A human pipeline

Upon entering the Durbar Hall at the Asiatic Society this writer was greeted by a friendly man standing behind a bioscope For those born in this century thatrsquos a travelling movie theatre Taking up one small section of the highceiling hall was Aslam Saiyad enthusiastically winding the bioscope for the few interested enough to turn up for an exhibition on a humid Thursday afternoonSaiyad is like one of those friendly talkative strangers you meet on a local train He jokes about his bioscope to a pair of boys who had never seen one and tells them about his ongoing photography exhibition The Last Bhishtees of MumbaiThe mashaqwalas provided water in mashaqs made out of goatskin PicsAslam SaiyadSaiyad started as a photographer in 2011 He is an animator by profession substitutes as visiting faculty for photography and photojournalism and is also the cofounder of the Hallu Hallu heritage walks undertaken across the city ldquoWater is my main topicrdquo he says ldquoI am always working around waterrdquo His project on Mumbairsquos rivers was his first tryst with the subject Thatrsquos how The Living Water Museummdasha virtual museum that engages the youth in visualising their water heritage mdashnoticed him in late 2020 and invited him to be part of their 2021 Confluence exhibitionldquoI thought of taking up the Bhishtee community because I had seen these people carry the leather bag holding water when I was in college I was very fascinated by that bagrdquo says the 43yearold The name Bhishti or Bhishtee comes from the Urdu word lsquoBahishtrsquo which means lsquoParadisersquoThe pandemic saw the last four mashaqwalas make the switch to steel handas and plastic containersDuring colonial rule the bhishtees played an important role in providing water to the city With the municipal body giving only a certain amount of water at fixed time periods it was the bhishtee who came to the doorsteps of homes and shops They would provide potable water to small gatherings held at home or sprinkle it in front of the shops to keep down the dust and cool the areaTheir mashaqmdasha goatskin bag that needed to be repaired every two to three monthsmdashgave the water a distinct flavour While the first bhishtees were originally from Rajasthan more opportunities drew people from Bihar and Uttar PradeshAslam Saiyadrsquos bioscope helps make this a portable exhibition that he can take to the streetsWhen Saiyad began working on the project in November 2020 only 10 bhishtees used the traditional masahq The pandemic brought the number down to four By February 2022 there wasnrsquot a single mashaqwala in the city The bhishtees providing water in South Mumbairsquos Dongri Null Bazaar Minara Masjid Kalbadevi and Bhendi Bazaar areas have moved on to plastic buckets containers or even steel handasThe goatskin mashaq is now no moreldquoWith the mashaq gone the craftsmen making and repairing these bags have also disappearedrdquo says Saiyad According to him more water pipelines the availability of tankers and packaged water elbowed this profession into oblivionHowever in some parts of the city where people live sleep eat bathe and ply their trade on the street the bhishtee is still needed ldquoIf a shopkeeper in such an area wants two buckets of water she will not call a tankerrdquo points out Saiyad ldquoThey will call the bhishtee Itrsquos quick and pocketfriendlyrdquoBhishtees charge around Rs 10 per bucket and earn close to Rs 400 at the end of the day With local markets making way for skyscrapers and malls there will be little use of them feels Saiyad Traditionally buildings and markets were designed in a way that people from different professions could interact with each other on the street skyscrapers wonrsquot allow for that ldquoI see things from many angles such as architecture urban planning and local economyrdquo says Saiyad ldquoWhen you buy from the bhishtee you are helping the local economy which includes the mashaqwalas Buying packaged water kills itrdquoHe ordered his bioscope from Delhi for his ldquoportable exhibitionrdquo ldquoI want to take this exhibition to as many people as possiblerdquo says Saiyad I can carry it anywhere I want and donrsquot require a gallery to invite peoplerdquo His next stop is the Gateway of India where passersby street vendors and even the people he shot can see the exhibitionOne could accuse Saiyad of nostalgia but thatrsquos not true ldquoI donrsquot feel bad that the profession is over because truth is that the bhistees were exploitedrdquo he says ldquoThey would have to climb up numerous floors and still get only R10 I feel that it is good they are changing and evolving for their benefit All I wanted was to showcase the history and not romanticise it