Who moved my walking path?

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Why so sullen?" Lady Flora could recognise the scowl on Sir PM's face from a mile. "Seems as if you did not have a good Sunday." The friends were hoping to catch a glimpse of the stunningly lit façade that looked even more resplendent as Christmas drew close. "See this mark on my elbow?" He gestured to his right arm, while gently rolling up the sleeve of his kurta. It looked slightly swollen and was reddish in appearance. "Oh, my goodness! Whatever happened to you," Lady Flora shrieked. "I had dropped by to meet my school friend, Rustom, who was staying at the Grand Hotel in Ballard Estate. We decided to go for a ‘leisurely' stroll; little did I realise that even at 8 am on a Sunday, we would be greeted with season cricket balls flying around from every direction! Our walk was curtailed rather quickly because one of those cricket balls hit me on my elbow; the pain was reminiscent of my boyhood days of playing gully cricket. A rude awakening that one isn't young and these childish pursuits aren't worth it. I had planned a lovely walk in this quaint neighbourhood that Wittet had developed with fantastic vision but it wasn't to be…"

Lady Flora wanted to know more, "So, are you telling me that this is a recent development? Why don't they play in the maidans or open spaces?" Sir PM did an eyeroll. "Open spaces…ha! I don't think our city has ‘space' for it in its vocabulary. At least not any more. The encroaching of these quiet lanes and streets by cricket-crazy folk is another reminder of how starved the city is for spaces to engage in any kind of sporting activity. And one pastime is bound to affect another, as we are seeing with the cricket affecting strolling in this sub-precinct. It was going to happen sooner than later. With redeveloped buildings in particular using up all the surrounding space that used to once exist in front of each standalone building, where do people pursue these weekend activities? The maidans are already packed, as you would have seen. Oh, and there were other activities too - biker groups were vrooming around in top speed disturbing the charm of this scenic neighbourhood, as their compatriots filmed them, while in another street, a film shoot was underway; we were shooed away by rude safari-uniformed men who had cordoned off the area and behaved as if the King of England was to arrive any moment, and not even an ant could cut cross the boundaries. What audacity! I bet he wouldn't have been able to even spell Ballard Estate correctly," sighed Sir PM, while being extremely careful to not hurt his elbow as they made their way into the quiet calm of the place of worship and seated themselves in one of the back rows to enjoy the crisp evening breeze.

It was time for Lady Flora to speak up, "Now that you mention, I have been noticing this build-up even around my pedestal - Horniman Circle, leading up all the way to the steps of the Town Hall. It's a weekend circus, to put it mildly. Shoots happen on a daily basis, actually, which is all very fine but the timelines for these have gotten stretched. I spot people grazing around till the wee hours of morning, disturbing my beauty sleep. You should see the rows of canvas tents and barricades that block all of Horniman Circle. It's impossible to cross that area without being directed to use the inner lanes. There are shoots almost every day after sunset when the area empties out. This area has emerged as a goldmine for filming activity, and we cannot do a thing about it. They will say it's a ‘free-access' area…"

Sir PM took a long, deep breath and said, "All this reiterates what we've been saying for the past decade… that the city will pay the price for shrinking spaces. Where do people go - to play, for their leisure, and for a walk? While the nuisance factor that you are experiencing is difficult to curb, I wish and hope that civic authorities impose strict guidelines and fixed time slots so the general public is not inconvenienced, and charge heavy fines should they litter, or dare I add, damage the façades of these fine heritage buildings. I shudder to estimate how many window panes of offices in Ballard Estate have been broken, thanks to our champion batsmen."

By now, the lit-up façade of the cathedral had cast a warm glow. It was gorgeous. "While we are helpless about these new creatures of disruption and interfering elements, let's hope others are forewarned after reading this column and don't lose heart about finding ways to still pursue precious and pleasant Sunday pastimes in their beloved city," Lady Flora tried to end on a positive note. "We Bombaywallahs always find a way, right?" she winked.

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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