Community Chronicles - Question of Cities

For sustainable cities, begin by ‘seeing’ the unseen people in them

When people migrate to cities to make a living, they join the deprived urban classes in living a life of bare existence in hostile or inhospitable settings that are characteristic of large cities. Together, this large swathe of urban population…

Adivasis in cities: From people to paupers

A complex set of factors from displacement by huge development projects to landlessness and inadequate employment opportunities has pushed adivasis from their…

Mumbai’s Kolis are living on the edge on their own turf

The Kolis, earliest inhabitants of the city when it was still an archipelago, have shaped the city. They helped landfill the sea…

Mumbai’s shiny new Coastal Road spells doom for the city’s Kolis

Lives and livelihoods of the oldest inhabitants of Mumbai, the Kolis, have been drastically affected ever since the Coastal Road construction began.…

Urban festivals: Beyond art are difficult dialogues and political mobilisation

Cities have had a romance with urban art and culture festivals for centuries. Festivals showcase their most fetching aspects, display local talent…

‘Urban art festivals are event-centric. They can be visceral provocations and part of a larger ongoing public discourse’

It was the festival time in Mumbai with a number of them making the most of the city’s short-lived winter. Each neighbourhood…

Urban landscape changes as stories, talents emerge from Mumbai’s lesser-known public spaces

The Govandi Arts Festival was an event of many firsts. It brought together communities and people who shared one platform, but many…

Creating the right environment and spaces to make voices heard

Organising an urban festival is like weaving a multi-colour quilt. One of the many challenges is curating the events which will draw viewers but managing to keep the focus on the theme, another is to work with local communities and…

Walk through Mumbai’s oldest dock, meet its fishing community

At the 147-year-old Sassoon Dock, at the very tip of Mumbai, the organised mess and noisy routine involves thousands of people who…