Shivajinagar Calling!!

Shivajinagar is the oldest part of Bangalore and is well known for the availability of everything. It has its own aura which spreads its charm everywhere attracting some for the beautiful architectural spaces like the St.Mary’s Basilica, the Rama Temple, Shri Muthyal Amma Devi temple, Jumma masjid, the Russell Market, etc. And some for the delicious smell of meat, biryani and its sulaimani chai! It also has a big market for cheap shopping. The famous beef market is the place to buy almost all variety of raw meat, fish, etc. It’s also diverse as it holds all religions which is unique since there are very rare places holding all religions together. My first walk to Shivajinagar was full of confusion, I had so many questions in my mind but gradually when I started exploring various areas, getting comfortable to the surroundings ,it made the my task easy.I got to know many streets there like Arunachalam Mudaliar Road, Seppings Road, Mackhan Road, Kamraj Road, etc.Communicating with people and getting to know about their life experiences there was quite a task as in the beginning I was a bit hesitant to interact but then when I started, it was interesting and good to listen to what  people came across while living there. It also gave me an opportunity to know the famous stories of some the landmarks there.

Firstly I came across Mr.Ramchandram, he was great source of information about the place also he made me know about the antiques in his shop, about the old watches,paintings,etc.He even guided me with my other group mates to the area where we could set up our Gallery , our main idea!  

Also what fascinated me the most was the historical background of the place from the time of the British rule till now! The origin of its old name Blackpally is still controversial and no one exactly knows the actual story behind the name which also keeps the listener in a mystery which I think is amazing. There is so much to talk about the place that keeps the person so much engrossed!

During the walk I came across Father Joseph Naveen Kumar, who made me familiar with the miraculous stories of the St.Mary’s Basilica and also shared one of his experiences with me which was really very touching...

Also I met Mr.Samir who is working for the Taj Printers, 45yrs old Urdu printing press, and shared a word with them regarding the brands which were then in use and the old advertisements and the layout basically so it was very useful.

Another person I came across was Mr.Mohd. Idrees Chaudhary, the secretary of the Russell Market. He has all his reflections about the place online and even made me familiar with the recent incident that took place there, The Fire Accident due to the short circuit in one of the shops on the 25^th of Feb 2012, early morning. Then from there me with my fellow group members, we visited various libraries:

v        The Government Library, located on the Haines Road.

v        The British Library, located near Kasturba cross road.

v        The Bangalore Central Library, located in Cubbon Park.

It was a really wonderful to go there. The Central Library is the biggest of all and is beautifully arranged.

I really got inspired from the Cinemacity exhibition held in NGMA and thought of taking the basic idea for the mediums from there. I thought depicting stories in the form of photographs and will be using different kinds of narrative s to convey the stories we across, which may take any shape or form including all the different aspects of art and design.

The walk in Shivajinagar has been really useful to enhance my perspective and trying to understanding a place like Shivajinagar.

~ Juhi Kedia

Response

The Mythic City- Gyan Prakash
The article tells about how one city is defined through its various outlooks. It shows the various aspects of Mumbai city. How Mumbai was before and how its now, the timeline of Mumbai city in short. It also tells about how one see the city according to their aspect.
It shows the both worst and good part of Mumbai, also how fast is the life of people their. After having lots of destruction and problem the people over their living behind all the issues carry on their life and after having lots of complaints they don't give up, as if nothing had happened they continue their daily routine.
Bolywood has given Mumbai a charm, which makes it more interesting. I found this article very interesting because of all the aspects as I said above.

The city at its limits- Daniella Gandolfo
The article gave me a visual aspect of the city. It shows how everything is interconnected in a city. It tells both good and bad aspects of the city, also how rural area converts to city and what are things which make those changes. Also including market areas, what changes can be seen in markets due to other aspects of change. I liked the question asked in the article on the sentence : "Lima, the way it once was.",but once when?
-Divya Jain 

Mythic city & City at it's Limits

<Mythic City>
The author, Gyan Prakash, has taken into account what his view on Bombay(Mumbai) is. He shows how he percieves different cities and how,in his view, Mumbai is the best city in the world. He compares the mumbai of the past to present day and shows it's ever changing nature and vast possibilities. He also shows the way cinema is linked to the way people behave and act. He gave a unique identity to the city and made it very relatable. The article, in short, made sense of the experinces the author had in the city and basically showed how media affects how the city develops.
<The City at it's Limits>
The article showed how the city deals with events that occur on a daily basis and how it developes over time through these events. The author made it clear how one could process information and observe the area around him. He shows the historic events of the city and how he used to know the city in the past as compared to the present. He explains how a taboo is simply a practice that has been shunned because it is different from the norm of the society.

Mythic city & City at it's Limits

<Mythic City>
The author, Gyan Prakash, has taken into account what his view on Bombay(Mumbai) is. He shows how he percieves different cities and how,in his view, Mumbai is the best city in the world. He compares the mumbai of the past to present day and shows it's ever changing nature and vast possibilities. He also shows the way cinema is linked to the way people behave and act. He gave a unique identity to the city and made it very relatable. The article, in short, made sense of the experinces the author had in the city and basically showed how media affects how the city develops.
<The City at it's Limits>
The article showed how the city deals with events that occur on a daily basis and how it developes over time through these events. The author made it clear how one could process information and observe the area around him. He shows the historic events of the city and how he used to know the city in the past as compared to the present. He explains how a taboo is simply a practice that has been shunned because it is different from the norm of the society.

Bombay's Demise ...

The Mythic City , an article depicting how the best times experienced by the city like Bombay , changed to the worse nightmares with the demise of  Mumbai .

In the beginning of  Mythic City , when you start imagining Bombay as the bubble of dreams, where all dreams have their own place , there is a sudden flare and you land up to the present situation , a land of broken dreams , the present "MUMBAI" . 

 In the article , where the author has covered the glamour , fashion , style and lavish life he has even zoomed a lens to the gloomy , shady , lifeless and demolished shelter of the slums . 

Then starts the series of incidents that added up to Mumbai's downfall . The city faced a painful phases a lot of times .

it was no longer a city of dreams but a nightmare .

No sooner , the silence was shattered with deafening blasts . Although the pain of experiencing the incident could only be understood by those who have seen it with their own eyes . But the  pain and grief could be felt  by the people even on hearing it . 

Even after sooo many incidents , what binds the people  together is the confidence and love for their city .

-Krattiika gupta

A Diverse Picture.

As I read few pages of the book ‘The Mythic City’ written by Gyan Prakash ,it made me realise of the multiple aspects of a place it is as living as me,  or anybody else.. !

Majorly he talked about how Bombay changed itself to Mumbai, from a place with the welcoming note to all the cultures, values, norms and ideas to a particular and a narrow one.

My response to the content offered was not explicit rather it was dispersed into numerous visuals in my mind struggling to create one picture of the place Mumbai...

~Juhi Kedia

Informally Casual ...

A city that surrounds us , but still unseen ! its  hidden , somewhere behind the vision of our eyes . a city that has come up on its own and needs no help to set-up !

Today , the informal cities are growing everywhere , and unknowingly , they are a big part of our lives . We can no longer think of ourselves as isolated from the informal . 

I think Shivaji nagar is the best example to portray how informal city works . The small shops , swishy streets , garbage piles , stray animals etc. are a big part . But after soo many visits , what i felt was , people are actually used to the atmosphere , they are ready to spent hours shopping , eating and worshipping there . The informality of that place is its beauty . All the small little things just add up to what and how  Shivaji nagar is now .


-Krattiika gupta