Goethe Instistute on CMH Rd. If you are in Bangalore, please try and make it to the show which will be open until 28 August] "The over bridge which unobtrusively slithered into the midst of all the chaos that went on beneath, connecting and separating lives on both sides at the same time.. alive and rampant like the rivers around which civilization grew in bygone eras.. " It was early in the morning one day.. some time in December 2007 when I Stepped into the City Market Bus Stand.. sleepy, tired and hungry after a long bus ride. It was probably my fourth visit to Bangalore, but what I saw was not the picture of the city I had etched in my mind after a few visits to its IT hubs and shopping centres. I was watching the city wake up.. slowly.. deliberately.. as the sun took over the dominance of the sulphur lamps which lit up the cityscape. I felt I was at the heart of the city, where the blood was pumped out to feed the greedy population of the city. I suppose that was precisely when I fell in love with the city of Bangalore. I decided to stay. When I was asked to choose a 'place I like' to document for the workshop, I didn't have to think too hard to come up with my favorite. It just had to be the City Market area with its majestic Jamia Masjid, the KR Market, the SJP road which transforms into a flower market at the crack of dawn, Nawab Hyder Ali Khan Road and the over bridge which unobtrusively slithered into the midst of all the chaos that went on beneath, connecting and separating lives on both sides at the same time.. alive and rampant like the rivers around which civilization grew in bygone eras.. Every visit I made was a new discovery of the micro worlds that existed in its womb, hidden to the world outside, but visible to those who looked hard enough. In its dark alleys, I found colours that no mall in the city could offer. In its sex workers, I found a zest to fight the death caused by HIV like there was such a thing as hope and the will to live. In its ever smiling Anwar, i found the orthodontist of City Bus Stand. To what might seem to be an unhygienic dental procedure to the affluent is affordable solutions to the dental health care of the poor. The room on the roof, the wholesale markets, the sober demeanor of the K R Market building propped against the inevitable temple of worship.. all hummed a melody that most of us have grown deaf to..

In Communion - The temple, mosque and the KR Market.

Jamia Masjid, City Market Bus Stand

"It was early in the morning one day.. some time in December 2007 when I Stepped into the City Market Bus Stand.. sleepy, tired and hungry after a long bus ride. I was watching the city wake up.. slowly.. deliberately.. as the sun took over the dominance of the sulphur lamps which lit up the cityscape." "In its sex workers, I found a zest to fight the death caused by HIV like there was such a thing as hope and the will to live."

"In its dark alleys, I found colours that no mall in the city could offer."

Rush Hour at the KR Market.

"I felt I was at the heart of the city, where the blood was pumped out to feed the greedy population of the city."

"The SJP road which transforms into a flower market at the crack of dawn..."

"The over bridge which unobtrusively slithered into the midst of all the chaos that went on beneath... "

In front of the Jamia Masjid one evening.

"In its ever smiling Anwar, i found the orthodontist of City Bus Stand. To what might seem to be an unhygienic dental procedure to the affluent is affordable solutions to the dental health care of the poor."

The facade - KR Market

Flowers in K R Market

A micro world in one of the alleys- home to the homeless.

Inside hotel Chandra Bhavan

The room on the roof.

The wholesale corn market.