Why Mumbai's Slums are Villages

While browsing through the web and the URBZ webpages : http://urbz.net/ , i came across this really interesting article on Mumbai's development on the Village and the Slum front. The essay in the article very interestingly points out the growth of these urban formats through the times of the Portuguese and then the British. The Author takes the example of Khotachiwadi as a village that was termed as a slum, by the British Authorities so that it can fulfill its dream of larger urban development in the ares. Khotachiwadi and such other Hamlets in Bandra like Ranwar (the one i am studying), Vasai, Thane etc., speak of a distinct history and is a subject of study for a lot of Urban Planners, Designers etc. These Hamlets constituted a format of living and have a very distinct texture to themselves.
read on for more on the article


Why Mumbai's Slums are Villages:
Mumbai’s history reflects two distinct phases. One is the south-oriented story that starts with the development of the docks by the British in the seventeenth century. The other is an older, northern-bound story that starts with the Portuguese conquest and domination of the regions around Vasai village in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The essay argues that the point of intersection of these histories is one that can potentially explain the overwhelming presence of poor, infrastructure deprived habitats – often referred to as slums – that dominate the landscape of the city.
more on : http://www.airoots.org/why-mumbai’s-slums-are-villages/comment-page-1/#comment-3921

At the oratory Junction in Ranwar

this is the synth at the oratory in Ranwar. The Oratory is over 100 years old and it just celebrated its centenary in February 2010. more stories on the same soon.
for now enjoy the view!

What is an Oratory?:

In Christianity, an oratory is a room for prayer, from the Latin orare, to pray. In the Roman Catholic Church, an oratory is for all intents and purposes another word for what is commonly called a chapel. Oratory today means a private place of worship for a group or community which could be opened to the public at the discretion of the group's superior.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oratory_(worship) )

This Oratory is now maintained by the residents, it used to be a very common place of gathering. Only recently in february when it celebrated its centenary all the residents gathered around fro a good celebration. All the old residents started speaking and it went back in the passage of time to remember old times (as told to me by Mr. Damascene D'sylva). These kind of spaces have served as nodes of great nostalgia and reflects the living culture of the place.

More in view is the 170 year old house, The Trellis which is still maintained beautifully to its old glory. also in view is the AB estate, which once used to be the house of the Xavier'. The Xavier house was built in 1841 and used to be one of the most common ground for all the kids to play and loiter around. The Xavier's who were spinsters were very open to the kids and other people walking and walking out at any time. They lived for the community and contributed a lot. Now it is occupied by the AB estate a G+3/4 structure which has taken over the entire land and covered all the open area too. Also the AB estate has the biggest amount of land in Ranwar.

Other is the view of the streets and the main street that bring one person inside the village.

Have fun navigating.

At the junction after the Grotto

well heres the synth of the junction after the grotto..
In view will be the houses belonging to the Rodrigues, Mrs. Flananingan, and the Pareiras.

This junction is very interesting because it gives a great view of these houses, with a sneak preview of the Ranwar Square over the grotto.

These houses if maintained would look just stunning. Its going to be one way in which the old glory of a place like Ranwar can be brought back.

If we look at other villages like Shirely Rajan (Bandra) and Khotachiwadi (Girgaum), these houses have been reinterpreted to todays times and have been given a new look with something as simple as exterior facade paints. nothing more but just limestone mixed with color will not only give these walls a new life but also lets them breathe, specially in a whether like Mumbai.

But anyways coming back to these patterns in grills, these window styles, the verandah styles, the colors, they are similar all across these kind of villages everywhere in Mumbai. They are said to be Portuguese in style, but they are not..well maybe they have an influence, but they are very Indian in style and make and is a typical style of paddy cultivating villages around the Konkan line and the rest of Mumbai, wherever they are located.  It is popularly know as Vernacular Architecture style, but its a good example of Local style. These are ofcourse going in a time warp due their appearance today, but a little modification and these will look absolutely stunning.

Towards the Grotto in Ranwar

This is the synth of the grotto next to Mr. Herman Rodrigues house in Ranwar, from the Ranwar Square. It allows you to explore the approach path and then move around the grotto to have a view in detail.
What is a Grotto?
A grotto (Italian grotta) is any type of natural or artificial cave that is associated with modern, historic or prehistoric use by humans. When it is not an artificialgarden feature, a grotto is often a small cave near water and often flooded or liable to flood at high tide. The picturesque Grotta Azzura at Capri and the grotto of the villa of Tiberius in the Bay of Naples are outstanding natural seashore grottoes. Whether in tidal water or high up in hills, they are very often in limestonegeology where the acidity dissolved in percolating water has dissolved the carbonates of the rock matrix as it has passed through what were originally small fissures. 
The outside of such grottoes might be architectural or designed like an enormous rock or a rustic porch or rocky overhang; inside one found a temple or fountains, stalactites and even imitation gems and shells (sometimes made in ceramic); herms and mermaids, mythological subjects suited to the space: naiads, or river gods whose urns spilled water into pools. Damp grottoes were cool places to retreat from the Italian sun.
( source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grotto)


In Bandra a lot of these grottos are found, at various corners of houses big or small, they are normally installed by a family and is maintained by the family lineage. They serve as common nodes of interpersonal communication due to prayer or rosary meets. They are very well decorated in local style using local material and supported by a lot of greenery around.

Ranwar Square in Detail

This is the Ranwar Square in Detail, an amazing space with an age old cross in the centre and some amazing cottages in the periphery. What is to note is the details of the grill patters, balustrades, staircases, facades details and door and window patters. This is something very common as a visual language amongst the houses that belonged to the paddy cultivators even before the British stepped in India. Its a very common feature all along the Konkan line and even the other suburbs in Mumbai like Vasai, Malad, Andheri along with a few others left in Bandra. The space formation and the urban texture is found to be similar, this was a conclusion after visiting several other villages in Bandra, one set being the Shierly Rajan village near Carter road. 

All the visual elements along with the Architecture style is noted to be on a similar patterns.

now can we visualize ugly high rise constructions instead of these quaint cottages? 

These squares in olden times used to be used largely as community spaces for weddings and other religious ceremonies. It was also a hangout spot for the old and young to just sit around play street games and chit and chat. The extensions vertically were made later with additions in the family, it used to be a loft earlier to store paddy harvests. The square was also used to store the harvest. 

These cottages which age 100 years approx. are now in quite a dilapidated state, maybe waiting for its current owner to pass away and make way for a builder to tap and construct a building. Well, i am not against this, but the issues remains the style in which these builds are constructed. They steal away the pedestrian experience of scale and peace. The vehicular circulation has already done that to a great extent. 

As a solution what is thought is to have basic guidelines for the builders/architects to build on, that would maintain the scale, proportion and style of the place. Also it is for the residents as a tool to maintain their own residences. Recreating the space for the same community activities is also something that is to be looked at.

more street views coming soon! 

South Facade view of Waroda road, Bandra

South Facade view of Waroda road, which is the entrance to Ranwar from Hill road.
all the houses, shops in this series of photographs are in Ranwar.
Have fun playing with the synth.

will upload screen shots and the maps soon.

North Facade view of Waroda Road, Bandra

North Facade view of Waroda road, which is the entrance to Ranwar from Hill road.
all the houses, shops in this series of photographs are in Ranwar.
Have fun playing with the synth.

will upload screen shots and the maps soon.

Masala seasoning

Every summer its the masala smell that rules all our houses. Thats one typical feature of an Indian household of the old times. The ladies of the big fat joint family would get together to grind some lip smacking masalas, which would rule all our stomachs for the rest of the year, till the next season of masala making comes into motion.
But all the Ramdev and MDH masala companies have pretty much stolen this job from our mothers and grand mothers today. It seems quite a village like talk or a talk of the past when a lady mentions that she is going to make masalas, it sounds rather strange. In this times of the dying tradition, some households in Ranwar still indulge in the masala making process.

Thanks to Fr. Larry, Parish Priest at the Mount Carmels Church, who invited me  to his 170 year old house in Ranwar (popularly known as Trellis) to have a look at the masalas being made in process. As soon as i walked in the house, the backyard was smelling fresh of the spices being ground and roasted to be mixed in an age old secret recipe. Yes thats the catch, the recipe is secret and is very special of the East Indian Catholic Community, that resides in these houses here. But yes the smell was too tempting and the colors were just outstanding. Some images:

the spices left out to dry

the spicy Kashmiri chillies

the spices being mixed after roasting

being grounded in an age old scooped out jambun tree bark

the ladies who grind the spices to make them into amazing masalas 

come from Thane, they are specialized in this job, anyone who wants to contact them

need to be around. thats the amazing bit, all the women from various household 

come around and call them to their place to grind the spices to make masalas.

This initiates a lot of conversations (a very good example of interpersonal relationships that

are shared in these villages)

the spices being ground into very fine powder, the masala

the not so fine powder yet is being strained in big strainers, to separate the already 

fine powder.

these are then mixed well and very very tightly packed in dark 

bottles (mostly wine/beer bottles)  so that sunlight does not change the color. they are then left to mature fora while and then used for cooking some of the finest East Indian Cuisine.

These Masalas are then used to make some of the most amazing East Indian Dishes like curries, Sorpotel, etc. What was very interesting to see how women from various households came around giving their bottles as they could not make these masalas in their houses anymore. Lack of space is the main reason. most of these houses have some open areas mostly in the back (Backyards), which are not seen anymore due encroachment of sorts. It is very interesting to know how these spaces are so important for community living, and how they initiate various nodes of conversations.

When the Masala was almost ready (not matured yet though), i was allowed to taste it with some raw mango that i got to borrow from some kids moving around distributing them after plucking them of their own mango trees, to the poor kids. I was luck to have one from them , coz they refused to give me one coz a) i was not a kid, and b)i was not looking poor by any chance. Well these kids were just 10-12 years old and were imbibed with great sense of responsibility and generosity.

I will definitely be waiting to taste some curry made out of this masala as promised by Aunty Blance, who with a lot of patience explained me the entire process.

Keep licking your fingers now!

a small video of the process:

Ranwar, up, down and sideways

wells heres a sneak preview of how could one view Ranwar.

have fun while playing with this..its just a vigorous attempt at photo documenting a tradition, culture, style that will be a past in maybe some time. it just aims at making everyone aware, including the residents of Ranwar and Bandra, what is the power of the space they live in!

please make sure you comment and put in suggestions..

more in this series coming soon

  

some screen shots that have been used in the map above for an easy navigation:

Space and Thoughts

its been a long break from the blog world..so here i return.

this post will mainly be an anthology of thoughts that have come across while i have been reading various authors/writers. will try to credit the author wherever i have adapted a thought. the rest would be analysis and self thoughts:

On SPACE as a dwelling unit:

--The space that we in-hibit isn't merely a dwelling unit, it defines the spaces in our mind and our outlook towards life too. Often, when you are struggling in a small space (as in the case of mist areas of Mumbai), the thinking too revolves around those two tiny rooms. the corners and the boxes!

City and its Collective Memory:

-- One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its people, and like memory, it is associated with objects and planes. The city is the locus of collective memory. This relationship between the locus and citizenry then becomes the city's predominant image, both architecture and of landscapes, and as certain artifacts past of its memory, new ones emerge

- "Architecture of Cities", by Aldo Rossi (Pg 130)

Of History in India:

-- "In India we live, move and have our being" in a historical environment and yet we are not aware of the treasures that surround us. Thats because we take these for granted. 

are we loosing the grip of our histories due to this redundancy? 

The Chief aim of Architecture is to be Functional:

-- He forgets the environment into which he will implant his buildings because he is attracted be new and modern innovations and gadgetry. He fails to realize that form has a meaning only within the context of its environment. 

i am very sorry have completely forgotten where i read this and by whom 

is it written, but it was something that was not missable.

Social and economic forces:

-- " The city is becoming less the result of design and more the expression of economic and social forces." 

we very regularly see this happening all around us, specially in the post-independance Architecture where the government housing and building were to built not only here in Mumbai but across the country. The form just became an expression of what the government was doing with the growth of the country and the way it would deal with such issues in the future! Time and again the economic and social forces rule the way a city has to look, the urban planners forget that the city needs to maintain and conserve its lived in heritage.

--this week seems to be the writing week!