Movie-ing in the City!

Be it by the Hudson or East rivers' in NYC or the Arabian sea along the western coastline of Bombay, there is a mystical spell that the water's edge holds. Maybe because it's nature's most tangible element and visually, the most pleasing to the eye. Maybe because of it's dual nature, being the only natural element that can consume you and be consumed by you. Give it the backdrop of one of the most powerful skylines in the world and you have nature and man in a perfectly synchronous setting. I spent last evening in one such location.
The juxtaposing of the arts or art-related entertainments' with such semi-natural-semi-man made settings has been one of the commonly identified formula's for public activities in metropoli's such as NYC and Bombay. In Bombay - the music concerts at the Banganga Tank, In New York - the Brooklyn Bridge Park Summer Film Series.
The BBPC (Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy) is one organisation, that celebrates the spirit of the city by promoting public screenings of various films, all connected to Brooklyn in some way. There are numerous such summer fests ( mostly linked with parks) organised all over the city in the summer, more as an effort to optimise the few months of sunshine and beautiful weather that New York enjoys from April-August.
My mind went back to my days in Architecture school in Bombay, where on our annual function week-nights we shared a similar experience on the lawn, in school. Only, there was no backdrop other than the school building. Being stretched out on the lawn to watch a movie, together yet in closed huddles, was an enthralling experience by itself.
I also could'nt help wondering why Bombay's only drive-in theatre closed down and whether it's plans to re-open had worked out or not. Being a dedicated student of Urban Design, I had always wanted to include such public-related activities in my laboratories of design, then - Bombay/ Calcutta.
What could be the possible repercussions of a similar activity infused in sites such as the Bandra-Kurla drive-in theatre complex or even any of our own beach fronts?
Would such recreational activities work in a high-density city like Bombay where space ( even public) is at such a premium? Where our awareness levels and responsibilities towards the sanitation of our public spaces differ from those towards our own?
Where there are so many people without homes that such a public screening activity would actually mean encroaching upon people's spaces who actually live and sleep in the park?
Where the lines of demarcation between classes have become so distinct that perhaps the only people who would come to watch these movies in the first place, would be the homeless who inhabit the park?
All the movies being showcased at the BBPC's summer fest are easily accessible on DVD's or on the net. And they are screened on Thursday's, a weekday. Even then the movies run to packed audiences. This film fest is not as much about the films as it is about being part of an experience. It's about lying on the grass, by the river's edge and viewing - the celluloid or the skyline, is then just a matter of personal choice!

GOOD WATCH: Gandhi

Of Indian Summers' abroad and more...

So all of a sudden one fine morning it becomes so cool to be Indian....
...Like it wasnt enough that there already is an amazing aura surrounding the great country. It's party time if you're Indian these days!! India rocks -  it always has..only this time its rocking so hard that the world has noticed and continues to do so; having expanded its exports into the film/ music world, culture industry, fashion arena and health industry. There are possibly very few industries today that are left untouched by an Indian export. It's not a recent phenomena, this export, but its sudden increase in scale has suddenly made me sit up and notice. To site an example from the fashion world ( since I work on Fashion Avenue, it's what really made me write this piece)
I walked into a designer store today - BARAMI, selling kurtas with "zardozi" kind of embroidery, simply the most chique looking kurtas I ve ever seen, each for a whopping sum of $150. Translated in "Indian" (as against "Hindi", as my foreign co workers would confusedly say:), it's about Rs. 7200. Now even in India a kurta priced that steep would make me think twice if not just walk away from it, before I buy it. Or I would prefer another which was fully embroidered, rather than this measly name-sake embroidery on the neckline, for the same price.
In the U.S, especially in NYC, $150 is not an unthinkable figure for a chemise, so it's not unusual if there are women in Manhattan sporting desi-kurtas to work. It kind of steals my thunder, from my privilege of being the only one, wearing those "oh-what-excellent-fabric or oh-what-amazing-embroidery" kurtas. A cultural representative-of-sorts, you know:) Mind you, this privilege of flaunting my Indian clothes was a way of life in Los Angeles. In NYC on the other hand, it has kind of taken a backseat- though the printed pants have yet retained a certain measure of exclusivity atleast. After all there are a lot of kurtas, bangles, bindi's, mehendi tattoos, dangling desi-style earrings, kolhapuri chappals, jute beach bags that sport "GUTKHA" on them, bags with mirror-work on them, women with kohl lined eyes, all over Manhattan. And these are not just desi women, there are a significant number of white women who have adapted to this Indian attire too. Not surprisingly, there are concocted versions of wearing the same piece of clothing, in various ways and of course options of wearing them with/ without anything else. All permutations-combinations are welcome and in short, on a regular hot day in the NYC summer, you see lots of 'Indians' walking around in Manhattan- Indians by attire! This is probably, according to my analysis, since summer is predominantly an Indian season, so obviously we Indians know best how to combat it. Yah we may have not invented the bikini but we do primarily use the "white-transparent-cotton-fabric"....a lot of which, like I mentioned before is just seen floating over Manhattan all day.
It amazes me how there's all of Asia on one side and India on the other. Even if you're Paki or Bangladeshi, you're more or less passed off as Desi. That thus accounts for the "every 4th face is Indian" in NYC.
"You have a beautiful country"
"I wish I was born in India"
"I wish I was born a Hindu"
"Women in your country are so beautiful, it's as if they have mystery written all over their face and dark long hair"
"Can you make me a mehendi tattoo for my wedding day?"
"Can you bring me back 10 such shirts ( kurtas ) when you return from India?"
"Can you bring me back a "dhoti" and a long shirt ( kurta) from India?"
"Can you bring me some books on yoga, an ivory pipe and lots of fabric from India?"
"Can you teach me Mayur-asan?"
"Can you buy me some Indian classical music when you're coming back?"

...are all statements that have been made to me by white Americans. Examples of the new fad that's taking over Manhattan offlate.. 
And this last one tops all of the above. It was in an email from my ( male) Columbian- White American ex-roommate...
"When can I come for your wedding and see you wear the red dot on your forehead? Maybe I can sport one too at that time":)

GOOD WATCH: The English Patient

What do you think?

http://www.wtcsitememorial.org/ent/entI=832423.html

My first work after moving to NYC. On display at the World Financial Centre now!

GOOD WATCH: INDIA: Kingdom of the Tiger

Ditto!

“I would give the greatest sunset in the world for one sight of New York’s skyline. Particularly when one can’t see the details. Just the shapes. The shapes and the thought that made them. The sky over New York and the will of man made visible. What other religion do we need? And then people tell me about pilgrimages to some dark pesthole in a jungle where they go to do homage to a crumbling temple, to a leering stone monster with a pot belly, created by some leprous savage. Is it beauty and genius they want to see? Do they seek a sense of the sublime? Let them come to New York, stand on the shore of the Hudson, look and kneel. When I see the city from my window - No, I don’t feel how small I am, but I feel if a war came to threaten this, I would like to throw myself into space, over the city and protect these buildings with my body.”
- Dominique Francon in The FountainHead

Never felt more one with a fictional character before!

GOOD WATCH: Fahrenheit 9/11