Mumbai Icons- 4

I was brain storming about some other icons of Mumbai- the definers of the city and I surprised myself with the names that came in....Rajabhai towers, Chowpati, Oval maidan, Mumbai University and the newest Bandra-Worli sea-link.

If you are wondering about why I have combined these very different art pieces of Mumbai without any seeming geographical connections between them,... my reason is very simple.... I think them very spent and over rated icons......

For someone exploring Mumbai, these five places are a must visit and sure markers of the identity of Mumbai, for a mere suburban Mumbaikar like me, they are much less significant. There is a sense of pride when we look at the structures, but they mean little in the daily life..

Take for instance Rajabhai tower, Mumbai's own Big Ben...it stands there, ticking away (and sometimes not) unseeing and uncaring about the times the city faces.........glorious and awe inspiring archituctural structure? sure it is, so?

Oval maidan, an important landmark in the history of the city, an important landmark during the freedom struggle, to me is the place to go, if I want to look at the few remaining open spaces in the city. Overlooked by a zillion tall rising structures, the maidan has been saved by its history and retains use as a practice cricket and other sports grounds for the neighbouring kids....

Chawpatty is another seafront.....that usual Mumbaikars would want to aviode going to on a weekend, for its crazy crowds that make the sea beyond seem too little in comparison....for me, visiting chawpatty is to sink my weary feet in the sands, after a long walk here, or simply having the chat at its fringes.....

Mumbai University stands as a symbol of the babus of the city, educated class, the acedemia, a building where history and present shake hands looking at a bright future..the fact that its original main building in the fort area is being slowly abondaned is also a great teller and a symbol of the state of our education in the city...

Bandra-Worli sea-link has managed to connect two corners on Mumbai and glue them together.....an architectural marvel...reduced trafic but is not essentially a monument I want to keep staring at........

I guess different places in Mumbai mean different things to different people....All I know is that it is a city which is country in itself and a culture and feelings....Mumbai perhaps does not perhaps physically exists except in its different parts...but it survives as a wonderful magical peice of imagination....perhaps..................