Open spaces and all that talk

Well you are looking as if you struck goldrdquo Lady Flora remarked after she noticed that her friend Pheroze was in high spirits ldquoAs a matter of fact I am feeling quite richrdquo he replied much to the surprise of Lady Flora who did an eye roll ldquoI am back after a pretty successful run at the races I havenrsquot lost my touch after all They used to call me lsquoPunterrsquo back in the day for a darn good reasonrdquoLady Flora was all ears and wanted to hear more ldquoSo what made you return to the races It must have been a fairly big reasonrdquo Sir PM settled on his bench ldquoI heard all this buzz and chatter about sections of the racecourse being utilised for other things other activities I thought lsquoWhy not head there and experience some of the oldworld charm and excitement of the races Who knows for how long this original panorama will be retainedrsquo Honestly it was a bittersweet time my lady Despite the winning and allrdquoLady Flora had actually done her homework she was well versed on the recent developments and chimed in ldquoItrsquos supposed to be an amusement park a themed one is what I hear and a Central Park type space I am the outsider here but tell me Pheroze historically why has there been such interest in this piece of land So many other spaces are lying aroundscrap land even abandoned mills that can be transformed into these very same ideasrdquoSir PM took a long pause ldquoWell I too have been baffled by this talk my lady I remember those days when it was marshland And how rainwater and sea water would make a mess of the space In fact the original racecourse was in Bycullamdasha tony locality at the time Then it was decided to shift the racecourse here after epidemics started to affect Parel and Byculla due to sanitation issues It lost its sheen at that timerdquo he addedLady Flora opined ldquoI believe this new plan wonrsquot affect the races but some sections where horse riders train and yes which a large part of the population uses for their morning and evening walks jogging and so on I hear they are extremely upsetrdquoldquoAnd they should berdquo Sir PM nodded ldquoI mean look around us the city is growing larger with the number of highrises and their fancy gardens and walkabouts but what about public open spaces Arenrsquot we getting less sensitive to the needs of our citizens Open spaces are scarce People live in matchboxsized homes and yearn for some fresh airrdquoBy now both friends had reached Oval Maidan that green lung in the heart of SoBo ldquoLook how many games of cricket are being played in just that one sectiondoesnrsquot that tell you a storyrdquo Sir PM shared with his friend adding ldquo I feel quite helpless now that I am not in the mix of things you know To be able to speak my mind and assert my case about the threat to the racecourse I am sure many are looking at it as an opportunity to utilise the contested space for greater common good but I am not sure what that will lead to Also why disturb an existing popular public spacerdquoLady Flora made a valid point ldquoIf they are keen on doing something in this debated space creating a New Yorktype Central Park why not create a Japanese Miyawaki forest instead of this socalled proposed theme park It will continue to help those who avail of it now and lend an aesthetic sense to the place In any case your former bosses have been going to town about promoting this style of public gardens all of last year so why not take it up here as wellrdquo she reasonedldquoI agree Whatever be their plan the historicity and greenery of the space should not be disturbed Construction of any kind will only worsen things Itrsquos bad enough the city is grappling with insensitive monstrosities I propose that they invite a citybased architectural firm and expert urban planners to take up this contentious projectrdquo suggested Sir PM ldquoI second that And Pheroze do give it a shot if you can get these thoughts to your former bosses Surely you deserve to be heard Itrsquos a good time After all they did give your statue a good scrubrdquo she smiledmiddayrsquos Features Editor Fiona Fernandez relishes the cityrsquos sights sounds smells and stoneswherever the ink and the inclination takes her She tweets bombayanaSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycom