high court - lawyers' rest room

is this the place where the city is going to be negotiated? the corridor on the top floor of the high court where on wood finished laminate top tables lie piles of files open and closed, spiral bound affidavits and petitions. from the gloomy stone gallery you can look past the gothic spires and heavy balustrade upon the glistening green of the oval and the art deco promenade. i was there as part of a meeting for the gaothans of the city. this is symptomatic of the way in which our city is being shaped. hapless residents in the face of relentless mob sponsored and political supported developmental pressures take recourse to the only possibility that seems to exist for them. spurned by the police and powerless against the hooligans of the builders they huddle together in conversations with white shirted bright young lawyers and citizen organisation divas who offer support to protect their territory. ‘david and goliath’ one lawyer around the table called it yesterday- and the language of western mythology was appropriated in contemporary bombay. or at least that’s the way it was projected. there is no escaping the overstated sentiment in making an argument. pick your side and orate vociferously.

regulations were pulled apart at their seams, stories of lies and truth were told, the facts were debated, and legality pushed to its very limit. how can we ‘use’ this, how can we ‘use’ that? loopholes within loopholes ; words were weapons. i was witness to the way the rigorous legalese from the tongues of the black coats were going to be turned into fiery tirades about injustice and corruption.

and meanwhile around us there were many more tables and easy chairs each with its own pile of books under the soaring roof and white trusses of the building. fans and antique lights hung low over the newly ceramic tiled floor. the new lift block was cement plastered to appear like it was made of stone.