Urban Eats Phnom Penh: from hunger to food tours - Stories from Cambodia

“You can understand a lot about a culture from its food,” said Vanarith, expert in Khmer (Cambodian) cuisine and owner of the recently established Urban Eats street food tours in Phnom Penh. I asked him to explain. “You can learn a lot of facts from museums or from visiting monuments such as palaces and temples and that’s important, but by sitting down and eating with local people and hearing their stories, you can begin to understand their history, traditions and culture,” he said. 

“You can understand a lot about a culture from its food"

Just thinking about those noodles brings back the taste.

It was early morning in Phnom Penh and we were eating fried noodles in a small, family-run business, established more than 30 years ago and now run by the grown-up children of the owners. The cafe was an open fronted establishment, allowing customers to watch the early morning street activity, including a procession of Buddhist monks and groups of children on their way to school. Vanarith had collected me from my hotel for a morning street food tour adapted to my vegetarian requirements. I’d been a bit concerned that this might present a difficulty but he reassured me saying: “I can design a tour to accommodate different dietary needs. The morning tours are especially good for vegetarians and even vegans.”

Just thinking about those noodles brings back the taste. They were the culinary highlight of my tour, simple, honest and flavourful. I could have eaten a second plate but had to keep room for other treats. These included the local take on doughnuts - a thick, deep-fried savoury breadstick, as well as local fruits and fresh juice from a stall run by a Vietnamese family. The tour had begun with an iced-coffee in the Old Market (Psa Jas in Khmer) where a friendly woman was selling baguettes on a street corner. She laughed when I told her her they were as good as those sold in Paris. I wasn’t lying. 

Baguettes as good as those sold in Paris.

I asked Vanarith how he came to be working in tourism and specialising in food tours. He said: "When I was born, my family were living in the jungle with soldiers fighting the Khmer Rouge. (The communist Khmer Rouge had been ousted from power in 1979, but the remnant fought on for several years). I was always hungry. At three or four years of age I learned to cook simple dishes but there was never enough to eat. I remember begging the soldiers for rice. Later, when I was in an orphanage, I loved helping in the kitchen. I would chop vegetables and prepare herbs and was given extra food for doing this. When I lived in a hostel I cooked for my friends. I would ask them for fifty cents each and then prepare two or three dishes for them. I went to the market to buy the food and brought it back to wash, prepare and cook. I did everything except washing the dishes - I don’t like doing that.” 

Vanarith with the US Ambassador on an evening food tour

“We suffered very badly and were subjected to intense abuse.”

He explained how he came to be in an orphanage: "In 1999, we came to live in Phnom Penh. My parents left me and my three siblings in the care of a woman who turned out to be involved in drugs and prostitution. We suffered very badly and were subjected to intense abuse - both physical and mental. We were often beaten.” He continued: "One afternoon I was playing in the street with some friends. I had no shoes or t-shirt and only wore torn shorts. A woman approached me and asked if I would like to live in an orphanage. She said I would be given food, a place to sleep and that I’d go to school. Of course, I said ‘yes’ but first we had to ask the permission of the woman who was supposed to be looking after us. She agreed to us let us go but because of where we had been living we had to take a a blood test. Luckily we all tested negative. I was eight years old.”

At 17 he moved to a hostel, unsure of how to earn a living. “I had no qualifications, no degree, I had not been to college,” he said, “It was hard to find a job that would pay enough to live on. But I had learned English by taking some classes, listening to podcasts, using YouTube, watching movies and most importantly by talking to people. For a while I volunteered at the orphanage, helping to organise things and although I had no formal skills, I would  translate and teach a little English to the children.” He went on to work for an NGO where he further improved his language skills, before securing a job with a tour company and then working as a freelance guide for two years. During this time he acted as guide for some high profile clients including the US Ambassador and the vlogger behind Strictly Dumpling, a YouTube channel with more than four million subscribers. “In these jobs I learned about the travel industry and became experienced in interacting with tourists.  It’s this that gave me the confidence to start my own business,” said Vanarith. 

With Mike “Mikey” Xing Chen of Strictly Dumpling fame.

The five-star reviews on the Urban Eats Facebook page suggest this confidence is well placed. I asked about his future plans. “Many of our recipes and ingredients came close to being lost during the Khmer Rouge period. Some chefs, are working hard to save this heritage, visiting villages, speaking to elders and recording the recipes. I’d like to be able to introduce some of my guests to these dishes," he said, before adding: “And I want to develop my business and be successful, but I haven’t forgotten how I started. Many people here lack basic things such as clean water. I’d like to help them and plan to donate a percentage of my profit for this purpose.” My own plans involve some more of those noodles.

With Cambodian chef, Chef Nak, who is leading the work to 
recover recipes lost during the Khmer Rouge period.

You can contact Vanarith through the Urban Eats Facebook page and follow him on Instagram. 

All pictures provided by Vanarith with the exception of the lady with the baguettes, which was taken by the author.

You might also like I Used To Steal Small Amounts Of Rice Just To Survive or I Was So Happy I Couldn’t Sleep

You can read more about the work to record and preserve Khmer cuisine here.

Hyderabad Art Deco

Bachelors Quarters, built in 1940 (photo credit - Nitya Gonnakuti)

"There may once have been a terrazzo floor here. They were common in buildings across the city but many have been lost now," said Nitya Gonnakuti as we entered the Bachelors Quarters building in Central Hyderabad. She has been documenting the city's art deco architecture since 2019 and shares her findings on a dedicated Instagram page. During my recent time in the city, and despite the extreme heat, she kindly showed me some of her favourite buildings.

Bachelors Quarters was built in 1940. Its central glazed stairwell, flat roof and open walkways show both art deco and streamline influences. It originally offered accommodation to poorer students from distant towns and villages who came to Hyderabad for more opportunities. Rents collected from the rooms were used to help fund scholarships for women. According to the Telangana Today newspaper, the building was commissioned by the Seventh Nizam of Hyderabad, but it has not been possible to find details of the architect responsible for its design. "This is a problem common to many of our art deco buildings. It is hard to find this kind of information or the date that they were built,” said Nitya. Today, it is used entirely for commercial purposes and houses several small business. Despite the absence of terrazzo, some original features remain, particularly the wooden doors and window fittings. Also original, is the Arabic inscription in the lobby which bears the Islamic date 1359, equating to 1940 in the Gregorian calendar.

Bachelors Quarters staircase

 A cultural hub for the Urdu language

Bachelors Quarters was not only a student hostel. It became a cultural hub for the preservation and celebration of the Urdu language. Publishers, newspapers and cultural organisations had offices there. In 1955, poet Suleiman Areeb began publishing Saba, an Urdu magazine, from room 17A. Areeb was politically active as a member of the Communist Party in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was imprisoned twice, including on one occasion for reading a revolutionary poem in public. Saba became influential in popularising modern literary trends and ideas and drew many politicians and trade unionists to the poet's office. 

Poetry had a prominent role in the building. Mushaira - a gathering of poets to read their works in public - were held there. This art form was particularly prevalent in Hyderabad and it is likely that many of the performers passed through room 27 which housed a fine arts academy frequented by composers, artists and even comedians. From the late 1950s, Urdu began to decline in importance and this rich cultural scene started to fade away. Despite this Shugoofa, a monthly humorous Urdu language magazine was still being published from the building as recently as 2021. 

In 43 degrees of heat, dust and with the noise from the heavy traffic outside, it was hard to imagine the cultural and creative activity that once took place here. It was also difficult to photograph the long facade as it is practically impossible to find a break in the traffic for a clear shot. The extremely strong light and the width of the building was also a challenge. In 2007 proposals were brought forward to demolish Bachelors Quarters due to its then dilapidated condition. Fortunately, the threat receded and restoration took place in 2020, when each of the resident companies contributed to the cost. Despite its cultural and historical significance, it is not a protected building and remains vulnerable to “development” due to its city centre location. 

Nitya owns a successful branding and social media company. As we climbed the paan-stained spiral staircase, I asked her how she became interested in art deco. “Although I work in communications, I studied architecture and had to do an essay on a favourite building. I chose one that I found out was in this style and I wanted to know more," she said. 

Porthole with a palm tree, Moosa building

A porthole with a palm tree

The Moosa building is a short walk from Bachelors Quarters. According to the date on its tower’s facade, it was built in 1942. Despite the encroachment of signage from the ground floor commercial units, it remains a handsome building. Its balconies and roof terrace are reminiscent of the modernist buildings found in many European cities as well as in Melbourne, Tel-Aviv and even Asmara in Eritrea. It too was designed as a hostel, a function it still fulfils. 

Little is known about Moosa, for whom the building is named, but the friendly manager told us he had been an auctioneer. The tiny office contained an original 1940s wooden key-holding fixture, complete with numbers in an elegant typeface and the keys of unoccupied rooms. After some discussion, the manager agreed to let us see inside the upper floors and instructed an employee to give us access to all areas. 

Each room contains three to four beds and a few pieces of vintage, mismatched wooden furniture, including mirrors, desks, dressing tables and cabinets. Many of the tables had been overlaid with formica tops, presumably to protect the wood or possibly to hide damage. Each room has a fan and although they lack natural light, some have access to a balcony. Guests can stay here for a few hundred rupees per night.

Each cream-painted room door bears geometric motifs and art deco “waves” - although the latter are in pairs rather than adhering to the usual “rule of three”. Some original terrazzo flooring remains, including on the balconies. There is also a roof terrace, where laundry had been hung out to dry and where one resident slept under a canopy, taking refuge from the heat. Porthole windows are a classic art deco feature, but the Moosa building adds a local flourish, with an elegant palm tree and birds in flight on one of the landing windows. 

An ugly, abandoned and unfinished structure stands at the rear of the hostel. It conceals a large art deco villa, adjacent to the Moosa building and visible only from its rear balcony. It is in poor shape and in the process of being reclaimed by nature. There were signs that it is still occupied and despite its condition, there are hints of how elegant it must once have been. Its future must be uncertain given its condition and prime location.

Staircase window, Moosa building

Door with deco motif, Moosa building

Architectural influencers

Despite the dearth of documentation for many buildings, two architects are known to have influenced the acceptance of art deco in Hyderabad. Mohammed Fayazuddin (1903-77), studied at London's prestigious Architectural Association before returning to India in 1934 and beginning an illustrious career. In 1944 he produced a masterplan for Greater Hyderabad. He would go on to design the art deco influenced State Bank of Hyderabad on Abids in the city centre, and also the Ravindran Bharathi, a major cultural centre completed in 1961. Fayazuddin was a highly cultured man and enjoyed playing the sitar. Perhaps he played at Bachelors Quarters.

Karl Malte von Heinz (1904-71) was a German architect connected to the Bauhaus. He fled the Nazi regime in the 1930s seeking refuge in India and settling in Hyderabad where he designed a mansion in the Banjara Hills for the Raja of Wanaparti. He would go on to work for Robert Tor Russell the architect responsible for Connaught Place in Delhi. Heinz also worked for Russell on the Pataudi Palace in Haryana. It is likely that if either Fayazuddin or Heinz had been responsible for Bachelors Quarters, it would be known, but the design demonstrates influences they would have been familiar with.

Villa, Jeera Colony

Villa, Jeera Colony

“Om" in Hindi script, Jeera colony.

An art deco Hindu temple

Our final stop was in Jeera Colony, a neighbourhood in the Secunderabad part of the city. "This area was established in the 1930s. The original residents included affluent Gujarati, Marwari and Telugu families. The plots were allocated on a leasehold basis which means the residents do not own the land and permission to carry out works on the properties involves an expensive bureaucratic process. This has led to some of them falling into disrepair,” said Nitya.  This arrangement also brings other risks. As the leases approach their end, residents may choose to leave, making the buildings vulnerable to demolition, changing the character of the area, dispersing a century old community and erasing its history.

For the moment several art deco villas remain in Jeera’s quieter streets. Many have retained their original balconies, glazed stairwells, decorative iron gates and railings. There is even the occasional porthole, one of which bears the word “om” in Hindi script. This is an example of “Indo-Deco” - where local symbols, motifs and other design elements are amalgamated with art deco style. “Om” is a word chanted during meditation, to help energise the mind and the body. Perhaps the original owners had the inscription included to bring positive energy to their home.

Before we returned to the city centre, we made a stop at the Arya Samaj Mandir on Rashtrapathi Road. This Hindu temple has the date 1947 inscribed above its main entrance. Arya Samaj was founded in 1875 as a Hindu reform movement, so it is appropriate that the temple should be built in a style contemporary to its date of construction. The striking pink exterior, decorated with Hindu motifs was a fitting finale to our tour, and the possibility of seeing inside at some point, a reason to return to the city.

Arya Samaj Mandir, built in 1947.

Photo credit - image of Bachelors Quarters facade - courtesy of Nitya Gonnakuti. All other photos by the author.

You might also like Behind the courtyard door - Budapest’s buildings tell tales

Behind the courtyard door - Budapest's buildings tell tales

During lockdown I remained sane by trying to learn a new language and by travelling vicariously on the internet. One of the sites I most enjoyed took me into the lobbies, courtyards and walkways of Budapest's historical buildings. It told the stories of former residents and of events that had taken place there. Budapest is a city I had visited several times before, but had never seen in this way. Last week, I spent half a day with Vincent Baumgartner, the photographer behind Buildings Tell Tales, exploring some of the buildings featured on this Facebook group.

"She is a curious person. If a courtyard door was open, she'd go in..."

When we met at 9am, Vincent had already been on the streets for a couple of hours, exploring and taking photographs. "I wake up early and go out with my camera to catch the light at its best," he said. I asked how the project had started and how he became interested in architecture. "As a child I would go out walking with my mum. She is a curious person. If a courtyard door was open, she'd go in and I would go with her. She remains curious and we still explore together now," he said, "It must have started there." Some of his earlier explorations took place in Switzerland where he was born to an Hungarian mother and a Swiss father. Despite this, from an early age he was familiar with, and took a close interest in Hungary and Hungarian culture. He explained, "We often came here during the summer, and when I was nineteen, I came to Budapest intending to stay for one year, but ended up staying for five. During that time I completed my BA and also took part in a study programme for diaspora Hungarians, learning more about our culture and history." 

He returned to Switzerland to complete his Masters Degree, and worked there for a year, before his curiosity about different countries and cultures led him to spend a year in Iran. In 2018 he returned to Budapest. "Despite being born in Switzerland, I was starting to feel homesick for Hungary, so I came back, found work and settled here," he said. He currently works in communications for an international organisation.

While walking in the city, he began noticing names and dates carved into brick walls. "My curiosity was aroused and I began photographing this historical graffiti, using old telephone directories and other documents to research the details. I discovered that many of the marks had been made by on-duty police officers in the first few decades of the twentieth century, and that others had been made by famous people," he said. One such famous person was the psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Léopold Szondi. Vincent continued, "I discovered a piece of graffiti seemingly written by him. I photographed it and sent it to the Szondi Foundation who confirmed that it was his handwriting." These findings not only led to him establishing the Instagram page Bricks of Budapest, but also to addressing a conference in Cologne.

"Almost everything I posted provoked comments and messages..."

This project sparked his interest in what might be behind those bricks and he began entering courtyards and taking pictures with his phone. Keen to share his findings with a wider audience, he launched the Buildings Tell Tales Facebook page in 2019 and soon began attracting a positive response. "The page quickly got traction and from the beginning, almost everything I posted provoked comments and messages from current or former residents, including people who had left Hungary," he said. Today the page has more than 34,000 followers, about half of them in Hungary and significant numbers in the USA, United Kingdom, Israel, France and Switzerland. "During lockdown I began to take my photography more seriously. I bought some equipment and took some classes. I wanted to better record my findings and to produce aesthetically pleasing pictures," he said. He has been so successful in this aim, that two Budapest local authorities have now granted him access to the buildings in their area of jurisdiction. 

Our walk focused on the city's seventh and eighth districts, once home to a large Jewish community. The huge external doors and sometimes austere exteriors of the apartment buildings can conceal stained glass, terrazzo surfaces, art nouveau tiles and elegant balconies or walkways. Others open to neglect, decay and empty apartments, some of them waiting for the wreckers' ball. Writers, artists, musicians, scientists, labourers and craftsmen once lived in these apartments and all must have had stories.

The level of grandeur denoted the social class of those who originally lived there, although many of the grandest are now in a poor state of repair. One apartment building is said to have housed a bordello that counted European royalty amongst its clients. Its stairwells are now dark, the decorative metalwork rusting and the plaster cladding crumbling. The same building has special historical significance as the wall of the wartime Budapest Ghetto stood in its rear courtyard. The original wall was demolished in 2006, but a portion has since been rebuilt as a monument.

A photographic studio in the attic

Other buildings are well maintained with evidence of repair work and clean courtyards free of litter. In Kiraly Utca, the inhabitants of one apartment block had undertaken historical research focusing on the story of former resident photographer Pal Kis. He worked from a converted attic room, where the ceiling and one wall were constructed entirely of glass to admit natural light. As well as running a successful business, he worked as photographer for the Opera House. During the latter part of the Second World War, Kis was one of many Jewish men taken for forced labour, but he managed to escape and return to Budapest. He was arrested again and deported on the last train to leave the city before the Russian encirclement. He died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in January 1945. While performing forced labour he maintained a secret diary, parts of which are preserved at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Kis' story is posted on information panels in the courtyard of his former home. 

The Kiraly Utca building's residents are clearly interested in its history, while elsewhere people greeted us and one asked for the details of the Facebook group as she wanted to know more about the project. "People are used to me now," said Vincent, "Often when they see me setting up my tripod, they will stop and talk." He has also attracted a significant amount of media attention, including from Hungarian state television, local and national newspapers  and overseas publications.

Since 2018, he has amassed a huge body of both photographic and written documentation on Budapest and I asked about future plans for sharing and developing his work. "I started a website last year and would like to further expand my project by obtaining a guide qualification so that I can lead tours of some of the buildings. I have also had a few exhibitions of my work. My next show will be in the Institute Français in September this year," he said. I asked him if he would consider producing a book, "Yes, that's possible too," he replied. 

You can follow Vincent's work on Facebook at Buildings Tell Tales  and on Instagram at Bricks of Budapest and Buildings Tell Tales

You can find the Buildings Tell Tales website here.

His next exhibition opens at Cafe Le Troquet in the Institute Français from September 7th. More details will be announced beforehand on the above links.

Photographs in this blog provided by courtesy of StudioSB

"I was so happy I couldn't sleep" - Stories from Cambodia

"I was born at the end of the Khmer Rouge period, so I have no memory of it" said Kimleng Sang, acclaimed Cambodian photographer and popular tour guide. He continued, "My parents spoke later on about having to work very hard and not getting enough to eat. We were not allowed to eat fish, chicken or meat, only boiled rice. People would sometimes take papaya or banana roots and make a soup, but it was not permitted to eat the fruit." 

So strictly were these rules enforced by Pol Pot's communist Khmer Rouge regime, that when Kimleng's father secretly caught a chicken in the forest, his older brother didn't know what it was. "My father told him it was a special kind of rat," he said, "because eating a chicken was enough to get you killed if anyone found out." A favourite trick of the Khmer Rouge was to question children who were less likely to realise the implications of their answers and could inadvertently cause whole families to be summarily executed. The family were farmers, and better equipped than many to survive the forced labour, but they lost at least three relatives - a cousin, an uncle and one of Kimleng's grandfathers, all of whom disappeared and have never been found.

"The worst job I ever did"

The Khmer Rouge were driven out in 1979, having managed to kill or cause the deaths of up to two million people in the preceding four years. Over time some semblance of normal life returned, but the family still struggled. Kimleng explained, "Although we owned some paddy fields and grew rice it was not enough for us to live on. When I was 14 I left home for Phnom Penh and took a job as a security guard and gardener for a rich family. They had been living in France, but returned in 1993, when the first elections were held after the departure of the Khmer Rouge." This was one of several jobs he would take, including unblocking toilets, driving and later on, working in a garment factory. He describes the latter as "the worst job I ever did. I worked from six at night until seven in the morning making clothes. I was tired all the time." For these long shifts he received $45 per month, $15 of which was his contribution to a shared rent, leaving very little for food, clothes and other expenses. 

He realised that his lack of education was holding him back. "I saw that city life could be good and that if you were educated you didn't have to work as hard as the people in the village," he said. "I left school when I was 13, and only completed grade five. I couldn't read or write even in Khmer but I had a friend who was a teacher who helped me become literate in my own language and also taught me English."

"I fell in love with photography"

In 1999, Kimleng returned to his village and told the family he didn't want to work as a farmer. Instead, he bought a tuk-tuk, drove local customers and began to meet foreign tourists. One tourist would help change his life. "I met many foreigners, including several who came for photography. I worked as their driver and helped to carry their equipment. In 2005 or 2006, I drove Canadian photographer David Bibbing during his stay in Cambodia. By this stage I was paying close attention to how the photographers worked and David noticed my keen interest. A year later he came back and surprised me with the gift of a simple digital camera. He helped me to use it and I fell in love with photography. When he gave me the camera I was so happy I couldn't sleep."

Kimleng went on to meet more photographers and received advice on lighting, technique and composition. He began combining his love for photography with his transport business and promoted himself as "the tuk-tuk photographer." By 2015, he had become successful enough to employ a driver which meant he could spend more time talking directly to his clients, explaining cultural matters and helping them get the pictures they wanted. "This made my service better and also provided a job for someone else," he said. 

I asked what it is that makes photography so attractive to him. He said "I especially like photographing people and love interacting with them, but I also enjoying taking pictures of nature." I recently spent three days with him, photographing life in villages close to Siem Reap, where he now lives. His affection for the people was obvious. He knew many of the villagers and took time to ask about their lives and families, listening intently to their stories. He also has a lively sense of humour and enjoyed making them laugh. His connection to the people and landscape can clearly be seen in his work which deserves an even wider audience.

Due to his own early experience, Kimleng strongly believes in the importance of education. During the covid lockdown, he started a school for village children to learn English. Unlike other schools in Cambodia, it does not require fees, but to fund resources, the pupils collect plastic items which are then sold for recycling. He explained, "this helps us to buy learning materials and also contributes to a cleaner environment, clearing the village of discarded items". The teachers are volunteers from overseas  and teach the class online. "We are very grateful to our overseas friends who help us. We would like to develop the school further, perhaps with a resident volunteer teacher who would come and stay with us." Anyone interested in helping with the school can contact Kimleng directly through his social media links, listed below. 

You can follow Kimleng on Instagram and find more details about his photography tours on his website.

For more stories from Cambodia see I used to steal small amounts of food just to survive and I felt a burning sensation on my forehead and realised I'd been hit

The photographs featured in this post were provided by, and are used with the permission of Kimleng Sang

"We want our films to have soul, to be memorable" - an interview with Babitha Mathew, award-winning film director

"I never thought or believed I would make a movie" said Babitha Mathew, director of the upcoming Malayalam language movie Pyali, when we spoke recently via zoom. 

Pyali will be the Kerala born and based director's first full length feature film. It tells the story of two Kashmiri street children and their daily struggles living alone in a Kerala slum. Older brother Ziyah, aged 14, takes responsibility for the care of his little sister, five year old Piyali as he attempts to make a living, keep her safe and realise her dreams. In India (and elsewhere) many unaccompanied children are drawn or forced into organised begging and at one point Pyali asks her brother "...who are beggars?" Ziyah, determined they won't beg, answers "beggars are those who take money and food from people without doing any work, but we aren't like that. I go to work, right?" The story was written by the director's husband, Rinn AX.

"I had to coach her in the correct expression and pronunciation of every word"

The film took five years to complete. Babitha explained "we spent two to three years to find a producer before Sofia Varghese of NF Varghese Pictures came forward. There was also an extensive search to fill the lead roles. We needed actors who both looked, and could act like, Kashmiris, who are often a little shy and reserved". Pyali is played by six year old Barbie (also known as Arravya Sharma). Despite her age she is an experienced actress and has been in more than 100 ads and a Hindi language TV serial. I was astonished when I learned that Barbie does not speak Malayalam. Babitha explained "I had to coach her in the correct expression and pronunciation of every word. She grasped things very quickly. Barbie is a born artist and extremely professional. She understands continuity, different camera angles and many other technical matters".

George Jacob plays Ziyah and is new to the film industry. He was born and grew up in Dubai and was unfamiliar with the lives of street people.  Before filming began he was given training in how his character would speak, behave and respond to his surroundings. Babitha recounted how he was sent to buy a pair of chappals, the open sandals worn by many Indians. "He had only ever worn shoes and came back with a very nice pair that cost 6,000 rupees (almost £60). I took him back to the shop and bought some for 200 rupees. He wore them from then until filming was complete". 

I asked her about the difficulties or special responsibilities of working with children. She explained "this is not a children's film, but the lead actors are children. That means we had special responsibilities which we took very seriously, ensuring that they had proper breaks and enough rest time".

"I wanted to give myself to movies, to learn more"

I asked her how she came to be involved in the film industry. "I always loved movies," she said "I studied Business Management and then worked for various corporates for six years, but film was always my main interest, and I spent most of my free time watching movies. I was curious about how films are made and began to do my own research. I taught myself about everything to do with film, such as script writing, directing and camera work". She continued "I never had the chance to help on a film or to do a course - I learned film-making by doing it". In 2016 she decided to quit her corporate job - "I wanted to give myself to movies, to learn more. I couldn't do anything while working"

Her story is unusual as is the fact that she is a female film director. Even today, few women are found behind the camera in the film industry. Babitha said "many people have been surprised to see a female director".  She is also a mother. Her daughter was born five years ago, but this did not mean taking time off. "I started making Pyali when she was just a few months old. I held her with one arm whilst directing with the other. I called action whilst feeding her". She acknowledges the support both her and her husband's families give, how proud they are of her achievements and how difficult it would be to manage without them.  

"All creative discussions begin and end with an argument"

Her husband, writer and interior designer, Rinn, is also passionate about film. Babitha said "He has written stories since childhood but had never showed them to anyone. When I read them I realised that they would make  good movies". They also worked together on Kiss, an award winning short-film which they made in 2014. It considers inter-generational relationships, the passage of time and loss. Kiss was shown at various festivals, including the prestigious Pune Film Festival  and introduced the couple's work to a much wider audience.

I asked how it is, living and working together, and if artistic differences cause problems between them. She laughed and said "we talk about film all the time. We often disagree on how to do things and all creative discussions begin and end with an argument. But we complement each other and this helps us to do our best work". She also says that being married to and living with her creative partner means they can talk about their work at any time - "there's no real division between work and home life". 

They are currently working on another full-length film featuring just one character. In the meantime, Pyali has already won two Kerala State Film Awards and is generating much interest both in India and overseas. Due to Covid it is not yet on general release, but the world premier may take place next month. The trailer indicates a beautifully shot film, sensitive portrayals of the main characters and an engaging storyline. I asked Babitha what she wants to achieve with her work. She said "We want our films to have soul, to be memorable". Initial responses indicate that Pyali fulfils both of these ambitions.

Please note all images in this post were provided by Babitha Mathew.

You can see the trailer for Pyali here.

You might also like A city that has a bit of everywhere, but is not like anywhere

"A city that has a bit of everywhere but is not like anywhere"

I first met Manjit Singh Hoonjan, owner of Calcutta Photo Tours, in 2017. I booked his early morning Mesmerising Markets tour and for three hours I experienced the crowds, colours, sounds and smells of Kolkata's vegetable and fish markets. He helped me engage with people, gave me the back story to the markets' activities and I came away with some great pictures. Since then I've made a point of repeating the experience whenever I've been in India. We spoke recently on zoom and I took the opportunity to get the full story of Calcutta Photo Tours.

"Her pictures were in colour and attracted more attention than mine"

Manjit started taking pictures at a young age and was given his first camera for his eighth birthday. "It was an Agfa click 4 with a plastic body and took black and white pictures" he said. He was delighted with it but recalls "I went on a school picnic and took several photographs. One of my classmates also had a camera. Her pictures were in colour and attracted more attention than mine". 

He did not have a colour camera until the age of 17 but by that time his work was already attracting  attention. College Street is the centre of the book trade in Kolkata and like many other students Manjit went there to buy textbooks. On one visit he saw a notice bearing the word "Silence" on the street lamp post, close to the exterior wall of a hospital, under a poster for the film "Kab Tak Chup Rahungi" which means "how much longer will we remain quiet". He wanted to photograph the two notices together and to enter The Telegraph newspaper's regular photo competition. His father borrowed a camera from a friend, bought film for it and Manjit took two shots before returning it. He then had to  wait for the friend to use the rest of the film and have it developed. The pictures were chosen for publication and he won a prize of 250 rupees which he used to open his first bank account.

After completing his studies he spent some time working in, and then managing, the family print and graphic design business. In his spare time, he continued with photography and an American friend suggested he start running photo walks in Kolkata. At the time most photo tours tended to concentrate on whole regions and lasted at least a couple of weeks. After a few years of running the walks in his spare time he decided to close the family business and to concentrate on photography. When I asked him about his family's reaction to this he said "at first they were worried and pointed out that tourism, the main source of business for the walks, is seasonal, but when my work started getting a lot of media attention, they became very proud". 

"I am booking this tour and I hope you will be there"

He recalls his first ever client "A Dutch woman sent me a message saying 'I am booking this tour and I hope you will be there'". He too had concerns and remembers thinking "I'm getting up at 5 a.m. will she even be there?". They both turned up and since then his decision to concentrate on photography has brought great success. Trip Advisor lists the tours as one of the most popular things to do in Kolkata and his work has been featured in National Geographic, The Wall Street Journal, The Telegraph,  the Guardian and other high-profile publications. In 2018 his Durga Puja pictures were seen by millions when they were exhibited outdoors on London's South Bank as part of the Thames Festival.

The Hoonjan family have been in West Bengal for three generations and have a strong connection to Kolkata. Despite his Sikh heritage and religion Manjit considers himself to be deeply connected with Bengal. He said "When I started some people queried how a Sikh could really know Kolkata but more recently a Bengali friend said that I am more Bengali than he is". I asked him what inspires his desire to show Kolkata to others. He explained "It is a city that has a bit of everywhere but is not like anywhere". This is reflected in the range of tours he offers. The Culture Kaleidoscope tour reveals the religious diversity of Kolkata and also includes a visit to India's only China Town. European Calcutta concentrates on the colonial legacy of the city and Mesmerising Markets shows the day to day life of some of Kolkata's key workers. All include short breaks for chai and snacks - important elements of any day in India - and the telling of stories related to the tours. 

I asked Manjit about how people respond to the tours. He said "Sometimes they become emotional, particularly people who have not previously left the tourist trail and who are having their first glimpse of real, day to day life in the city. A Chinese family who came on the Cultural Kaleidoscope tour were delighted to be able to speak to locals in their own language. One member of the family said they felt so happy they had goosebumps". My own favourite comment came from a group who had begun their tour of India in Kolkata with Manjit ."They told me I had spoiled their trip because later guides had not been able to equal their time with me". In my case, that first early morning walk in the markets led to Kolkata becoming my favourite Indian city and one of the places I've missed most in the last two years of being unable to travel. 

Please note all photographs in this post were provided by Manjit Singh Hoonjan.

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