Sights and Sounds at Okhla Vegetable Market - Part I

Location: Okhla Vegetable Market

Time: 04:10 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.

20 visuals that I liked:

1. Just outside the ‘Okhla Vegetable Market’ something interesting caught my eye. As it’s a wholesale market, a lot of trucks and tempos, had been parked outside. These created good frames, beside the pavement. One such was a green tempo parked in front of an orange truck, and the space in the middle that was left you could see a family sleeping on the dusty pavement.
2. Another visual that I found interesting while still outside was the array of vegetable carrying bicycles. I hadn't expected to spot these, and I have been to vegetable markets before, but obviously not one this big. These bicycles looked adorable; they had woven vegetable baskets tied to the front of the handle bars, and a really big one secured near the seat. Standing in lines, or even when pictured alone they made for a pretty sight.
3. As it was early morning when we visited the ‘Okhla Sabzi Mandi, some people could be found sleeping. But what amazed me how different their beds and sleeping positions were! For e.g. I saw a man sleeping on vegetable plastic baskets, stacked together to make a bed. And another basket which had been kept upside down right next to him had a goat sleeping on it.
4. As we went in further, I spotted a fruit seller, who had a huge tent with watermelons under them. And one could clearly see that he was having a good time as he was quickly selling them off, though it was still so early. It was a good day for him! But right next to his shop, two young men slept on a wooden hawker’s cart. This made the visual very interesting, while the watermelon vendor was sending off truckloads of melons away, among all this commotion and activity these two men just slept through it all.
5. On going further we saw to our right, a lot of Muslims offering their early morning namaz. Special seating arrangements had been made for the auspicious Ramzan season, to host a large number of people. From the market where I stood, you could look into the tent through a gap and see the namaz proceedings.
6. Then I saw a truck, which was being loaded with sacks full of potatoes and onions. There were two workers at the back of the truck, one with the light guiding the other one with the sack. They made a very homely picture.
7. As we approached the area from where the market properly began, I spotted another interesting truck. It had been parked on a slope and had a street light illuminating the back end of the truck. It had a man on the top who was pulling a cover on top of the truck. Because of the slope and the man pulling it in the direction of the slope with all his might, this sight symbolized for me strength and hard work at the vegetable market.
8. Men with weird backpacks caught my attention as we were walking in the main market now. From a distance I couldn't make out what it was. It took me a while to see that they were not really backpacks, but contraptions made by them to lift a bag full of vegetables and carry it easily till the truck. They were all white in color and made of the white plastic sacks that one sees at markets. It had a small wooden block tied on the end, to sport the box or the sack.
9. A very charming fruit shop was something that stood out in a ‘vegetable’ market. There were other fruits shops too, but this one just marked its presence, the vendor must have spent quite some time in setting it up. It had fruits arranged in such a way that it looked like a fort of fruits, the front was lower and the backside was higher. So one could just stand and scan all the fruits easily. The vacant chair in the middle and a weighing matching just added more to the charm. Also fruit baskets and trays hung on strings from the rooftop lining the shop.
10. On one end of the market we saw a corncob wholesaler. This was the biggest corncob shop I think. It was huge and had one man sitting at one corner peeling the excess leafs off them. And one man who helped him was standing next to him. The heaps of already peeled corncobs lay below, which was being managed by two other people who were helping to get them loaded on trucks standing nearby.
11. There was an attention-grabbing man selling potatoes at the market. Though dressed in a normal banyan, lungi and smoking a beedi, there was something remarkable about him which made him so unlike others. He also had a ‘change’ pouch hanging off a really long string on his neck. It looked like he was some character out of a book.
12. There was also a shop selling only packed Khajoor (dates). To go with the festive season of Ramzan and the upcoming Eid. Packed in clear transparent plastic bags and reflecting the light from the bulbs, the Khajoor looked really glossy and silken! Appetizing enough to compel anybody to buy them.
13. Near one of the tea stalls in the market, was a big weighing machine placed. And beside it was kept a charpoy. So the hardworking men could be seen lifting heavy sacks placing them on the weighing machine, then sealing them and taking them to the truck. Whereas on the charpoy right next to it, young men who are lazy bums (you could make out by there behavior) just kept lazing around. One even got scolded by his dad for not working. It showed the contrast very clearly.
14. Sometimes the ordinary looks so different, that it looks other worldly! I felt this when I couldn't recognize green bananas being sold at a shop, because of its placement. They had been placed one top of the other, with the top i.e. the place where they are connected to each other was facing us. So they looked like huge big green flowers, with every banana looking like a leaf to me. It felt like a scene from the evergreen African jungles. So green and so exotic!
15. Early morning and the smell of ‘Chai’ is sure to brighten anybody’s day. So we went and had tea at one of the tea stalls. It was much later that I noticed it reminded me of some place. I couldn't really say it aloud because I thought it sounded weird, but nevertheless I somehow said it. And to my relief Nagma agreed with me. The ‘Chai stall’ reminded one of being in a railway station! Its composition was such that it had a feel of being situated on a platform. For once I actually though that we were waiting for a train and not really in a vegetable market. We were surrounded by vegetables yet getting the feeling of being transported to another world altogether is no mean feat.
16. One of the vendors who was not making much sale, or maybe was unhappy about something sat on the weighing machine of his shop with a grumpy expression on his face.
17. The place where the sacks were being lifted on the backs of workers also had interesting sights. One that I liked was the way they lifted the sacks up. Another worker would help lift the bag, and then he would swing it in a peculiar way above his head, so that it landed on his back. It looked very smooth and there practice showed in the ease with which they were doing it.
18. Amongst the vegetables and fruits in the market, amongst the vibrant colors, a dairy shop is sure to stand out. Selling products like: milk, cheese, khoya, etc. – the shop looks very white! And stacked up on a silver shelf, it shines too. Very different from the rest of the market indeed.
19. At one of the exits/entrances, there was an interesting opening with a triangular top. Vegetable vendors sitting on both sides with light bulbs glowing in their shops, contrasted well with the black sky visible through the opening. The play of light and dark, made it eye catchy.
20. The shop that I liked the most was the one selling carrots and capsicums. It had two levels and an interesting background of colorful doors. On the floor lay the orange carrots, and up the stairs to the raised platform lay green capsicums. Workers could be seen cleaning the vegetables and packing them. Behind them was a dark green cupboard fixed into the wall, then a blue door and just next to it a bright green bigger door. Two sacks of carrots were kept on the left side of the platform. It was full, vibrant, rich and one of the best sights that I saw at the ‘Okhla Sabzi Mandi’.

Kaagaz Ke Phool - a review

Kaagaz Ke Phool - a film by Guru Dutt, is considered a classic. Having watched it just yesterday in college for the first time the impression is still fresh in my head. The opening and closing scenes of the film are striking and well thought, something that stays with you for a long time. The movie begins with an old and lonely director Suresh Sinha played by Guru Dutt who is standing in front of a studio where a big statue is partially shown in the scene (rendering only the feet visible). The feet of the statue frame the aged man as he stands; this is symbolic of the main theme of the film, which is about the frailness and diminutive authority and control that man has over things that surround him and also his own life.

The flashback sequence shows us a magnificent set, grand and impressive it rightly highlights the glitz and glamour of his golden days at the peak as he reminisces his past. Some of the scenes where young girls flock to get a glimpse of him and maybe an autograph, and people attracted by the show of films, are really well thought and that shows in the execution.

As the plot progresses we see the director – Suresh Sinha and his find Shanti fall in love with each other. As this growing closeness causes more trouble in his already troubled married life. More so with the coming of Pammi who extracts a promise from her to leave, Shanti finally goes away to a village and becomes a teacher. Suresh on the other hand, can’t stand on his own, without Pammi, his daughter and now having Shanti left too – he is completely alone and depressed. Rocky (his brother in law) brings her back, in order to get Sinha’s life back on track. But when Shanti tries helping Suresh, his ego comes in the way and he refuses. He would never take help from anybody, he rather surrender himself to self-pity and alcohol.

I feel he was not what we nowadays call, that ‘into’ the girl. The film depicts two people who understand each other very well but can't be together. But I still have some questions. When Pammi leaves him, why doesn’t Suresh go up to Shanti and resolve the issue and show her that her absence didn’t really help salvage his marriage. Also Suresh enjoys her simple hero-worship of him without really responding. He just likes being loved unconditionally and Shanti knows this. In the end nobody learns anything, nobody cries, and Suresh dies in the pit. Life moves on. Suresh in particular, but Shanti too, have plenty of opportunities to improve the course of their lives, and their persistent refusal to take advantage of them, can get on your nerves. They refuse to take responsibility for there own happiness.

But the cinematography as always is a highlight of Dutt's films. The use of lighting is fitting, as it accentuates the grimness. The use of light during the screening of Sinha’s ‘Devdas’ at the premiere is a good example of the clever use of light. Dutt also used overlapping images and, the camera often moves and lingers creating a mesmerizing effect. ‘Waqt ne kiya’ is a memorable track from the film not only because of meaningful lyrics and haunting voices, but also because of the way it has been beautifully shot. The camera work is remarkable, to V.K. Murthy’s credict who created the light beams and lenses for Dutt. The sliding lime lights and later sliding martinis worked very well, they just show the creativity even more in the making of the film.

It is India’s first cinemascope film; has wonderful sets, good direction, fine lighting, superb acting, well choreographed frames to boast about, and in all a very well made film!