Desicritics Author: Pratik

CD Review: Asha Bhosle - Love Supreme

Pratik — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:24:53 EST

The latest offering by Times Square Records (released on March 7, 2006) is a compilation of Asha Bhosle numbers on a 2-disc album. The singing sensation Asha Bhosle needs no introduction, but, for protocol's sake, I will attempt to do so. Younger sister to the Nightingale of India (Lata Mangeshkar) might be an almost impossible tag to shrug off but Ashaji did just that. Not only did she carve her own niche in singing for "vamps and the bad girls", but she moved on to lend her versatile voice to soulful numbers (first for O.P. Nayyar) that you normally wouldn't associate her with.

In later years, she surpassed (in my opinion) her elder sister in pure virtuoso-like manner by expanding her extent of music. In an age when skin-infested videos ruled the roost on the Indi-pop scene, her pop albums like Janam Samjha Karo and Kabhi Toh Nazar Milao (with Adnan Sami) in her inimitable style were the rage of the nation. I bet she is the only grandmother who has recorded songs with Boy George, Code Red, and Michael Stipe leaving them awe-struck at her singing abilities (I can never forget that Channel [V] Awards performance).

Asha Bhosle - Love Supreme is an attempt to introduce this bundle of versatile talent to Western audiences. With interest in Bollywood peaking in America and elsewhere, India's music industry has caught the attention of people too and of course, who better than Ashaji to lead the charge. This album is packed with 19 Asha numbers on a 2-disc collection. The first CD contains newly-recorded ghazals and the second contains a selection of romantic duets with Ashaji. The ghazals are gentle soulful reminders of a music that is enjoyed at leisure and the full range of Ashaji's voice gives intense depth to the soul of these ghazals. Not an intense fan of ghazals, I listened to them on a tired weekday night as I prepared my dinner.

However, by the time I finished with the first CD, I was yearning for more.

The second CD was much more to my taste in music. It refreshed my memories of many golden oldies that you associate with Ashaji. Upbeat, vibrant, and flamboyant - are few epithets you would associate with typical Asha Bhosle numbers, but apart from "Aaja Aaja Main Hoon Pyar Tera" from Teesri Manzil, Ashaji preferred to go for her soulful romantic numbers. Probably they are much dearer to her heart but I would still prefer to present Asha Bhosle in her finest element (her upbeat, flamboyant songs) if she wants to make a lasting impact on Western audiences. With this selection, she may be aiming for the Norah Jones audience and trust me, that is a great strategy, but if it were me, I would go for the popular audiences.

Her success on the Indi-pop scene shows that she definitely can do it. When she won MTV's Indian Viewers' Choice Award in 1997, Sheela Raval a journalist described her perfectly:

The high priestress of Bollywood music has gone for an image make-over. At 64. And granny's looking glamorous. The middle-class Maharashtrian housewife next door is the new pop icon, taking over from the no-holds-barred young breed.

I believe she has done it before and she can definitely do it again.

To conclude, I would definitely recommend going in for Asha Bhosle - Love Supreme purely for its first CD although the second CD ain't bad either.

Book Review: Untouchables

Pratik — Wed, 15 Mar 2006 00:16:12 EST

Regardless of the title, this post might venture beyond the realms of a book review and try to scratch some memories from my recent past. Simon and Schruster sent me couple of books by Indian authors last fall and although I wasn't obliged to review them, I ventured down that path for the sake of my readers and others who might want to buy the books.

I wasn't overtly impressed by Vikas Swarup's Q&A although I recommended it for a quick Sunday afternoon read. However, Untouchables by Narendra Jadhav is in a different class altogether. I had completed reading the book couple of months back but never got around to writing about it. But the impact of the book is such that I am writing this without even going back to the book to refresh my memory.

The author is presently a chief economist at the Reserve Bank of India and has held several eminent positions in international organizations including the World Bank. Going by his résumé, you might assume that he might have hailed from a distinguished family who funded his education and the "old boys network" soon catapulted him to greater fame. On the contrary, Untouchables takes you back a generation in Dr. Jadhav's life carefully documenting his parents' memoirs.

Pieced together from his parents' narrations, the tale not only gives you a glimpse of India's dark history of caste discrimination but also remains highly optimistic on the ultimate triumph of hard work, determination, and intolerance toward injustice. Admittedly, the book might have lost some of its brilliance when it was translated from Marathi to English but it still remains an inspiring read.

Damu and Soni, as his parents were lovingly called by their near and dear ones take turns to narrate their life story shackled by the stigma of untouchability. The book begins with a intensely horrific tale of the plight of Mahars in Damu's village and the extent to which both the untouchables and the upper castes enjoined their groups to keep the distance between them constant throughout the ages. With stories this powerful and facts this blatant, I wonder how we could harp on the glorious Indian heritage and tradition.

People often justified these class discriminations by emphasizing the functionary roles of people in a society. But such stagnant roles led to complacency and with the evolving times, functions of an individual within a society often intermingled. Resistance to change was often the strongest from sections of the society who had gotten used to the power that culture and traditions had conferred upon them. As Dr. Jadhav's book shows, efforts at trying to break free from societal bonds and herald in a changed often met with indignation and more often, violent suppression from the oppressors and quiet acquiesce and subsequent apathy from the oppressed class.

As Dr. Jadhav's meteoric rise through academic excellence proves, the subjugation of the oppressed class of untouchables lay in the continued denial of opportunity; even when the untouchables expressed a wish to rise from their status quo, their wishes were immediately squelched.

Dr. Ambedkar, an early success story from the untouchable strata, gave plenty of his people confidence that things need not be the same always and he was rightly their beacon of hope. He could easily qualify as the Martin Luther King for the untouchables in India. He opposed Gandhi's epithet for the untouchables - Harijan as he wanted equal and not special status for his people. He would never have believed in the Mandal Commission recommendations that brought the issue on the forefront in the early nineties. As you might have guessed, Dr. Jadhav's father was heavily influenced by Dr. Ambedkar and hearing his stories of the renowned leader also changed my opinion toward him.

At the root was the struggle for equal right which is an inalienable right to any individual born on this planet. Unfortunately, the truth is not always this rosy. Even the most open and democratic society, the United States, refused rights to its black citizens right upto the mid-sixties; almost 200 years after its independence. And Untouchables talks about the time before India was independent when even the British considered it in their best interests to keep the Indian society segregated and we, with our irrational prejudices, played right into their hands.

Untouchables is peppered with wonderful pithy stories of the struggle against injustice toward lower classes. The book is not only a reflection on Indian society as it existed but an important part of our history too. The book concludes fantastically with an afterword by Dr. Jadhav's daughter who was born and brought up in the United States - far from the discrimination that her grandparents faced. Yet traces of the wounds persist if you read between the lines but the good part is that, there is hope for change. The lesson is that you just have to follow your inner voice and express your protest; someone out there is definitely listening.

If you might wonder that Untouchables is a tale from India's dark ages and part of the history that we have left behind, then you are mistaken. Pick up the nearest newspaper and skim through its pages. I bet you would definitely find a couple of stories that link violence to denial of justice. If you think that sitting in cosmopolitan towns like Bombay, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, etc. you are far from the injustices meted out to lower classes, then you are mistaken once again. No one says it, but the undercurrents of caste discriminations still persist even among the so-called educated class.

If you are interested, I have had a personal brush with such blatant discrimination back in the days when I wore rose-tinted glasses that saw an Indian society bereft of any form of discrimination. I had never seen or experienced any form of discrimination almost right until I graduated from my undergrad college. I was involved romantically with one of my juniors who after an extended period of yes-no-yes-maybe finally acknowledged our relationship. But somewhere under that indecisive persona was a niggling fear that she took ages to come out with.

Her reason for indecisiveness - her parents would never accept her relationship with a non-Brahmin. I had to make sure that I had heard it correct.

My parents had always brought us up without pretensions toward our caste or community; rather we keep our distance from it and we weren't even one of "those feared untouchables". On the contrary, we were only one rung lower on the Indian social hierarchy. Caste was never a factor in our interactions with the people we met and my parents were held in the highest regard in our town (they still are!). At the risk of sounding pompous, any typical Indian family in the town would have given an arm and a leg to be associated with our family but thankfully my parents were modest and never quite flaunted that fact.

So when I faced this out-of-the-blue unreal discrimination from some family that I had previously never interacted with, I knew I had to meet them. They were educated people, for crying out loud! I thought I could make them see the light. But alas, after meeting them I was disappointed (and partly sorry for them) to see them still stuck in the dark ages. Upon questioning them directly, they had no logical answer for their prejudice and they even had the nerve to say that it would have been ok even if I was a deshatha Brahman (seemingly one rank lower among the Brahmins).

Gosh! I was getting a first hand lesson in Indian hypocrisy. It didn't end there. Her mom went to the extent of saying that she wouldn't mind a non-Brahmin daughter-in-law because - hear this - she would be absorbed within their fold. Gosh! I couldn't believe my ears. Before I said anything insulting and degraded myself, I took their leave. My parents were rightly peeved as well because they had brought up their children in a seemingly fair and just society and judged people on their moral uprightness and dedication toward education; not on superfluous factors like caste.

Thankfully my relationship with that girlfriend died a quick death and even to this day, I do not regret it one bit. I could never have fitted in with such blatant blind prejudice and thank my stars that it was revealed before things got serious.

I bet each one of us has an Untouchables tale even if it isn't as heart-wrenching or serious as Dr. Jadhav's tale. He was given a new world of opportunity because his parents stood up to injustice and refused to give in to society's dogma. If you have lived in oppressive regimes, make sure your children don't. Dr. Jadhav soon reached the pinnacle of success and fulfilled his potential that otherwise would have remained stifled.

This book also holds a lesson for those who consider economic success as compensation for individual freedom and liberty e.g. China. People are not successful in spite of social discrimination but because of it. Their success is only an indicator of the latent potential of the rest of them.

Imagine the possibilities.

The Desi Network Rocks

Pratik — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 13:45:26 EST

A few days back, as I sat in a coffee shop late at night doing my reading for the week, I got a call from a friend. We were went to the same high school and ended up attending the same junior college, practically as 'bench-mates'. We came to the United States on the same flight; also on adjacent seats. After that we were briefly in touch and after a major spat, broke off all contact for the next five years. Recently we happened to make up and resumed our friendship although things weren't the same again. He happened to be in Houston when I moved to College Station but he has now moved to Toledo, Ohio.

Getting back to the call, he asked me if I still knew someone in Atlanta. The problem was that his roommate's friend's mom was stuck in Atlanta airport and had no place to spend the night apart from the uncomfortable rows of seats near the terminal gate. To make matters worse, she was a middle-aged lady traveling outside of India for the first time and had no clue about airline delays. She seemed petrified in a foreign country and refused to accept hotel accommodation until her flight the next afternoon. I said, of course I had friends in Atlanta who could probably help. I called up my ex-room mates but no one picked up the phone.

I called up another friend and she happened to be in Washington, D.C. She told me that she can ask her roommate to help and would call me back in a while. She called back almost immediately and asked me to call her roommate in Atlanta with the details. I called up my friend in Ohio to get the details; he then called up his roommate who in turn called up his friend to get them. After the long chain of calls, I conveyed the necessary information to my friend's roommate in Atlanta. She was requested to go to the airport at almost 11:30pm and request the airport officials to fetch the old lady from either of the two gates she was supposed to be at (mind you, she couldn't be contacted directly). My part of the work done, I hoped that everything would work out fine.

The next morning, after I called to inquire, my friend (in Ohio) told me that everything went smoothly and my friend's (in Atlanta) roommate had been magnanimous in not only picking up the lady but also dropped her back at the airport the following afternoon. Awesome! I couldn't help but shake my head in disbelief at the long chain of people that were involved in helping one poor lady in distress. Truly, the desi network in the United States rocks

Newsweek's India Special

Pratik — Wed, 1 Mar 2006 00:06:49 EST

It's one of those India-China comparisons all over again. But in fact, Fareed Zakaria's cover story in Newsweek on India's growing influence in the global economy is impressive. The reason I say this is because he does not lavish generous and effusive praise on the boom times that India is experiencing right now but effectively tempers it with words of caution relating to India's socialist era fear of the private sector.

He rightly calls Nehru a failed economist but hails his legacy of granting political freedom. Sadly his daughter, Indira would later strike a blow at democracy's roots by imposing a poorly reasoned emergency and also driving us deeper into the socialist model by nationalizing banks. It took a country mired deep in debt and on the brink of economic collapse (who can forget media-hyped pictures of gold being shipped out of the country?) to finally see the light and open up its economy. The current boom is a clear reflection of the good deeds done by Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram, etc. during the dark early nineties.

Across the Himalayas, China has been busy scripting a monster growth story and regularly posting 10% growth rates and emerging as the world's second-largest economy. But as Fareed points out, China's style of functioning in a dictatorial manner might break down under its own weight. Gurucharan Das's Elephant Paradigm aptly suits India's economic growth - slow and lumbering but nevertheless headed in the right direction with adequate leeway for caution. Marginal Revolution also suspects the longevity of China's rapid growth due to lack of private enterprise's share in the nation's economy. "A research report by the financial firm UBS argues that the private sector in China accounts for no more than 30 percent of the economy" whereas publicly-owned firms account for less than 7 percent of GDP. The lack of political freedom and suppression of freedom of expression, according to me, is a festering and simmering discontent that might just blow up in the Communist Party's face before it can overcome it like they way they did to Tianmmenn Square.

I also loved Fareed's handling of the brain drain phenomenon when he simply relabeled it as brain gain wherein "Indians abroad have returned to India with money, investment ideas, global standards, and most importantly, a sense that one could achieve anything" (my brother will personally attest to the truth in that statement). These people are the ones who are challenging the erstwhile popular joke (disguised for being a harsh truth) that Fareed cites - why is that Indians seem to succeed everywhere except in their own country? There can be no greater justification for liberalization than the fact that the above 'joke' is increasingly proven wrong e.g. Infosys, Wipro, etc.

On the eve of Mr. Bush's visit to India, other articles by Ramin Setoodeh, Keith Naughton, and Jhumpa Lahiri make this India-centric issue a great read. Of course, they had to have the perfunctory cow picture too. I absolutely loved the picture of three middle-aged ladies with balls err...bowling balls.

crossposted on Nerve Endings Firing Away

Controlling Nature: An Exercise in Futility

Pratik — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 08:42:54 EST

Much of Louisiana's modern history is peppered with actions trying to control nature to suit man's commercial purposes [read John McPhee's Control of Nature for more]. The Army Corps of Engineers, unfortunately bounded by legislative intent, draws much ire. However, they are as much to blame as the next person stamping his authority on a fragile ecology.

Man's control of nature stems from affixing an economic value to nature's resources and adapting them for his personal use. The lazily meandering, muddy Mississippi drains much of the continental United States carrying tons of sediment to the Gulf Coast rendering the area fertile. Nature conservancy for the sake of preservation or for aesthetic appeal hardly finds takers in the thus plentiful landscape of Louisiana.

Nature entertains itself in a cyclic dance of reclaiming land and giving it back over thousands of years. But it must not have envisioned the rise of a dominant species such as man who would alter its natural cycle and attempt to achieve the impossible i.e., control or even alter the course of natural evolution. For proponents of the fact who believe in the natural order of things irrespective of man's role in this world, it would be a worthwhile experience to see the impact of human presence in an otherwise fragile yet resilient environment. You need not go far to see this impact.

Living in Mumbai and dealing with the phenomenon of 'annual floods' that brings the city to a screeching halt causing tremendous loss in both economic and emotional terms offers you enough evidence of this impact. Even passionate Mumbaikars didn't know of the existence of the river Mithi that is supposed to be a city river. We dismissed it as one foul oddity in the city center and a place for us to pollute so we can live in relative ease elsewhere. We always considered the mighty sea as the city's focal point. Take a walk after any major festival, especially the annual Ganpati immersion, and you will get first-hand knowledge of a city's continued apathy toward its natural environment.

The brashness with which we pollute our cities deservedly gets us cloudbursts and flash floods. Those who fail to see a connection are simply in a state of denial. If man hadn't intervened, Mumbai would still be a group of seven islands in nature's blissful arms. Of course, the economic potential wouldn't then be realized and any progress has its costs, right? But each time, the costs are borne by Mother Nature. Never can we envisage partaking in a few of the costs that might be a direct result of civilization.

Why the sudden shift from New Orleans to Mumbai? Because I see much in common in the existence of the two metropolises on two sides of the earth. They exist where realistically no city should. I wouldn't argue for complete abandonment of these cities but definitely would argue for more respect to nature and the natural environment they exist in.

Attention to a more sustainable living wouldn't undermine the city but instead, elevate its position in the list of some of the greatest cities to live in. After all, that is exactly what we aspire for, right? To live in a city that makes living enjoyable and does not engage in a constant struggle with nature. Like it or not, nature always wins. She always has more time and energy that we could ever possibly dream of.

It is just a matter of time before she decides to crack the whip.

More Traffic Management Needed

Pratik — Fri, 24 Feb 2006 01:36:02 EST

See this, Mumbaikars and think again if you want your city to be another Shanghai. For crying out loud, more flyovers will not help. They just make people buy more cars and negate the advantage. If you don't believe me, read Gary Becker's opinion. The Texas Transportation Institute (a block down the street from my college) estimated that the extra time and fuel spent in driving as a result of traffic congestion in 1994 was worth over $75 billion and might have already toped $150 billion [prediction for 2005]. Is economics the answer, like it usually is? A fee for driving into central London reduced the traffic inflow by 20%. People took to public transit that was widely available, carpooled or explored other means of joint transportation. All vehicles entering Manhattan already pay stiff tolls at the bridges but are those toll charges enough to deter people from driving in.

One of the biggest changes I saw during my visit to India was the horrific increase in traffic and to make it worse, it was unruly traffic compounded by Neanderthal behavior. I was informed that suddenly many cars have hit the streets due to a booming economy and ease of loan availability; especially for two-wheelers. At the same time, we are fully aware of the lack of any strictness in conducting driving road tests, if at all they are conducted, for obtaining a license to drive. We condemn the rash driving habits of film stars but forget the thousands of other incidents that never make it to the newspapers. First of all, the solution to traffic management is to inculcate a sense of responsibility and association with the fact that driving is not a right but in fact a privilege (printing it on the back of the licenses probably isn't enough).

The problem with implementing economic disincentives for traffic management is that those that can afford to pay can easily get around the system. For every solution, there is a counter-argument of infringing on individual behavior but as Becker explains, a driver does not consider the effect of his driving on the other users of the road, but only on himself. It is a classic negative externality.

cross-posted at Urban Planning Blog

Traffic Shock - Driving In India

Pratik — Thu, 2 Feb 2006 00:54:29 EST

Coming back to India after a longish interval of time has its reverse cultural shocks to account for. The maximum impact is made by the unruly traffic. No matter how long you have lived in India and how little time you have spent outside India, it always hits you smack in the face (I hope not literally) the moment you touch down. To top that effect, I have one heck of a driver in my dad. He spells rash driving with a capital R and not once has he ever admitted to doing so. He has the unique ability to go from Mumbai airport to Panvel, a distance of approximately 40 miles in almost 20 minutes; the hour being pre-dawn seems to encourage him a little more to step on the gas. Believe it or not, it was my first ride when I landed in India and I was pale with fright by the time we reached home.

But I have always considered him to be an exception when it comes to driving. Other drivers crawl at a snail's pace, I consoled myself so. But I couldn't brace myself enough for the shock that was to be a regular feature during my stay in India. I may sound like a unaware foreigner from bucolic environs who has never experience traffic before. But an extended period of disciplined (generally speaking) driving and strict adherence to the law, even if it was in the fear of the car with the flashing lights standing nearby probably has habituated me to the life of pleasant driving. In Mumbai, it is virtually the battle of the impatient souls who never seem to have an idea where exactly they are headed in such a hurry. Traffic rules, much less the white painted lanes are considered mere suggestions not strictly enforced rules of traffic.

The recently-installed countdown counters on the Navi Mumbai intersections seem to have an opposite effect. I have never seen the traffic wait until the clock counted all the way down to zero before turning green. The impatient vehicles, revving up with hungry anticipation teeter on the brink of impatience ready to shoot off as soon as one of them decides to jump the signal. The rickshaws are the worst. I had the unfortunate misfortune of sitting in one who would dash out like a Triple Crown equine before the criss-crossing traffic had an opportunity to stop; zigzagging his way through the maze of blaring horns he would have this triumphant grin plastered over his face as I held on to dear life. Somehow I was missing out on the machismo of the incident. They are not wrong when they say that you've gotta learn driving in Mumbai if you have to drive in Mumbai; well they say that for Pune too, and Delhi; each with a different flavor of urban wildness.

Anecdotal evidence aside, accounts of any visitor to a bustling Indian metropolis always has countless stories about our traffic and of course, the proverbial cow or the elephant on the street. Actually, I did see couple of elephants in separate incidents within a span of one month. The accounts are so prevalent among the tourists that you feel they would be disappointed if they saw any less. And we are only too eager to please. We have enamored ourselves to the romantic notion of unruly traffic and crowded trains. You haven't lived in Mumbai if you haven't honked your way through Linking Road or hanged outside the packed train at peak hour - are common statements among Mumbaikars; especially if you are talking to a drunk one almost eight thousand miles away from Mumbai.

Does a bustling metropolis carry the baggage of disobedience and inculcate a sense of lack of discipline under the guise of 'fast pace of life', or are people just obeying the law in less dense cities because it hasn't inconvenienced them yet. Metaphorically speaking, do concrete jungles bring out the animal within you? You are scoffed at or almost made a social outcast if you make the mistake of trying to obey the traffic laws. We bore the brunt of honking cars and screaming strangers as we refused to budge as the clock counted down to zero before budging. I was called an NRI for obeying the rules. I am not sure if that was an insult. You tell me.

cross-posted at Urban Planning Blog

Merging Wal-Marts Into Indian Cities

Pratik — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 00:42:19 EST

I recently read Fast Food Nation for a class on Sustainable Urbanism.

Expectedly, the book was loaded with facts against mega corporations aiming for a quick buck while paying little attention to the overall impacts of their business. The author, Eric Schlosser came across as a convinced (and converted, I think) activist against the evils of the fast food companies.

Any talk of rabid and profit-hungry corporations with scant regard for societal good cannot exclude Wal-Mart. Countless campaigns against its labor exploitative policies and tendencies to big box the American countryside, and movies like "Wal-mart: The High Cost of Low Prices" with scathing allegations haven't won any friends for Wal-Mart in recent times. The capitalistic spirit justifies its business-like methods but accusations of being heartless for its tireless workers and its surroundings is not completely off the mark. Wal-Mart at its end is continuously trying to explore new markets and have been eyeing the lucrative and number-rich Indian market for quite some time now.

Recently during a trip to India, I drove by the now-vacant plot of land at the junction of Bandra-Kurla Complex and the Western Express Highway that housed the drive-in theater not long ago. I was informed that this site was earmarked for India's first Wal-Mart in partnership with Reliance Industries as the retail giant look set to enter Indian markets. Of course, the information wasn't accurate and may have been a tad premature; I couldn't help but imagine that this would indeed be the perfect site for an in-city Wal-Mart. A huge parcel of land with ample space for parking, prime location, proximity to the Western Express highway to facilitate easier access for inbound trucks, location at the cusp of the city and the suburbs; the site had Wal-Mart all over it.

I wouldn't be surprised if the information I received would prove to be correct in the near future. Of course, Wal-Mart efficiency and its famed supply chain would be seriously hampered in an Indian context due to lack of supporting infrastructure.

India's cabinet recently approved the entry of foreign retail outlets [source: Times of India] and eliminated the need for India-based franchisee partners. This is yet another step towards a completely globalized market in India. The humongous middle-class consumer market is pegged at $200 billion currently and is expected to grow to almost $500 billion in the next 5 to six years [source: CNN Money]. Although it is small compared to other growing overseas markets, it still offers enough incentive for retailers to move in and are held back only by regulation issues.

However, Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers are bound to face protests from the local businesses and urban planners. Ample proof of the Wal-Mart effect seen all over America -unaesthetic stores, disregard to local urban fabric, conformity leading to monotony, environmental concerns, and lack of attention to regional geographic constraints. Consumer's economic and rational behavior partly tries to justify shutting out local business but charges of despoiling the urbanscape refuse to go away. In the recent fascination for malls that appeal to the consumer from the inside but do nothing for the urban dweller on the outside (e.g. Centre One, Vashi), Wal-Mart's big blue box will definitely be something new in the first few years but repeat that thousand times over all around India; you will realize the bane of American urbanscape.

Fortunately, all is not lost. Andre Duany of New Urbanism fame has something wonderful to offer in rebuilding the Wal-Marts destroyed during Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi. Seventy percent of Pass Christian, a beautiful bedroom community was destroyed after Hurricane Katrina passed right over its skies [via Veritas et Venustas]. This destruction has given Wal-Mart an opportunity to rebuild keeping in mind the unique urban and cultural context of the southern town. The big-boxing of its retail outlets undoubtedly more efficient but has eroded support in the bucolic environs of Pass Christian mostly due to adverse impact on local businesses. But some businesses have managed to adapt in spite of the presence of Wal-Mart and it shows a resurgent attitude amongst local businesses. But they wish Wal-Mart mend its ways regards the way it chooses to construct its stores. During a design charette to rebuild Pass Christian, Duany proposed working with Wal-Mart to modify its design to suit small town characteristics; instead of a "big-box" store, Wal-Mart could build a series of stores that give the appearance of a small town (source: Sun Herald). Plans haven't been finalized yet but this offers a great opportunity for Wal-mart to win back hearts at least in an urban design context.

Such an approach would also have tremendous implications for its move to India in the near future. Fascination with the big-boxes will wane over time but if Wal-mart choose to assimilate into urban fabric of any Indian city depending on the cultural and social context, it will definitely win brownie points for the mega corporation. Adorning the outsides with commercial logos (see any mall in India) appears cool now but trust me, design ultimately triumphs as people tire of seeing disjointed and non-contextual symbols everywhere they go. The 'beauty' of Times Square would be lost if it is replicated everywhere. Sense of a place is an important characteristic in finding your place in an ever-expanding city. Sometimes, making yourself inconspicuous is the solution to standing out from the rest of the crowd. After all, there is more to life than rising profit.

cross-posted on Urban Planning Blog

Evolution Of Palm Beach Marg

Pratik — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:01:58 EST

Driving on Palm Beach Marg at a speed of more than eighty kilometers per hour was pretty normal even though the speed limit is prescribed at sixty. It was one of the few stretches of asphalt around Bombay where you could actually exceed the speed limit; of course not counting the recently built expressway. Palm Beach Marg weaves across the outer reaches of Mumbai's (erstwhile Bombay) satellite city, Navi Mumbai as it touches upon the supposedly upscale but largely empty high-rise apartments popularly known as NRI Seawoods Estate and terminates at the core of the Central Business District at Belapur.

Five years ago, driving along this stretch of road was a pleasure as you could see another Navi Mumbai node, Nerul and the adjacent Parsik hill in the distance on one side and the creek from across the mangroves on the other. The monumental Seawoods Estates loomed large in the distance seemed like the only sign of intrusive human settlement. A large holding pond between proposed developments was attributed to Big Brother wanting us to keep eyes off Apsara, the nuclear reactor at Trombay across the bay.

As I drove on Palm Beach Marg this December, barely minutes after landing at Mumbai's international airport, I could barely see through the smog. Although it was still early in the day, you could see scores of people out for an early morning walk eager to breathe in the 'fresh morning air'. A carefree spirit on his motorbike returning either from a night call center job or still drunk from the previous night's revelries cut right across the road, causing us to swerve sharply (with no reduction in speed nevertheless). Although I hadn't slept the previous night, I tried to take in the changed urbanscape of Palm Beach Marg. As the morning light filtered through the smog, I saw ghostly shadows of seemingly high rising walls alongside the road. I looked closer with sleepy eyes to realize that the previously distant Nerul had gradually moved toward the otherwise serene Palm Beach Marg. The high walls were in fact high-rise buildings, still in a state of incompleteness but slated for occupancy in a few months, my dad informed me.

The remaining vacant apartments at NRI Seawoods complex were bought over by Reliance en masse supposedly to house their DAKC (Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City) employees few kilometers away. In fact, construction of the second stage of the NRI complex was to begin soon. A monumental-looking almost palatial in appearance announced Delhi Public School in big bold neon signs adjacent to the complex. A cartel of IAS officers, said my dad, had managed to overturn certain environmental laws and build a high rise apartment building on the 'other' side of the Marg. Thankfully, the holding pond opposite to Apsara still existed and actually provided a much-needed point of destination for citizens seeking passive recreation.

I took in changed landscape with mixed emotions. On one hand, I was glad to see Navi Mumbai develop by leaps and bounds while on the other hand, flouting of environmental laws (as few as they exist) and disregard for natural mangroves was distressing. As we drove into Belapur, I could still see empty and stark skeletons of buildings built in the previous real estate boom time. In the end, it all turned out to be speculator-driven. Progress or development is often viewed with a sense of optimism but such narrow definitions of development prove to be short term gains.

Palm Beach Marg is just one road that runs along the spread that is Navi Mumbai today but it is adequately reflective of the scale and intensity of development elsewhere in the new city. New zoning laws are drafted at a rapid pace to replace the archaic ones created in the early 70s but vested interests continue to stay one step ahead. But not all is lost; there continues to be hope for a growing city next to a metropolis that has been attributed the tag of bursting at its seams for several years now. However, it still continues to thrive, sustain, and more importantly evolve.

On a side note, the palm trees on the divider on Palm Beach Marg are watered daily by a municipal corporation tanker and have managed to flourish amongst cars that are in too much of a hurry to give them a second glance.

cross-posted at Urban Planning Blog