Mumbai’s very own art gallery inside kaali peelis

Close to 60 images make up “What’s On Your Taxi’s Ceiling”, at the picturesque town square of Place Scanavin at the biennial Images Vevey Festival which runs all through September

Mumbai They may kick up a fuss before agreeing to ply you home tonight. But Mumbai’s taxis are going places. They’re the subject of a unique photo exhibition all the way in Vevey, Switzerland. Close to 60 images make up “What’s On Your Taxi’s Ceiling”, at the picturesque town square of Place Scanavin at the biennial Images Vevey Festival which runs all through September.

The designs – arrangements of fruits, ornamental florals, geometric motifs, stars, stripes and confusing abstracts – are at once beautiful and ridiculous (HT Photo)

It’s street photography with a twist. Each image is taken inside one of Mumbai’s iconic kaalipeei taxis. Each depicts the printed, patterned plastic sheeting that taxi drivers typically get fitted on to the interiors and ceiling of their vehicles as easy-clean protection.

The designs – arrangements of fruits, ornamental florals, geometric motifs, stars, stripes and confusing abstracts – are at once beautiful and ridiculous. Try looking up in a dusty traffic jam and encountering a slice of papaya, a football explosion or a Mughal-jali filigree print overhead.

I’ve been taking taxis in Mumbai for decades, and, like most Mumbaiites, I was aware that our kaalipeelis were decorated on the inside. But it’s only in 2017 that I thought of documenting each of the patterns, taking a selfie against a ceiling every time I took a ride. The pictures piled up over the years, building a virtual repository of Mumbai’s own art gallery that was out in the open and in constant motion on our city’s streets.

My own collection comprises more than 580 unique images, which forms a dedicated gallery, the largest of its kind, on Instagram at @TheGreaterBombay. I haven’t seen them all. It makes every ride an adventure – you never know a taxi’s ceiling design (or if it’s just a plain covering) until you’ve sat inside and looked up.

In Vevey, the images, blown up larger than life and displayed in the open, seemed like the perfect setting. Families, school tours, groups of friends and alone-but-determined art lovers sauntered in but remained transfixed. Switzerland, after all, has few taxis, all expensive and none decorated.

It took a while for each of them to figure it out. But when they did, they’d let out a triumphant “Aah!” It followed, without exception, with a smile. For a few seconds, the ordered, even-tempered, punctual Swiss were transported to Mumbai. Their world, where trains, trams, ferries and buses run like clockwork, had just made room for a bit of taxi drama. And my rides, often taken as I commute to work or rush to an appointment, felt a little less solo.