Chasing pavements

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Should I give up or should I just keep chasing pavements…" Lady Flora's singalong to a song that she was listening to on her headphones was audible enough for Sir PM to latch on to the lyrics. As he approached her seated at their usual bench located inside the Cooperage Bandstand, he was quite surprised, and pretty curious about the trigger for her sonic moment. Sir PM's attention was partially split between that and his new obsession - a Kodak camera that the missus had gifted him on World Photography Day, since he had shown a renewed interest towards his one-time passion. He was clicking away at everything around him, until he came in front of his friend, and she had to discontinue her private singing session. "Excuse me, Pheroze!" she frowned, expressing her displeasure, "You know that I am not a fan. Yes, I oblige tourists but that cannot be helped," she smiled; her irritation had ceased after she saw her friend's harmless enthusiasm.

"So, what is all this music about pavements, my Lady?" Sir PM probed his friend, after he realised it would be sensible to give the camera a break, especially since the last few frames were a disaster. "I found this song, Chasing Pavements, written and performed by this British lassie…Adele, she's quite a sensation, I believe. And this particular song is about love and relationships, but its lyrics resonate with the fading footpaths here. It's a bizarre connection. But there is a line that says, "…even if it leads nowhere..." Honestly, if civic apathy about pedestrians continues, we will have no place left to walk in the city. Each new road being redone results in even less space to walk. Look at the newly-reopened and [mis-alligned] Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, or the re-paving of footpaths around areas where the Metro lines are coming up. They have all been heavily compromised," Lady Flora thundered.

Sir PM listened to his friend's concerns. "My lady, come to think of it, this phasing out of an essential public facility has caused immense damage to countless Bombaywallahs. And if my memory is right, it has increased manifold ever since the multiple infrastructure projects took off simultaneously across the city and its suburbs. I recall telling Dr Viegas of how I noticed that a road right outside my usual route to the agiary had been re-laid, which was all very well, but guess what? In its second avatar, the pavement had become smaller, and before I could realise, hawkers had taken over most of it. I felt as if it was an obstacle course that I had to negotiate every single day. If only my weary ankles could speak, they'd have a mouthful to share with the contractor of this project," he sighed. As both of them strolled on the pavement that lined the Oval Maidan, they were grateful for heritage guidelines that protected this stretch. However, as soon as they reached the gullies off Colaba Causeway, they immediately noticed the narrowing of walking spaces, thanks to a host of issues, from broken tiles, dangerous partially-open segments, to vendors who had bullied their way on to these pavements.

"It's a growing threat, my Lady," remarked Sir PM; "Only last week, cousin Siloo had to make an unfortunate last-minute cancellation for a family lunch because she lost her footing while walking on a broken pavement en route to our grand Navroze celebrations. We were so looking forward to meeting her after months, and instead we had to pay her a visit at Parsee General the next day; poor thing, her foot is in a cast now!" Lady Flora felt awful for Siloo but hearing this enraged her even more. "You should table a report to your former bosses about this fast-increasing headache for pedestrians. Draft a watertight, research-backed paper using past examples when footpaths were wider in your time, as the city was being built and roads were shaped across its length and breadth. You have all the data and a fantastic memory. Now all you need to do is join the dots and present a solid report. Soon, we won't have even a foot's space to walk on in our city," she suggested. Sir PM was impressed and thrilled that his friend thought so highly of his capabilities.

"That's a fantastic idea. Cousin Siloo will be only too happy to share her traumatic episode. And there will be countless others, too. Mostly those of us who frequently visit the agiary and who have witnessed this transformation first-hand," Sir PM spoke, the sense of purpose was pretty evident.

"Pheroze, I'll be happy to help, you should know, and my friends in Colaba are waiting for this initiative to get started. This lack of sensitivity for pedestrians has to end. It seems like in this current state of affairs, they imagine that everyone owns a car or has a Bombay-centric superpower to negotiate these daily horrors," she signed off, sarcasm and intent firmly intact.

mid-day's Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the city's sights, sounds, smells and stones...wherever the ink and the inclination takes her. She tweets @bombayana

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