St. Xaviers College, Mumbai

One of the top ten colleges in India, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai is an architectural beauty that has nutured some of the best minds and faces (read Bollywood) in the country. This fact aside, I fell in love with the place, the moment I stepped my foot in the Quadrangle. The building has gargoyles, who wouldn't?  It isn't odd then that I took advantage of  the fact that I was a student in XIC to explore the place a bit on my own. You know just the door here and the window there. No breaking in. Haha. *Clears throat* 

The stone building facade that has become a part of pop culture now, what with the movies, songs and ads that were shot here.

St. Xavier's College Chapel

Hogwarts-esque staircases: I thought they would start moving any moment.

And finally the top most landing.

The view: worth climbing all the flights of stairs.

 

This is how they chill in Xavier's.

Passages that have kept secrets of those nervous first confessions of love.

The College Gym

Father Gordon: Watching over his flock. 

The view from the Priests'Quarters

The priests'chapel: few have had the good fortune to see this part. 

The view from Father Gordon's balcony: a reminder of the care God has taken to design this world. 

A small tribute to the Prakash Bhaiiya who's most amazing soyabean sandwhiches made nine months I spent at the Xavier's Campus so much more awesome.

Astaad Deboo

Having collaborated with international artists like Pink Floyd, Astaad Deboo is considered to be the pioneer of modern Indian dance. He uses traditional Indian forms like Kathak and Kathakali to create a unique style that is his own.

“Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who could not hear the music."
Deboo cetntrestage.

To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful.

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul”

Deboo with his troupe of dancers from Manipur, India.
Dancing faces you towards Heaven, whichever direction you turn .

The truest expression of a people is in its dance and in its music. Bodies never lie. 

Dancing is silent poetry. 

Waiting for his moment.

“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.” 
― Rumi