The time for high tea is 6 pm but in Ahmedabad guests arrive when they want to so people stroll in at 630 and after a leisurely chai and nashta take their seats. The hall is beautiful, the décor, the lighting and the ambiance add to the evening and to the conversation.  Ehsaas woman Shradha Murdia is in conversation with me and I can see she is prepared with her research and questions. She tells me she has driven from Udaipur and looks forward to a stimulating evening.

Post her conversation it is the usual question- answer with the audience. Initially everyone is shy of asking questions but once they start it is difficult to stop them.   

To be continued…

It is a hot afternoon but the driver who has come to fetch me is extremely courteous and puts me in a good mood. He is dressed in Pyjama Kurta and says he is proud to be associated with a heritage hotel like House of MG and tells me that all the foreigner guests stay with them. He says whenever the Prime Minister has special guests, they come for a meal to Aagashee because it serves the best Gujarati food in the city.

I am led to my room, a far cry from the regular hotels. There is jhoola, there is a canopy bed, vintage mirrors and bathrooms. It is like traveling back into another era. I relish a Gujarati meal and go to sleep to wake up in time for the evening event.

To be continued…

Dr Prakash Joshi started archiving when he was a school going boy and over the decades, the collection grew and grew. Today, his home is a museum of sorts, his walls and his Godrej almirahs packed with posters of classics. His bed is higher than normal because the large size posters are preserved between two veneers below his mattress. He removed them only when his wife complained of nightmares! She has been complaining of no space for wardrobe ever since they got married but Joshi is unrelenting. His obsession for his collection is beyond logic. He spends his holidays wrapping the posters in plastic and getting the pictures laminated. For a long time, he collected VHS and audio cassettes as well but had to discard them when they were damaged by humidity. 

“I have a great collection, yes, but I cannot do this wonderful exhibition without the support of my friend and genius Mukesh Parpiani. He is the curator of the exhibition and my partner in crime and I’m eternally grateful to him”. I agree with Joshi.  There was a time all our mornings began with his pictures and evenings ended with his images. Today, he is not active on the field but contributes from backstage. He is member of Press Club, member of Photographic Society, India and heads the Exhibition department at NCPA.

Thank you, Mukesh Parpiani, for this wonderful experience.  

Dr Joshi reveals that he collected pictures of heroines because our movies portrayed their diversity. She was the vamp, the dancer and also the diva and what was wonderful was that all of them played all these roles. He says Fridays was and remains his favorite day of the week because it is the day he strolls around the neighboring theatres, inhaling the fragrance of movies. He visits the busy streets of Chor Bazar for the familiar sights and picks up faded photographs, lobby cards, song booklets. Joshi informs that in the olden days, song booklets were handed over to the audience when they entered the cinema halls. Slowly, the practice discontinued when technology changed.

He is sentimental about movies, about music, “Songs in our movies carried forward the narrative. The trend continued till the 70s but after that the music and the narrative were disconnected. I’m not saying that our present movies don’t have melody, they do except that music is no longer a part of our story telling”.  What is remarkable is that time has not diminished Joshi’s passion for cinema and memorabilia. Even today, whenever time and love beckon, Joshi is at his favorite haunt digging for memories.  The important question is where does the collector store his treasures and how does he safeguard it from damage?

Stay tuned…

Dr Joshi’s attraction for movies began as a little boy. Joshi shares that his parents had an old gramophone at home and a few records and he listened to the same records every day. His heart craved for variety but the atmosphere at home did not permit indulgence. “There was no money to buy new records and no money to watch movies at cinema halls too but once in a while, the family went for mythological movies and I was mesmerized by the big screen and the music”. He says curiosity led him to Chor Bazar and thus began a never-ending journey. With whatever little money he got, he purchased cheap records.

From the very beginning he was always curious about the film posters- how they were created and pasted on the walls, who painted them and where. He shares that MF Hussain started his career as a poster boy. When driving home from school he hopped on to the window seat of a double decker bus and waited with bated breath to pass Opera House, the Mecca of movies. A cluster of theatres showcased tall billboards and when the bus took the curve it was literally like falling into the laps of the dream merchants. Those memories still haunt him, so do the posters of Hatim Tai, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje, Dahej and Barsaat …

More coming tomorrow, watch this space…

A fortnight ago, celebrated photographer Mukesh Parpianiwho spent 52 years of his life following the news at Indian Express. Midday and Daily invited me to attend an unusual exhibition celebrating the Queens of Hindi cinema at NCPA. Parpiani has won innumerable awards and is an honorable member of both the Press Club, Mumbai, and also Photographic society of India. Now heading the photography section at NCPA, Parpiani encourages different institutions to host exhibitions at the NCPA venue.

It is almost 7pm by the time we drive into the Lokhandwala Market where Book Lovers is situated and the skyline has turned pitch dark. It is raining and thundering but Rudramani Biradar of Book Lovers is delighted to host us. He says his shop maybe small but is frequented by the biggest names. Biradar shares that when he bought this property, he was discouraged by everyone. “I was told that nobody in Lokhandwala reads or writes books and I have proved all of them wrong. Only the fortunate are surrounded by flowers and books and I am among them. Our shop has customers round the clock and when there is a lull, my team and I read books”.

On that happy note we say adieu to Book Lovers and after a while to each other. Sabaji Kadam and James of Prakash Books have been super energetic all day but are now visibly exhausted. So is our chauffeur Syed for the day.  I am drained physically and mentally and cannot wait to get into my bed and served a strong cup of tea. Thank you, Fingerprint Publishing Books, for this wonderful idea and experience. You have initiated the  trend of Retail Round Up  and now everyone is going to follow it.

Concluded