A city mosaic through memories and maps
BENGALURU: Who does Bengaluru belong to? What does a community space mean to you? Do you notice people contributing to society as you walk through streets? What was your journey from school to home like? What does home mean to you? Is it the place you were born in? What phase of life do you think Bengaluru is in -- infancy, teenage or old age? Friday saw a group of 30 people take a walk through Sadashivnagar and reflect on these, and more, questions as part of a memory mapping project.
The event was organised for City Scripts – an urban writings festival held by Indian Institute for Human Settlements – and was facilitated by Arzu Mistry and Aliyeh Rizvi. The first part of the event had the group take a two-hour walk, beginning at Sankey Tank and moving to other spots, and picking up interesting tidbits about the area. Long-time residents shared anecdotes of the area, including the many animal and bird sightings possible in the old days, an outreach library that no longer exists, and the London-Sydney rally that went through Bengaluru.
“But this is not a heritage walk,” clarified Rizvi, a history writer. “Rather, it’s an interpretive one that encourages reflective thinking.” Agreed Mistry, who is a faculty member at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology. She added, “The walk is like a trigger that brings out layers of information. So though at Sadashivnagar, one could remember something about where they live, about home, a connection or maybe even belonging.”
They then took the participants through a process of memory mapping – physical maps made on A3 paper – which will be put into a book. This was the fifth such workshop, with previous editions taking place in Cubbon Park and Malleswaram. “The idea is to just share a story since everyone’s is different. Right now, there’s a lot of tension about migration and the potential homogenisation of a place. So one of the aims is to not allow a single story to exist and have as many different ones as possible,” said Mistry.
The event had varied impact on participants.
For Arunima, a student of urban design in Bhopal, the walk changed her view of the city. “I always thought it’s just skyscrapers. But I learned about the palaces, lakes and statues, which told me about its heritage,” she said. Tanushree Menon, another student who has been living her for six months, said the walk showed her a new side to the city. “I grew up in Dubai so I’m used to cities being noisy and full of distractions. But this was nice and quiet,” she said. Sitaram Sujir, on the other hand, has been a Bengaluru resident for over 20 years, but still chose to attend the event to learn more about the city he grew up in. Others like Ranjini, who has lived here for 42 years, wanted to understand what could be done for Bengaluru. “We all want to figure out a solution. Sometimes, those ideas get concretised in groups like this,” she said. The memory maps will be on display at IIHS till Feb 23.