How six artists are showcasing their Mumbai rain experiences

As showers rekindle our love-hate relationship with the season, six artists portray their experiences of the rains from their corners of the city and beyond

Mangoes and rain in Borivali

Towards the end of summer, illustrator and graphic designer Alisha Huang’s father brings home crates of langra aam. Every year, till the mangoes last, cutting and eating them has been an after-lunch ritual with her family.

Huang, 28, describes this core memory as a surreal feeling that she just had to capture. “This is a digital painting of my sister and me, standing at the window of our sixteen-floor house, eating langra aam. The rain, chitchat, sweet mangoes, the birds nesting nearby — it’s a memory I want to cherish,” she reminisces.
Log on to: @inked.pencil

Dancing at Fort

The rains polish the old buildings at Fort. Their architecture has always fascinated illustrator and watercolour artist, Danette Gomes, 29. Washed during this season, their details of another era are more visible. As she walks by overwhelmed with the sound of music playing through her earphones mixed with the sound and smell of the rain, she notes that something about the old and the new coming together feels just right.

In her digital artwork, she plays with light filtering through the archways; the cool tones of the backdrop capture the weather and the bright prints on the girl tell us something about her mood. Bandra-based Gomes reminisces, “I love how a different kind of air takes over Mumbai during the monsoons. I wanted to capture all these emotions together, so that’s what the illustration is all about.” 
Log on to: @danette_gomes

Palghar panorama

Digital illustrator and watercolourist Pritesh Suresh Gharat narrates that there is nothing quite like the monsoons in Palghar, where he stays. The downpour is renewing; it refreshes not only the land but also his mind. As an artist, Gharat, 34, brings out his watercolours to portray nature in different seasons.

And so capturing this fully green canvas is only inevitable. This watercolour artwork is a scene at Saphala, and perfectly captures the setting as Gharat describes it. “The monsoons are a special time for everyone and every creature,” he says.
Log on to:  @pritesh_071987

Lower Parel’s time capsule

Commercial buildings alongside street stalls and taffy vendors, Lower Parel is a conglomeration of old and new, observes dental surgeon, Dr Aalok Madhusudan Joshi. He painted this scene standing on the southern foot-over bridge at Prabhadevi station.

“I love live painting, the sights, sounds and smells get into the final work.” Joshi, 35, shares that the barrenness of the railway tracks receding into the horizon and the busy commercial buildings right next to it create a juxtaposition that attracted his micron pen and watercolours.
Log on to: @aalokdrawssometimes

Andheri in a frame

For Isha Parate, architect, the rains are best experienced from her Andheri apartment, which offers a view of the city’s skyline.

She shares, “I played RD Burman, imagined I’m in an Ayaan Mukherjee film, and started sketching.” In a motion-picture-perfect scene, Parate traces the view using a pen, white crayon and blue colour pencil as raindrops fall on her page.
Log on to: @sketchwech

Kandivali kaleidoscope

Painter and kathak teacher, Sushvi Singh shows us a scene from her Thakur Village window that no longer exists.

She says, “Here, new buildings replace the old ones; I wanted to preserve the view before people forget what it looked like.” Singh shares her observations in watercolour and poster colours.
Log on to: @sushvi._

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