GAON-DEVI (The Village God)
Date Created: 2011, 2012

Gaondevi, a slum situated in Santacruz, Mumbai, shares its boundaries with the Mumbai International Airport; and in contrast to the vast expanse of the airport grounds, the lanes here are so narrow that it is quite impossible for more than one person to pass by at a time.

It is very easy to get lost in Gaondevi. It’s only with help from the people here that you can find your way around. The walls of the small houses form a sort of a dimly lit maze, and light from the open doors filters out into the lanes, guiding you along. One can hear sounds of the women’s favourite soaps on the various television sets, of children running around and playing, of small quarrels between neighbours; all of it interspersed with sounds of aircrafts landing and taking off.

For the lack of space, the children of Gaondevi have made the connected roofs of their houses a vast playground. Nor can one blame them for choosing the location, for the view from here is quite spectacular. Even the cats are seen lounging about on the roofs on a sunny day. Being next to the runway, sometimes the kids venture close to the airport boundary wall for a closer look. This is when the guards are seen scolding the curious kids, for whom the airport is like a backyard.

Gaondevi grew in size out of need rather than out of any sort of planning. It has existed for more than twenty years now, and this is just an approximation for no one knows when it really came up. There are people who come and go but for some, Gaondevi has become home.

Sagar Shiriskar
I am a photographer based in India and I have also worked on various documentary and fiction films. Recently I have worked on To Let The World In, a documentary on Contemporary Indian art as an Assistant Cinematographer, Assistant Director & Photographer.
As a photographer, some of my work has been a part of a travelling exhibition in the UK called Our Stories by The Photographic Angle. My photographs have also been published in Great Travel Photography, published by Imagine books and by Get Lost magazine, Australia. My Photographs have been published by Guardian, UK while I have also contributed to the Himal Southasian magazine.

Weekend portfolio selected by W.M Hunt