Through A Different Lens

The Mythic City frames Mumbai's history as a transition “from the bounded unity of the city of industrial capitalism to the ‘generic city’ of globalization, from modernity to post modernity  from cosmopolitanism to communal-ism ” Gyan Prakash presents Bombay as a phoenix rising from ashes. Mumbai is a metropolis that emerged from the incredibly diverse mix of religions and culture and has produced many stories about it which has been told through fiction, media, architecture, legal proceedings, popular music etc. Shivajinagar also has a diverse mix of religions and culture, but it has mostly been invisible and neglected.  Mumbai is also considered as a fulfiller of capitalistic dreams by many, which is a myth as in this city of opportunity the poor can rise only if it is written in their destiny. Myths and dreams form a texture of daily living in a modern city. Shivajinagar is a place where a poor person can also get his fill with his budget. It has many interesting aspects which are not as prominent as that of Mumbai which is also referred to as the dream city. In Shivajinagar, survival is the major concern. This article has helped me to view shivajinagar through different lenses.

The City at its Limits by Daniella Gandolfo explores relation between taboo and transgression.  Just by reading the prologue one can understand that the book digs deep into the bizarre and violent experience of urban living.  The unexpected event of an old worker stripping to protest offered the author a glimpse of the city’s culture, politics and history at its limit.

“A thing is what it is, only in and by reason of its limit. We cannot therefore regard the limit as only external to being which is then and there. It goes through and through the whole of such existence.” -Georg Hegel

The market place in Lima is pretty much similar to that of Shivajinagar. Shivajinagar has a Muslim majority and is quite conservative. I am not very sure as to how this article can help me with designing a walk in Shivajinagar, probably it is about perception. How this unexpected happening affected the city? And how distance from a city alters perception of it?   

Nandini Bhotika