Jashvitha Dhagey - Question of Cities

The BEST Museum as Mumbai’s memoir – and more

A well-curated transport museum is a significant historical documentation and the story of a city. How ironic then that the BEST Museum which narrates the story of one of the most enduring and moving icons of Mumbai has been tucked…

When childhood is scarred by shelling and play is perilous

When sirens blare, homes are blacked out, drones and war planes hover in the skies above, and shelling punctures the peace of the night, as it happened with the India-Pakistan war this May, among other fallout is the setback to…

‘In India, play is a luxury…parents and teachers should understand its importance’

As cities expand, the number of open spaces and in-between spaces for play are shrinking. Playgrounds and gardens are an afterthought. Mumbai has seen creative ways to resist the erasure of spontaneous play emerge despite the incessant construction, congestion, and…

‘Coping with heat isn’t an individual problem, it’s a systemic challenge’

The unequal impact of heat on the marginalised in India’s cities is no longer in question. The chasm is deepening between those who can escape heat stress and those forced to work despite extreme heat. Apekshita Varshney, founder of non-profit…

The journey from dingy to vibrant, meaningful spaces in Govandi

The cramped and ill-maintained Natwar Parekh Compound in Mumbai’s Govandi is hardly a place children can feel at home, run around, explore the world and learn. But they, facilitated by civil society organisations, have turned their dingy spaces into Kitab…

Feminism meets environmentalism but women left out of decision-making

As women, across barriers of caste and class and other social indices, assert themselves, they also touch upon environmental issues that are deeply tied to their lives, living conditions, work and more. They raise voices as women demanding gender justice…

Margins to mainstream: Ambojwadi shows the way to climate vulnerability mapping

Among the most marginalised of informal settlements in Mumbai, Ambojwadi is a picture of climate crisis where heat stress and flooding exacerbate the lack of basic amenities. The ground realities and lived experiences of residents here, as of millions in…

How urban plans can, and must, value trees

Urban development plans and master plans have traditionally seen trees as impediments to ‘development’, rarely acknowledging them as natural wealth of cities and hardly making provisions to protect and preserve them. This will no longer work in the time of…

Walking with the trees of Mumbai, their fragrance and taste in tow

The Mahua tree helped Indians survive two famines, the imported – yes, imported – Gulmohar has buttress roots that grow at right angles, the Rain Tree grows in silos, then there are Arjun, Putranjiva, Pongam, Fish Tail, Kumkum Phal and…

‘The Republic of Dhobi Talao’ with filmmaker Rafeeq Ellias

It rarely makes it to the chronicles and tourist guides of south Mumbai but Dhobi Talao is a world unto itself — a mix of communities, spaces, old buildings and ways of life, and a smorgasbord of food served in…