Will Mumbai have its own Times Square?

Growing up in Mumbai several decades ago many felt that Bombayrsquos spiritual home was indeed New York specifically Manhattan It was another matter that thanks to prohibition in the 1970s spirits were banned in the city Instead the lsquovibrantrsquo underworld that fed off smuggling gold and liquor made you feel a bit like Chicago Okay KiddingBut whether Mumbai and Manhattan have anything in common at all it will not come from an artificial creation of Times Square whether in the heritage precinct of Kala Ghoda or anywhere else as proposed by the Central government Times Square for the tourists who visit New York is about freedom diversity choice culture entertainment and outrageous glamour Times Square is just at the corner of Broadway the theatre headquarters of USAKala Ghoda is one of Mumbairsquos recent cultural tourist successes It has become a confluence of heritage art and culture and that makes its annual festival a massive draw Mumbai may be Indiarsquos commercial capital but the Kala Ghoda festival puts Mumbai on a cultural maprdquo File PicWhat part of Mumbai fits that description Our authorities run for cover whenever they meet the outrageous and then fire arrows in the most cowardly manner behind the facade of moral policing It is hard to imagine how the Bombay Police Act would be applied at Times Square or anywhere in New York mdash the whole population in jail perhapsNo Times Square is a state of mind and India does not have it We have not yet in almost 70 years understood the concepts of freedom of speech and expression and we use culture and tradition as an excuse to stamp out originality A city where a painting by MF Husain has to be hastily removed from the walls of a luxury hotel for fear of offending someone is not a city which can understand Times SquareAnd then therersquos the idea of improving tourism in Mumbai and picking on Kala Ghoda As it happens Kala Ghoda is one of Mumbairsquos recent cultural tourist successes It has become a confluence of heritage art and culture and that makes its annual festival a massive draw For those two weeks mdash in spite of carping and quibbling by residents mdash performance art literary discussions music theatre dance art food handicrafts and so much more jostle for attention Mumbai may be Indiarsquos commercial capital but the Kala Ghoda festival puts Mumbai on a cultural mapBright neon signs and live video streaming will not only detract from that mdash and who knows what those residents will say mdash but will also be pointless Besides Kala Ghoda is a citizensrsquo initiative Government grants to destroy its ethos are hardly what it requires A leafy area with heritage buildings and art galleries and iconic institutions like the Bombay Natural History Society BNHS mdash does it really need massive neon signsIf Mumbairsquos tourism potential needs to be improved and New York is what yoursquore looking at then why not drop the hypocrisy that politicians try and enforce Stop worrying about the lengths of womenrsquos skirts or the fact that people drink alcohol or stay up late at night or public displays of affection To make Mumbai like New York take another look at the laws that govern restaurant timings drop the archaic Bombay Police Act and get rid of the concept of lsquopermit roomsrsquo Open your mind to the 21st centuryAnd if there is indeed money to spend on this concept revisit Times Square and take a look at Broadway Maybe if the money to be spent on hoardings could be given to the theatre in Mumbai The cityrsquos once grand traditions of Marathi Gujarati Hindi and English theatre could do with a little help Make some part of Mumbai the theatre precinct and fill it with as many lights as you want A little bit of Broadway Times Square and Londonrsquos West End all here in some part of Mumbai plus generous grants for theatre companies After that the lights will come by themselves The Centre wonrsquot have to pay for themEven better go back to the drawing board and forget these silly gimmicks that will do nothing to improve Mumbai tourism potential Everyone can see through them for what they are To paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel it is politicians expecting us to bow and pray to the neon god they have madeRanjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on twitter ranjona