Mumbai: Apna bhi time aayega, says this clock tower

Mumbais frantic pace of life has been epitomised by a new artwork that is turning heads The cusp of MahimBandra now has an installation inaugurated on November 13 This is a 40foothigh clock tower with figures of people from varied walks of life a dabbawalla fireman and students below looking up at the towerThe entire work is called lsquoThe Spirit of Mumbai Towerrsquo The message is that the megapolis where life is usually at Formula One pace is ruled by the clock Nitin Kulkarni Artlusionrsquos director said from his Mahim office ldquoThe project took roughly six months from conceptualisation to completion I was told to do something different and I knew it had to be eyecatching given that this is a very traffic dense spot I wanted Mumbaikars to look at this and start thinking and talkingrdquoMumbai meansArtist and creator Kulkarni wanted to capture what he called was the ldquoessencerdquo of the city ldquoWhat better way to encapsulate this than time Mumbai dances to the tune of the time Everybody is looking at their watches they all have to reach somewhere at some particular time That is what this art work hopes to capturerdquoThe clock tower all lit upThe clock tower concept Kulkarni said ldquoCame up after MLA Ashish Shelar called and asked me to look at installing an apt artwork on that traffic island That spot is always buzzing Drivers and passengers are stalled there for many minutes as cars from the Bandra Worli Sea Link BWSL descend at the site and so does the traffic from South Mumbai going towards Bandra Cars on the opposite side move south The art work we decided should be of a scale that should attract attention It should be immediately visible for those in the car This is not a pedestrian patch as this has significant vehicle congestionrdquoThe inspirationThe Spirit of Mumbai tower is inspired by the Rajabai Clock Tower in Fort South Mumbai The clocks on the Spirit of Mumbai tower chime every hour If it is 1 pm there is one chime 3 pm three chimes and 11 pm there are eleven chimes ldquoYou can hear it above the traffic noiserdquo smiled Kulkarni The tower itself is made of Glass Reinforced Concrete GRC Then there are a number of figures around the clock tower at ground level ldquoThese are made of bolts We have nuts and bolts I have made these out of those boltsrdquo said Kulkarni The figures below the clock tower are of people from different strata of life that make the city lsquotickrsquo said the creator There are at least 12 figures that of a policeman a farmer school boy coolie sweeper businessman lawyer fisherman doctor nurse dabbawalla and fireman ldquoThe idea is to have a broad generalisation of people we may encounter or interact with daily Kolis for instance are part of Mumbairsquos identityrdquo said Kulkarni ldquoBandra itself as an area has tremendous diversity and so this work aims to capture the wide spectrum of people the western suburb represents as wellrdquo explained the creatorBeauty focusldquoThere was a challenging phase while this was being maderdquo said Kulkarni who claimed some material was filched by the ldquoVagrants and we presume by some drug addicts in that area Things were eventually sorted once cops were brought inrdquo said the artist ldquoI am confident it will be maintained by civic authorities Our moment of joy as creators is to actually watch people peering out of car windows or taking out their mobiles for pictures even as the vehicle is stalled in traffic They can also have something to blunt their frustration as the car moves ahead just an inchrdquo laughed Kulkarni who believes ldquoStreet art is necessary in this city Projects need to be well thought out Why do people come to Mumbai It is a place for their dreams and city of hope so beautification is part of the lure of this space The installation and space around is lit up once dusk falls It is also made on a slight incline for better visibilityrdquo For locals too the lsquoSpirit of Mumbai Towerrsquo can work as a conversation starter the creator said40 FeetHeight of clock tower art work