S ometimes things got awkward. “People would squirm and get worked up at the prospect of being photographed by a stranger but after I told them about the motive behind my work, most of them would agree. I told them that I want to record these images and stories because 100 years from now we don’t know if these local trains would still be here. What if these ladies compartments vanished?”
What began as a personal account of Anushree Fadnavis’ daily commute, soon sprouted into a lively form of conversation between her and her co-travellers. “Though the roads promise lesser crowd, I was drawn to the locals because there was more life. I preferred being amidst swarm of people than standing on signals.”
The Mumbai locals are much more than just a commute for the people of the city who spend a lot of time in them. Anushree’s mom was one of them and she often heard her narrate stories about her commute. “Once I started college, I began collecting my own share of experiences.”
Anushree was attracted to the images of women, either travelling together in groups, or by themselves. She chronicled these images under the hashtag TravelDiaries on Instagram in 2013 after she got to know about the square-image-sharing-format of the platform. “Either the image in itself was enough or the photo would come with a story. And Instagram looked like the best place to document my images.”
Sometimes the images came out of a visceral hunch,” said Anushree. Her fellow travellers in the ladies compartment like her were in transit, and so were scores of stories related to them. “I used my phone to take images of the people around me and things happening around them. I would capture anything that caught my fancy. The way women dress up, the way they come together for a specific duration and then go their own way afterwards.”
Anushree also makes an effort in documenting episodes from the lives of people on the fringes who use the local train. After she got rid of her initial inhibitions regarding the transgender community, she made it a point to photograph and encapsulate their stories in her Instagram feed. “Talking to them about how they feel about being excluded from the mainstream, about their ways of making money and their lives in general, threw open a whole new world of stories before me. Then I talked to the kids who begged. I tried to explain to them the importance of education, but they wouldn’t listen to me,” she said.
Ansuhree is a part of Mumbai based photo agency Indus Images. She stays away from Instagram filters and just uses basic editing tools. Being the first photo-journalist from the family, she still has a tough time making her parents understand what her job is. “When Instagram featured my story on their feed I was happy because it gave a clearer picture of what I do in my parent’s eyes.”
Inching towards a good lakh followers on Instagram, Anushree’s account is an amalgamation of all walks of life. A snapshot of a woman painting her mother’s nails, a skinny kid dressed in an over-sized pullover covering his face, a transgender posing all guards down and many such snippets form the feed of her meticulously put together Instagram account. The last photo was liked and featured by several other national Instagram feeds for its distinct aesthetic. Kids hanging from the handle bars, girls dancing in empty coaches at odd hours, someone sharing their lunchbox with a fellow passenger – Anushree captures them all, taking her viewers right inside the Mumbai local.
Each image has a story of its own to tell, some more than others. When occasionally, Anushree types out a heart-felt caption it draws the viewer in. “I have known Trisha for almost two years I think. Every time we meet she and I actually jump and hug each other. Why? Because she knows broken Hindi and I don't speak Telugu, she is from Andhra. But we are friends. And to express this excitement we always greet each other this way. She always tries to speak some Hindi and I try with my sign language to communicate some things but it gets difficult... I wish I didn't have this barrier because I want to know more about her. I have photographed her so many times and never posted her image but yesterday I told her I want to take a picture with her. I did this because I want to shout out to the world and tell that when you respect someone there is no better language than of love and humanity.” – reads one caption under a photo of her with transgender Trisha.
Follow Anushree on instagram @anushree_fadnavis
