14th April 2021
The under-construction Mumbai Metro is actually an art installation. It’s there to stay forever, for Mumbaikars to get stuck in traffic and get a golden opportunity to gaze at it. This is not a rant, I am not being sarcastic either, I get this golden opportunity quite often and here’s why I call it an art installation.
Those mega structures, though still under construction, you can make out how those big blocks, bigger than the entire city, stand tall between the two skylines. Between the constant wasteful honking, you notice the men, the men at work, most of them working on minimum wages, they come from the poorest of backgrounds, hardly any education, yet their hands are soon to be trusted by billions of families as their kin rides the metro. Now I know, civil engineers, hopefully well read, are the brains behind the metro, but I tell you this is an art installation because it’s those poor hands that get it done.
It’s art and artists need no degrees. So never tell me a formal degree is above all, especially if you meet me on a metro.