Absolut Mumbai: Message on a bottle

Fashion designer Wendell Rodricks’ recent Absolut Mumbai party brought to mind a vodka-inspired piece of graphic design, posted on Adsoftheworld.com, by creative director and illustrator Devdatt P Manjrekar.

The three neatly-executed advertisements are actually well hidden socio-political commentaries, visible only to those that live and know Mumbai, or at least able to decipher caste politics, corruption and personal freedoms contained within.

Absolut Mumbai 1: Caste politics -- Maharashtra’s Shiv Sainiks and anti-outsider rhetoric

The “Me Mumbaiker” (I am a Mumbaikar) campaign by political party Shiv Sena chief Udhav Thackeray started in 2003 and continues in spirit today. To the press Udhav has said, "[the] campaign is not directed against those who have been living in Mumbai for decades and enriched the city in various ways. We are opposed chiefly to the lumpens who come in with ulterior motives of milking Mumbai" -- an oblique reference to migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Absolut Mumbai 2: Nexus of corruption -- Bribable babus, criminals and bully cops

Read the news, or hear people's own experiences -- corruption, it seems, is something of a part of everyday life in Mumbai. All you have to do is watch this year's hit film “Kaminey” to understand the mutual dependency between people on seemingly opposite sides of the law. (Click the gallery for the full design)

 

 

Absolut Mumbai 3: Free love -- Moral policing can’t stop love in the most public spots

On all of Mumbai’s edges, Marine Drive, Worli seaface, Carter Road, Bandstand and Reclamation highway, couples sit with their backs to the main road, holding hands, nestling in each other necks, arms wrapped around each other, pretending to watch the sunset. Police crackdowns for “indecent behavior” haven’t shooed lovers from the perches of the promenades or their motorcycles, though we all know past midnight you will be chased off, forcefully if necessary. (Click the gallery for the full design)