Unraveling the Intracacies

When I started visiting Shivajinagar during the previous module I saw it with a very different rather shallow perspective. I dint really understand why Shivajinagar ? but after a few trips in and around the space I got my answer. It holds history that can be unraveled only once we actually connect to the space. So in the past many trips of talking to locals and reading articles and books about the space my perspective of looking at it as a whole has begged to differ. So when we were told to think of how to design a walk for others to get to know the space, I personally felt that if the walk has a few performances it will probably leave a memory of what the history of Shivajinagar looked like. My initial idea was to have a mascot dressed up as Shivaji Maharaj ( a Maratha king) as the space is named after him, who will not lead but walk with the people who are there to attend the walk. He would have a few riddles to be asked that the people will have to help each other solve and the answers of the riddle will lead them to the next performance. Now the performances are based on the history of the space. Various mediums of performance could be singing/ music, puppetry , street play, storytelling etc. for instance the St. Marys Basilica church has a history of it getting burnt down. But a miracle being that the statue of Virgin Mary was not destroyed even a bit. No one could move it either ,so from a small chapel a huge church was built around this statue. People from all over Bangalore visit this church. And this church plays a very large roll in the trade of shivaji nagar as well. So may be the history could be told through a street play. And the walk would continue so on highlighting the various parts of Shivajinagar, like Russel market which was built and named  by the British them selves. Hotel Taj having a past as well where their recipe for the biryani which is to die for was given by a chef decades ago and is still followed in the same manner. Jewelers street being the oldest and the first street in Bangalore. Eventually we were sub divided into groups which had to take media performance and walk. Unfortunately my idea was for every on in the class to participate and perform. But since that is not possible we as a group of 5 are looking for locals who are very sensitive about that space that can perform and share their life stories of their relation to that space.

So now as a group  we have been wandering about streets trying to find people mostly locals who are willingly ready to perform and share their past with us. We will allot the performances a space and time so as to include it as the part of the walk. We found a an old couple ready to share their relation with the space especially the church which is of their main interest, as they have been in the church choir for the past 30 years even though they are not residents in that space. They shared with us how the church makes them a part of Shivajinagar. They want to stress on the power the church holds and would like present it during the walk. Any further changes or progress will be posted on the blog. Thankyou.