Capturing the spirit of Bombay (Mumbai) in its true sense has been a fascination for many authors. Whether enamoured by the City’s bustling activity, disturbed by its poverty or simply astounded by the dreams it creates... the country’s financial capital lures many writers to make its significance go down in history.

Drawing inspiration from Indian authors’ writings on Bombay, Betsy Karel had to visit the mega city to record the life and ways of its people. Words can be a very powerful tool of expression but an image can tell you a thousand more things.

For Betsy Karel, a photojournalist from Washington DC, photography was the medium do bring out the ‘jadoo’ or magic of Bombay and she has captured its various facets, in black and white, in her book ‘Bombay Jadoo’.

“The City first created a sense of intrigue through books that I read and I read a lot of them. When I came to Bombay for the first time, I began to understand why this was so popular a subject to write on.

It doesn’t take too long to become a part of this city, not necessarily being well acquainted with someone, but being comfortable amidst complete strangers,” says Betsy, who was in the City recently for the release of the book followed by a reading and display of her photographs.

Born in New York, Betsy lives in Washington DC. Mumbai has often been compared and called the New York of India, both for it’s recognition as the financial capitals. Having lived in New York, Betsy can relate to Mumbai’s bustling activities but quickly draws the difference.

“In New York, people in large numbers are walking in different directions or the same, but no one acknowledges the other’s presence. During my first visit to Bombay, I saw a large crowd of people walking towards me and that intimidated, even scared me a bit. But as I got closer to the crowd, they in fact made way for me. That was when I first realised the true magic of Bombay,” shares Betsy.

A dramatised reading of excerpts from various books on Bombay presented some of the snippets of life in the city along with the various tragedies it has witnessed, but continues to remain the dream city. Members of the Kimaaya theatre group — Deepti Sudhindra and Ruchika Chanana along with theatre artiste and writer Aporup Acharya enhanced the entire experience of the evening with their reading.

Another interesting aspect of the place, Betsy says, is intimacy between people. “Amidst the swirling, urban fairy tale, a highly commercialised business centre, in a blink, public spaces become private places and an atmosphere of closeness with a personal touch surfaces. Even incidents of people coming together and going out of the way to help one another in a crisis situation is something unique to this city that has witnessed several tragedies,” says Betsy.

Bombay, as a city, and its people has intrigued Betsy creating a bond of sorts with the place. Strong enough to bring her back to relive the jadoo all over again. ‘Bombay Jadoo’, published by Steidl, is available at Oxford Bookstore.