Anushka Thorat & Sahil Sawant

Raat ki kamai

-Anushka Thorat & Sahil Sawant

'The nightlife of Bombay','City that never sleeps' 'City of dreams' and what not more

adjectives are attached to,when it comes to the night in Mumbai.While most would conjure

images of Marine Drive or lively club scenes when thinking of Mumbai's nightlife, we decided

to uncover a different, lesser-known side of the city. Our focus shifted to the tireless workers of

the night. The shopkeepers, cart owners and food truck workers who all keep their shops

open till late night because of various personal reasons or Stories as we call them.

Instead of looking for the 'Aesthetic' nightlife of Mumbai we looked at the things that happen

in the suburbs mostly in Dahisar and Borivali. So as to get to know how the localities where we

grew up look under the darkness we went to explore the streets of Borivali station,I C Colony

and Kandarpada.We saw a few shops which were standing out in the dark. Medical

shops,tailors, general stores, were the most common types of shops which we saw open at

midnight.

Families relished the delectable offerings from falooda trucks until the clock struck twelve, at

which point the ever-watchful police would signal the owner to wrap things up. Sanket, the

truck owner, would then discreetly relocate to continue serving his delighted customers for

another hour.

Amidst these late-night scenes, we encountered Sakshi, the lone female worker, who was

tidying up her fish stall for the night. Satisfied with her day's sales, she headed home.

Kalpesh, a highly-regarded tailor in the vicinity, remained at his shop an extra hour after his

official closing time. He meticulously completed alterations on a final batch of clothes, all the

while humming to the tunes of his favourite old Bihari songs.

Kunal, tirelessly serving his loyal middle-aged customers, humorously remarked that today's

teenagers had a penchant for Chinese and other junk food, which is why he rarely saw them

as his customers.

Our night photography journey also exposed us to the technicalities of capturing the

nocturnal world. Mastering contrast and light became our secret sauce to create

captivating visuals. We were particularly drawn to the solitary shops, standing alone or

illuminating the darkness between closed shutters. Revealing life amidst the night's veil

fascinated us. Beyond photography, engaging with the shop owners and employees

enriched our understanding of their world. We delved into the politics and relationships

between shopkeepers and customers, sometimes even finding ourselves drawn into these

stories as regular customers. The process of choosing our shots, uncovering stories, selecting

photographs, and engaging with people we seldom had conversations with was a

rewarding experience. We hope our night excursion through Mumbai's lesser-known side

brings you as much delight as it brought us through photographs.