A 2015 digital graphic novel series on Mumbai promises a comeback with new chapters. Its creator shares the difference between chronicling the city then and now
Aazar Anis chronicles the city in his digital graphic novel
Scrolling through the 4,000 plus posts on Aazar Anis’ Instagram account @justanothermellowghost is like travelling inside a time capsule. We’re looking for city photographs overlaid with texts from 2015, Anis’ version of a digital graphic novel called Bombay Hectic. These posts have all the features of the time when Instagram was the place for stills coloured with sepia tints, and when selfies took off. The process would be easier on the Bombay Hectic Facebook page, but the advertising professional’s posts are something you don’t want to miss — when not chronicling Mumbai or any city he visits through pictures, his captions and poems are beautifully written. A photograph does not need a thousand words when a writer knows exactly what they want to say while still leaving room for readers to interpret other landscapes. Anis does this often. It’s what drew this writer into a conversation over Instagram with the ad man, sometime in 2015 when he moved to Mumbai from Delhi.
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In 2015, after two years of writing Delhi Hectic with friend Arjun Jassal, where they covered the city’s art and culture scene, Anis launched Bombay Hectic as a way to document his experience afresh once he shifted base. “I was always inspired by the city; I thought there is never a better time to express something new than when you are experiencing it,” he reasons.
Excerpts from the digital graphic series - a 2017 chapter
While Delhi Hectic came together from photographs, photoshop and a Wix website, Bombay Hectic was crafted using only the phone. “I would capture pictures, edit them, write the text, place it on the photo and upload it on Instagram. I chose Instagram because I wanted to make the series snappier, and it was an app where people came to interact with photos, not video content like how it is now.”
As the 35-year-old warmed up to Bombay, posts decreased. Last week, it made a comeback on the page’s 8th anniversary when he shared an early 2015 chapter, with the promise to relaunch the series. But will they have the same voice as eight years ago? The city and Anis have changed since then, and so has their interaction with each other. “After 25 chapters, the series is a chronicle of the city and myself.
Now it’s like a diary entry where each day can be different or monotonous, but it’s never a ride that goes nowhere,” the Bandra resident continues. “Back when I would visit here with my mom for summer vacations, I felt a sense of alienation because everything felt constricted. I only knew South Bombay, Juhu and Parel; also the houses aren’t as big as they were in Delhi. The cities felt the same but with way lesser space between people. I’ve lived here for so long so I am able to see Bombay for what it is. And I can’t fathom it — the same city that has British-era buildings also has a living forest, and every few kilometres, people are diverse.”
Aazar Anis
Anis is almost ready to release new chapters. “They are devoid of hope since I wrote them during the lockdowns. But now, it’s important to add the element of a new start.” Stay tuned for city views that the Delhi-born, Mumbai-based writer with a Manto tattoo on his forearm has to share.
Log on to: @justanothermellowghost; Bombay Hectic on Facebook
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