soja days

the first being the day we met him and his wife at the citizen hotel at juhu - a towering hulk of a man with kindly eyes, while his wife had a quick wit that kept us entertained. rupali and me took them for a spiraling cross section through the city. driving through drying bombay duck at khar via carter road to mahim and tulsi pipes road running past whizzing trains and railway stations to the mill lands where from the top of a flyover we saw spectacular views of jcbs demolish a mill building like ants on a dead lizard. past phoenix mills and haji ali, kanchanjunga, marine drive to churchgate station, oval maidan and the gothic madness of the high court and university to horniman circle and the town hall. we stopped at the gateway of india for a photograph and then had lunch at trishna. soja just about managed to fit into the tight seating. but the food was amazing. post lunch we moved via vt and the bmc below the mohammedali road flyover through the markets selling perfumes and korans (the densest square mile in the world – he said) to darukhana and kerosene wharf. from here we could make out the distant outlines of the refineries over the salt pans and the flamingoes flocked over the mud flats. five gardens and the suburban dadar parsi colony was next and then dharavi and bandra kurla complex. we ended the grand tour at ‘mind space’ – a name that fascinated the both of them and maureen warned us that we would see it in his next book. “overwhelming” is the word they used to talk about their impression of the city.

soja and maureen

mill lands

exhausted after we got to school there was still another group to talk to – a group for the university college london looking to make a film on issues regarding water in mumbai. meanwhile the college was abuzz with the workshops on in full swing. the second year showed us a tongue in cheek take on ‘krrish’ that they had made. then a dinner at mahesh – where else can we go when paul is around?

mira bhayander exhibition

mira bhayander discussion

the next day was even more maddening. the mira bhayander presentations started late. the other guest jurors were arunav and awadhendra- urban designer and environmental historian- both from delhi. the corporator from mira bhayander came but left early. the discussions at the end of the first half of the day were centered around the connection between different scales of imagination. after lunch we got into the design project presentations which started off disastrously but ended up fairly well. it was unfortunate that all the kids did not get to present their work- but it was getting too hectic and hot but the end of it all. ninad presented the dharavi work at the end and it was just about time for sojas lecture.

he spoke about scalar shifts, new gentrification processes, international migration patterns, new work and technology changes and how they affect spatial justice. the students were all there in full force but our great visiting faculty- the ones who know it all – were nowhere to be seen. oh , well…

the lecture

dinner at mahesh again- lobster, crab, bombil, pomfret and prawns. cant have any more sea food for at least a week.