On the sidewalk

Anu Kumar

The place where Dodo Bhujwala, acclaimed choreographer, dancer and actor, regains his centre of peace, is also the centre of the money-making game that this city plays so well. It's Nariman Point. But what goes on in corporate cerebrums and Dodo's mind here, are two completely different things. This tall, currently-blond dancer, who is a part of the on-going play The French Cuckoo, often drives his fiat here late in the night and just sits at the extreme tip of Marine Drive. Sometimes, he comes here after a loud, smoky party when he is still pumped up "with all that disco energy" to unwind. And sometimes, when he is angry or sad. "I read somewhere that the sea gives a lot back to you, restores your balance. Something to do with the body being around 80 per cent water," he says. Whatever the explanation, Dodo finds that the sea works like a balm on him. A balm which has never failed ever since he started coming here as kid. "Then Nariman Point was only till the Air India building and there used to bethis Jai Jawan stall which sold milk. I would come here ever so often with my dog," he reminisces. Now the crowds have pushed back his visits to late nights or early mornings. "There are usually a couple of pandus strolling about in the night but if you sit right at the bottom of the steps, they don't see you," he laughs. "And that's where I was even last night."

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