I think it should be a requirement to stay on in Mumbai for an extra 4 days after the work has ended. If I had left the day following our presentation to SPARC, I would have kept Mumbai as an isolated capsule in my mind. It would have represented the workshops of Dharavi, the heat and the noise only. Having stayed on, the multi-dimensionality of the city and the conflicting elements of this urban environment have been made more evident. Mumbai isn't Dharavi alone, it is also the mass of Indian tourists by the Gateway of India getting glimpses of the Taj and Westerners, the crowd of Bollywood extras brushing shoulders with Saif Ali Khan, and all of the different stations on the Western Railway. It is millions of different aspirations gathered in one place to use that creative tension to pull each other forward . . . to make progress. How the tensions over the DRP are resolved will set the ground rules for how future contests are fought. It's importance is magnified yet again by this experience of 4 days free to wander Mumbai.
- Andrew 03.06.09
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment