Badminton
Click It Select: How badminton is played in Mumbai
Photographer Sushant Kulshrestha tried to capture the true essence of Mumbai in a photo story of how people play badminton in the city.
Over the few days that I shot this project, I visited some iconic locations around Mumbai city. The main aim was to show people playing badminton, but I wanted to do it with backgrounds that truly represented Mumbai. Here’s what I managed to capture.
Oval Maidan
It is one of the largest recreational grounds in Mumbai, where you will always find people playing popular sports. As expected, there were people playing cricket and football, and some jogging on the track. But there was also a group of four carefree children playing badminton. They only had two racquets, so they were playing in turns. When I asked if I could click some pictures of them, they got quite excited. I found out that they live a few kilometres away in Colaba and play at Oval Maidan on the weekend.
Oval Maidan
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Asiatic Library and Horniman Circle
It was Sunday evening when I visited Horniman Circle. The park was full of children chasing each other playfully and adults busy with cricket. In this part of town, it is quite normal to see people playing in the middle of the street on Sunday. And that’s exactly what I saw when a group of children rolled up on their cycles, set them down on the footpath and started playing right in front of Asiatic Library.
Horniman Circle
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Hanging Gardens
The Old Woman’s Shoe in Kamala Nehru Park is an iconic feature of Hanging Gardens. The giant boot, based on a nursery rhyme about the woman who lived in a shoe, was built as a playground attraction for children. The park is a popular spot for children and tourists. It was a few feet from the shoe structure that I saw some siblings playing badminton.
Hanging Garden
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Worli Fort and Bandra-Worli sealink
The Worli Fort juts out towards the sea past a few acres of small houses. The locals frequent the fort as a place to relax after work. On my visit here, I found a few girls who were friends and lived in the houses nearby. They were playing with racquets and a ball because a light shuttlecock would easily carry with the wind here.
Worli Fort and Mumbai's skyline
© Sushant Kulshrestha
The marvellous thing about this place is there is a mostly unused space of land just after the fort. When you stand on this small empty space and face the Worli Fort, you get a beautiful view of Mumbai’s skyline. If you turn away from the fort, you get a view of the Bandra-Worli Sealink and the vast expanse of the sea.
Bandra-Worli Sealink
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Worli Koliwada
The fishermen colony near Worli Fort doesn’t have a lot of space but houses a lot of families. In this part of the city, there isn’t much space to play, and there aren’t any parks or gardens nearby. Children here are forced to make the best use of the narrow lanes where they live. For me, it was interesting to see how these kids made use of the small open space in front of their home.
Worli Koliwada
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Shivaji Park
The Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Park is the largest public park in Mumbai. It stretches across the localities of Dadar and Matunga, with numerous playgrounds enclosed in the space. Some of Mumbai’s most famous cricketers have honed their talents while training at the nets of these grounds. As I watched the different sports teams train on the grounds, I noticed two young boys also watching the sessions. After a while, the two boys drifted off towards a corner of the park and played a small game of badminton.
Shivaji Park
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Bandra Reclamation
The ‘I Love Mumbai’ installation at Bandra Reclamation has become a popular spot for tourists. In the background, you see a beautiful view of Mumbai’s skyline, separated from Bandra by the Mahim Creek. There are always people here at any time of the day, particularly in the evening. Kids come here to cycle, fly kites and play with bats and rackets. I met the two brothers in the photo as they were playing together. They lived nearby and came to the area to collect fallen kites but brought racquets along to play while they waited.
Bandra Reclamation
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Housing colony in Prabhadevi
This was actually clicked in my housing colony. The children in my building complex play sports every day; sometimes it’s football, sometimes cricket, sometimes badminton. The space isn’t marked for any sport, so they improvise courts and fields for whichever game they are playing.
Prabhadevi housing society
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Kumbharwada in Dharavi
Kumbharwada is home to one of the largest communities of potters in Mumbai. It is easy to spot small smokey kilns and freshly-made pots drying in the narrow lanes of Kumbharwada. This group had to make sure they didn’t step on the diyas drying just a few feet away from their game. They were just happy that this lane outside their house was slightly larger than most other streets in Dharavi.
Kumbharwada in Dharavi
© Sushant Kulshrestha
Get involved with Click It
All images in this article were captured by Sushant Kulshrestha as part of Click It. Click It is an ongoing, multi-layered photography programme that aims to support and showcase the work of photographers from all walks of life. If you would like to contribute to Click It and have your photographs showcased on RedBull.com, mail clickit@redbull.com for details.