I’ve mentioned being excited about Ada coming over to visit before but I though it’s be nice to formally introduce her. Ada is originally a plastic Clonette doll made in Africa. Adeline (of the blog Lady Croissant) found her in a shop in Bordeaux, France in November 2008. Having just read a book on experimental travel, she asked a few friends to play along & the rest, as they say, is history! She started travelling the world just a month before Life etc. started & has visited an enviable list of countries.
As some of you may remember, in ’11 & ’12 I was really into analog photography & shared film photos on my blog regularly. Initially, I found it quite lonely to be doing something like that (sharing analog photos usually elicited one of two reactions- “I didn’t even know they still made film” or “You shoot film, you must be such a hipster” so I wanted to seek out some blog who showcase similar things. It was pretty difficult to find even one blog at first, but pretty soon I ‘met’ such a lovely bunch of women from around the world who shared the same passion. We regularly shared our photos & discussed when results didn’t come out exactly as planned (which is very often, especially if you use different/expired film or plastic cameras). Having an online community to share with & learn from was very enriching & even though my film shooting first dwindled & then halted completely somehow, these people still inspire me with what they share on a daily basis.
Oh, I seem to have made this all about myself, & I apologize. I promise you all of that had something to do with Ada. So I first read about Ada on Melly’s blog (Singapore), then Rhianne’s blog (UK) & finally Antonella’s blog (Ireland) & somewhere in between I decided I wanted her to visit me here in Mumbai too! 🙂
So I contacted Adeline in May ’12 to express interest. She informed me that I’d have to wait & I was A-ok with that. Then in April this year (my birthday month no less!) I got an email saying that Ada was ready to come to India, how exciting! I was a bit upset that she would reach during my final exams but Adeline informed me she’s a very polite doll who wouldn’t mind waiting. Anyway she arrived a bit late so that worked out OK. In the end I didn’t manage to take her to as many places as I hoped, but I think she liked whatever she did see of the city.

So yes, the first places I took Ada to is very touristy, can I help it if it’s one of my favorite areas of the city? The Gateway of India was built in the ’20s & it’s hands down one of the most iconic monuments in Mumbai. Despite being a Mumbaikar, I went 16 years of my life without seeing it & incidentally I was on a ship docked at Nava Sheva then, so I saw it from the other end. Finally a year later I saw it from land, it’s a beautiful sight. It obviously helps that it’s walking distance from Colaba Causeway, one of my other favorite places. Whenever I feel a bit jaded about Mumbai I just come here & I remember why I love it so much. Sometimes you just need to do the touristy things, you know?
I’ll be sharing some more Ada photos in the next two days & don’t forget to visit her blog to read all about her travels.