In her introduction to Theatre of Conflict, City of Hope, Mariam Dossal writes, “Few cities have been blessed with more by Nature”. She points to its location between mountains and sea, the annual monsoon, the natural port and other pleasures like Bombay Duck and Alphonso mangoes.
Well, I like my Hapus as much as the next Mumbaikar, but this strikes me as well-meaning hype. Mumbai’s location has advantages, like the port, but it also has real drawbacks: those mountains, for example, have historically cut the city off from its hinterland. But above all, there’s the absurd way in which this megapolis is squeezed onto scraps of land, a basic reason behind Mumbai’s incessant battles over land which are the real subject of Dossal’s book.
Anyone familiar with Mumbai knows how almost any city issue — entertainment options, school facilities, sports prowess — comes down to real estate problems in the end. This book shows how such disputes stretch back to its founding, right from the gift that the Portuguese made of it to the British. The local Portuguese, who were not consulted, were appalled and did their best to stymie matters by insisting the gift was restricted to the main island called Bombay, and not the full seven islands.
Full report here TOI Crest
No comments:
Post a Comment