Sunday, April 15, 2012

The Beggar Poet of India

229,478 items / 1,921,711 views

barefeet
on burning soles
of my poetry
i walk
slithering silence
a betrayal
of my love
for her
i wont talk
a warrior queen
her heart made
of impregnable rock
i came to
taj mahal
to bury my passions
my deleted desires
my foolhardy dreams
but more pain
i unlocked
a year now
i am shell
shocked
delusions
lost illusions
in myriad
moods
of emotion
by my own
silhouette
i am mocked

Jesus Weeps For Muslims Too

mumbai
attack at CST
a thundering bolt
out of the blue
the taj
the trident
the chabad house colaba
was always in the media news
the CST
victims
the forgotten few
waiting at the station
to go home wards
were shot down
the police still
searching for clues
the terrorists in the
name of Allah
love shooting Muslims
along with the Christian Hindu and the Jew
hate made home grown in Pakistan
you can see through and through
power more power
a heady brew
a non state actor
residence of Faridkot
in the terror attack
on India makes his debut
hate for India
hate for humanity
is what they pursue
on one corner
on Bakra Idd
at Bandra Bazar Road
Jesus weeps for the Muslims too
not all Muslims are Terrorists
with love in his eyes
he says this to me and you

The Last Will of the Sacrificial Goat

seeing me
shooting pictures
at banda bazar road
he took me aside
a wizened wizard
in a goats disguise
absolutely honest very wise
he said I have a few hours
to live
before I am sacrificed
my last will and testament
that should suffice
he gave me advice
whether you are a goat
a human
above your station
you must rise
aspiring for lofty
spiritual moments
reflected on earth
from a God
in starry skies
within your heart
is the home
that is paradise
lilting laughter
all things nice
if you can wipe the tears
in an orphans eyes
a good deed that remains
much after your demise
memorable moments
live forever
cosmically attached
fresh and spiced
though the mortal body dies

The Dead Indian

as little kids
red indians
cowboys
comics we read
injun gringo
fodder they fed
it was aways
the red indians
bad guys
the goody good
white cowboys
shot dead
on the soul of Hiawatha
tears that bled
sons of the soil
now in reservations
no feathers on their head
the body languishes
the dead soul fled


to benn bell

This Painting Mesmerized Me As a Street Poet

Sometime Once In a Blue Moon I Get Inspired By Your Pictures Too

MF Hussain Creation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Maqbool Fida Husain (Marathi: मकबूल फिदा हुसेन, Urdu: مقبول فدا حسين, Hindi: मक़बूल फ़िदा हुसैन) (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011[2]) commonly known as MF, was an Indian-born Qatari eminent painter. He has been widely regarded as the "Picasso of India" and has influenced a whole generation of artists in the country.[3]
Husain was associated with Indian modernism in the 1940s. A dashing, highly eccentric figure who dressed in impeccably tailored suits, he went barefoot and brandished an extra-long paintbrush as a slim cane. He never maintained a studio but he spread his canvases out on the floor of whatever hotel room he happened to be staying in and paying for damages when he checked out. He created four museums to showcase his work and had a collection of classic sports cars. Enormously prolific, a gifted self-promoter and hard bargainer, he claimed to have produced some 60,000 paintings, when questioned about such prolificity by Michael Peschardt of the BBC in one of the last interviews he gave on May 27, 2011, he replied that "All this talk about inspiration and moment is nonsense. Excuse us". He amassed a fortune but maintained a bank balance of zero. He applied the formal lessons of European modernists like Cézanne and Matisse to scenes from national epics like the Mahabharata, Ramayana and to the Hindu pantheon.[4]
His narrative paintings, executed in a modified Cubist style, can be caustic and funny as well as serious and sombre. His themes—usually treated in series—include topics as diverse as Mohandas K. Gandhi, Mother Teresa, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the British raj, and motifs of Indian urban and rural life. One of the most celebrated and internationally recognized Indian artists of the 20th century, he also received recognition as a printmaker, photographer, and filmmaker.

Born on September 17, 1915 in Pandharpur in Maharashtra to a Sulaymani Bohra family, Husain was mainly a self-taught artist. He made ends meet in his initial days by painting cinema hoardings in Mumbai, paid barely four or six annas per square foot. As soon as he earned a little bit he used to take off for Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes. Husain tried other jobs and one of the best paying was a toy factory where he designed and built toys.[5]
[edit]1940–1965
Husain first became well known as an artist in the late 1940s. In 1947, he joined the Progressive Artists' Group, founded by Francis Newton Souza.[6] This was a clique of young artists who wished to break with the nationalist traditions established by the Bengal school of art and to encourage an Indian avant-garde, engaged at an international level. His first U.S.A. exhibit was at India House in New York in 1964. In 1952, his first solo exhibition was held at Zürich and over the next few years, his work was widely seen in Europe and the US In 1955, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri award by the Government of India.[7]
[edit]1965–1990
In 1967, he made his first film, Through the Eyes of a Painter. It was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won a Golden Bear(Short Film).[8][9][10]
M. F. Husain was a special invitee along with Pablo Picasso at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1971.[9] He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1973 and was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1986.[9] He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1991.
[edit]1990–2011
Husain went on to become the highest paid painter in India. His single canvases have fetched up to $2 million at a recent Christie's auction.[11]
He has also produced & directed several movies, including Gaja Gamini (2000) (with his muse Madhuri Dixit who was the subject of a series of his paintings which he signed Fida). The film was intended as a tribute to Ms. Dixit herself.[12] In this film she can be seen portraying various forms and manifestations of womanhood including the muse of Kalidasa, the Mona Lisa, a rebel, and musical euphoria. He also appeared in a scene in film Mohabbat, which had Madhuri Dixit in lead role. In the film, the paintings that were supposedly done by Madhuri were actually Husain's.[13] He went on to make Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (with Tabu). His autobiography is being made into a movie tentatively titled The Making of the Painter, starring Shreyas Talpade as the young Husain.[14]
The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) (USA, Massachusetts) showed a solo exhibition from 4 November 2006 to 3 June 2007. It exhibited Husain’s paintings inspired by the Hindu epic, Mahabharata.
At the age of 92 Husain was to be given the prestigious Raja Ravi Varma award by the government of Kerala.[15] The announcement led to controversy in Kerala and some cultural organisations campaigned against the granting of the award and petitioned the Kerala courts. Sabarimala spokesperson, Rahul Easwar, went to Kerala High Court and it granted an interim order to stay the granting of the award until the petition had been disposed of.[16]
In early 2008, Husain's Battle of Ganga and Jamuna: Mahabharata 12, a large diptych, from the Hindu epic, fetched $1.6 million, setting a world record at Christie's South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art sale.[17]
His name was included in the list of the 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World,[18] issued by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Center in Amman, Jordan.
For the last years of his life he lived in Dubai and London, staying away from India, but expressing a strong desire to return, despite fears of arrest.[19]
[edit]Controversies

[edit]Portrayal of Hindu deities in nude
Indifferent to both religion and politics, Husain, a Muslim by upbringing, treated the gods and goddesses of Hinduism as visual stimuli rather than deities, depicting them unclothed and often in sexually suggestive poses.[20] This earned him the bitter hatred of Hindu nationalist groups, which beginning in the 1990s mounted a campaign of intimidation and violence against him.[4][21] The paintings in question were created in 1970, but did not become an issue until 1996, when they were printed in Vichar Mimansa, a Hindi monthly magazine, which published them in an article headlined "M.F. Husain: A Painter or Butcher".[4] In response, eight criminal complaints were filed against him. In 2004, Delhi High Court dismissed these complaints of "promoting enmity between different groups ... by painting Hindu goddesses – Durga and Sarswati, that was later compromised by Hindus."[22][23][24]
In 1998 Husain's house was attacked by Hindu groups like Bajrang Dal and art works were vandalised. The leadership of Shiv Sena endorsed the attack. Twenty-six Bajrang Dal activists were arrested by the police.[25] Protests against Husain also led to the closure of an exhibition in London, England.
In February 2006, Husain was charged with "hurting sentiments of people" because of his nude portraits of Hindu gods and goddesses.[26]
[edit]Mother India
In the 6 February 2006 issue, India Today, a national English weekly published an advertisement titled "Art For Mission Kashmir". This advertisement contains a painting of Bharatmata (Mother India) as a nude woman posed across a map of India with the names of Indian States on various parts of her body. The exhibition was organised by Nafisa Ali of Action India (NGO) and Apparao Art Gallery.[27][citation needed][28] Organizations like Hindu Jagruti Samiti and Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) have protested persistently against Husain displaying the painting on the websites and even in exhibitions in north Europe. As a result, Husain apologized and promised to withdraw the painting from an auction, which was later sold for Rs 80 lakh in the auction.[29][30] The painting later appeared on Husain's official website.
[edit]Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities
Husain's film Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities[31] was pulled out of cinemas a day after some Muslim organisations raised objections to one of the songs in it.[32] The All-India Ulema Council complained that the Qawwali song Noor-un-Ala-Noor was blasphemous. It argued that the song contained words directly taken from the Quran. The council was supported by Muslim organisations like the Milli Council, All-India Muslim Council, Raza Academy, Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind and Jamat-e-Islami. Husain's son stated that the words were a phrase referring to divine beauty that were being sung by the central character played by Tabu. He said there was no intention to offend. Following the wave of protests the enraged artist withdrew his movie from cinemas. The film was well received by the critics, however, and went on to win various awards.
[edit]Leaving India, Qatar nationality and projects
A series of cases were brought against Husain and a court case related to the alleged obscene depiction of Hindu goddesses in his paintings resulted in issuing a non-bailable warrant against him after he failed to respond to summons. There were also reportedly death threats.[33][34][35]
Husain, who left India stating that "matters are so legally complicated that I have been advised not to return home",[36] had been living abroad in self-exile since 2006.[37] He had expressed a strong desire to come back, despite fears that he may be arrested in connection with the cases against him.[37] Later a recent Supreme Court order suspended an arrest warrant for Husain.[38] In absence of dual citizenship, Union Home Secretary, GK Pillai, said that MF Husain was free to come back and would be provided security if he requested it.[39]
Qatari nationality was conferred upon him at the insistence of Qatar’s ruling family and had been living in Doha, spending his summers in London. He traveled freely except to India. His work in Qatar was mostly towards two large projects, the history of Indian civilization and the history of Arab civilization, the latter was commissioned by Qatar’s first lady – Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, wife of the Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. The works are to be housed in a museum in Doha.[40]
[edit]Supporters and critics

The artistic community was supportive[41] as well as critical. Krishan Khanna, one of Husain's contemporaries, stated that "It's not just Husain's but the entire artist community's lives which are at stake. Anybody and everybody can file a case against us now. Anyone can infringe upon our lives". Others who expressed anger at the "vicious campaigns" against Husain, include filmmaker Saeed Mirza, social activist Nafisa Ali, theatre personality M. K. Raina and a host of other artistes, art critics and art gallery owners. Salil Tripathi, writing in the International Herald Tribune, notes that Hindu goddesses have regularly been portrayed in the nude by Hindu artists. Tripathi asserted that,[42]
“It is hypocritical to place curbs on Husain's artistic freedom. What's more shameful is that a government that claims to be the secular alternative to Hindu nationalists is threatening to prosecute Husain. This does not do India proud; it adds to India's disgrace.”

Other Indian artists expressed criticism. Satish Gujral went on record to ask Husain whether he will be bold enough to treat icons of Islam in the same manner.[43] However Gujral stated that he deeply regretted the way Husain was treated and forced into an exile because of what he terms "the mob culture".[44][dead link] According to a senior Hindu artist and former President, Bombay Art Society, Gopal Adivrekar,[45]
“Nothing is bad in being creative but the artists should not go for such artwork, which may hurt the sentiments of a segment of the society.”

Writing in The Pioneer, Chandan Mitra wrote,[45][46]
“As long as such a law exists in the statutes, nobody can be faulted for approaching the courts against Hussain's objectionable paintings, nor can the judiciary be pilloried for ordering action against the artist for his persistent and deliberate refusal to appear before the court.”

In response to the controversy, Husain's admirers petitioned the government to grant Husain the Bharat Ratna, India's highest award. According to Shashi Tharoor, who supported the petition, it praised Husain because his "life and work are beginning to serve as an allegory for the changing modalities of the secular in modern India – and the challenges that the narrative of the nation holds for many of us. This is the opportune and crucial time to honour him for his dedication and courage to the cultural renaissance of his beloved country."[47]
On his part Husain stated that Hindu leaders have not spoken a word against his paintings, and they should have been the first ones to have raised their voice.[48]
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said[49][50][51]
“He only slipped up on the depiction of Hindu gods and goddesses. Otherwise, he was happy and content in his field. If his demise is a loss for modern art, then so be it. May his Allah give him peace!”

[edit]Death

M F Husain died, aged 95, on 9 June 2011, following a heart attack. He had been unwell for several months.[52] He died at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, and was buried in Brookwood Cemetery on 10 June 2011.[53] India's Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh said his death was a "national loss", and India's President Pratibha Patil said his death "left a void in the world of art."[54] The actress Shabana Azmi called him an "iconoclastic painter, a wonderful human being and a very good friend".[55][56][57] Talking about his self-imposed exile and death outside of India painter Akbar Padamsee said that it was a "pity that a painter as important as Husain had to die outside his own country because of a crowd of miscreants".[58]
[edit]References

Trying To Understand The New Google+



Is Childs Play



And lets not grumble whine or complain
lets make Google+ simple and plain

What White Spaces Those Are My Pristine Pure Thoughts ...



my garden
of eden
on google +
a sacred
human
loving plot
we are merely
connected
to each other
as very tiny dots
celestial social
spots..a line
that says
whether
you comment
dont comment
plus dont plus
but please
forget
me not


the new Google+
is HAWT

Now For God Sake Dont Ask Me Why The Fuck I Shoot Beggars .. Simply Because I am a Beggar Myself

Buying a Rich Fat Goat Is More Important Than Feeding The Poor Or Educating Them

This Muslim Mother Leads Her Daughter To Her Destiny.. Through Good Education



Myopic Muslim society barring folks like me and others like me see hope in Education , the old wizened Mullah sees closure of his shop..and that is how the story begins and ends.. to them education is a curse .. for me illiteracy is the worst.. a powrbubble that burst..a parched throat unquenchable inexhaustible thirst ..educate we must ashes to ashes dust to dust..or on the soul of humanity a thought rusts ,,,

The Street Slums of Bandra

This entire slum belongs to a printer family of Bandra , and I visited this many years back as one of my tailors had his workshop here , the backyard of this slum borders on the railway tracks and most of the slums were created by Muslim migrants from Uttar Pradesh..

Now all this land this depressing humanity is prime land ...every single square feet costs a bomb..I was eager that my American friend Dr Glenn Losack who shoots the poor the beggars take a room on rent and than feel relive the sufferings of the poor , merely shooting pictures only makes you a photographer but breaking bread with them living with them makes you human and a poet too.

My house is close to several slums but a more affluent slum , and if I got out of my cab I could go on shooting pictures forever..

I know where stories are held captive , I know my next picture before it happens , I can force a hijra to my vision and shoot him the moment he steps out of my mind in front of the camera ..

These are humble gifts I inherited as a Malang..

We heal through pictures poems and the pain of another man..

I wonder when guys with mocking smiles expensive cameras tell me thee is nothing to shoot in Mumbai..and I feel like telling them the picture is always pursuing us stalking us wanting to be noticed by all you kind guys out there ..
I am a minimalist shooter of Pain.

I feel it I share it..others see it GooglePlus It...

Why Am I Blocking 891 Good Folks on Flickr.Com

Most important aspect of social networking is giving respect even to those who see your pictures dont comment respond, I like them more they are the faceless few that add zing to a bloggers life..

I am blocking 891 people on Flickr on the other hand simply because they are hijras homosexuals transgenders wife sharers , genitalia showcasing nerds , I have nothing against their gender sexuality or their kinks.

But it affects me when they add me and I become a party to their kinks .. and this what I hate Flickr for . so I cant get rid of them unless I block them..

And this too will become a blog.. I have nothing against anyone's choice of artistry, I love nudes , fine art but it is a personal prerogative I wont force on someone.. though I dont shoot porn or nudes.

I could shoot Hijra nudes but the demarcation line between this kind of Art and Porn is very thin..

I am happy that you have time to see my work my world Danny Burke God Bless You and your Tribe..

Even Muslim Women Sell Their Wares at Budh Bazar



And I always feel pride seeing burkha clad women working on adding to the income of the family , and thereby giving a better standard of living to their children..

And than on the other hand you have the typical Muslim mentality governed by myopic fatwas religious edicts that forbids them to work, get them married at a young age to louts , old men divorcees in most cases .. and than when she fails to satisfy throw her out to beg on the streets the greatest curse being the Sunni Triple Talaq,.. 3 words and her marriage is over ..


And most of the women I have shot among the Muslim beggars have a sad tale to tell, some just enjoy begging I hardly ask questions I shoot in the face period.

My daughter in laws are home makers , they stay at home both educated take care of their kids , my daughter works , she is good at her job and she is into Social Media.

The Famous Street Wednesday Market of Mahim.. Budhbazar

I shoot pictures mostly from a moving cab, pictures that happen fast quick as rapid fire , and my sweet patient wife sits at the back watches mutely , without ever saying a word and this silence that she has absorbed on the back seat has made her a good photographer too.. she shoots me on the Canon EOS 7 D ..

Younger son takes the camera from me every night to shoot his pretty daughter Princess Fatima aka Zaira Saif Shakir.

Marziya Shakir is an impulsive shooter getting used to the roller skates her new present from my wife.

I come home from work at 9 as I have to walk home no ricksha and it is a grumbling walk, my legs hurt I have a diabetes related leg problems , but my wife is into aroma therapy has made a fantastic oil , that on application to the soles of my feet sends me to 9 heaven..

I crash, wake up at 5 am and restart my kick ass blogging..

Than at about 8 am I will go back to sleep..

Budh in Urdu means Wednesaday and this market is attached to the criwded Novena at St Michael Church Mahim

Today is Sunday at noon time I have to go to Mr Rajesh Khannas house for some urgent office work.

education saves the girl child from doom..



or later in life
for not bringing dowry
she gets unkindly
burnt by the family
of the bridegroom
the sad fruit
of loom
lit by a gas stove
her world goes boom

The Grave Situations are solved at this place

When we are broke penniless we are happy the day we become rich we cry and bitch..

In The Name of Baba Saheb Ambedkar They Made Parks Statues and White Elephants And Destroyed the Soul of Our Beloved Nation

In The Name of Baba Saheb Ambedkar They Made Parks Statues and White Elephants And Destroyed the Soul of Our Beloved Nation

These Are Migrants Discovering The Only City In India Where Hope Lives - Mumbai

This Is Loot Black Money Being Transferred To Swiss Banks On a Cycle

A City Where A Beggar Poet Lives

but not
in a tower
of babel
this beggar
native
shooting
the soul of
despondency
the pain
the agony
of those
underprivileged
to their fucked
cosmic fate
held captive
hungry
they eat
leftovers
a rich
god gives
sometimes
sleep on an
empty stomach
hungrily dream
of hope sweet olives

Bahrain Bleeds Because of a Tyrant Worse Than Yazid

lust for power
gluttonous greed
the cry of the people
he wont heed
with accursed
saudi arabia
power mad
america
imperialistic
hegemony
the wanting seed
batons breaking
skulls bones
mutually agreed
no it is not just syria
it is bahrain
that also a
holistic healing
touch needs
beyond
caste color or creed
may he become
human king hamad
al khalifa
godspeed
killing fields
the will of bahrain
hussain shields
wont surrender
succumb
their fate
sealed

The Khada Parsi Of Mumbai..

at the base
of his pedestals
semi dressed
voluptuously
volatile
mermaids
their balls
squeezed by
horny urchins
squirm and cry
horny guys
dope addicts
rub their crotches
while khada parsi
ashamedly
watches from
above the sky
muslim homeless
fornicate produce
children on the sly
who is the father
abdul or ismail bhai
as they live they die
tears on the soul
of apathy neglect
poorly fucked
khada parsi
of mumbai
oh please
transplant
him at
cusrow baugh
when you convert
mumbai into
shanghai

Flora Fountain Mumbai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Flora Fountain, at the Hutatma Chowk (Martyr's Square), is an ornamentally and exquisitely sculpted architectural heritage monument located at the southern end of the historic Dadabhai Naoroji Road, called the Mile Long Road, at the Fort business district in the heart of South Mumbai, Mumbai, India. Flora Fountain, built in 1864, is a fusion of water, architecture and sculpture, and depicts the Roman goddess Flora. It was built at a total cost of Rs. 47,000, or 9000 pounds sterling, a princely sum in those days.[1]




Photograph of Flora Fountain taken prior to 1904
History of the Flora Fountain is traced to the time when the Old Mumbai Fort was demolished in 1860 as part of the then Governor, Sir Bartle Frère’s efforts to improve civic sanitation (municipal improvements) and the urban space requirements of the growing city. Prior to this demolition, the Fort had been built between 1686 and 1743 by the British East India Company with three gates (the Apollo Gate, the Church Gate and the Bazaar Gate), a moat, esplanade, level open spaces on its western fringe (to control fires) and residences. A small road called the Hornby Road, named after the then Governor of Bombay (Mumbai) between 1771 AD and 1784 AD, also existed at the old Fort area.[2][3] Consequent to the demolitions, the Hornby road was widened into a broad avenue and on its western side commercial plots were developed to build new commercial buildings in Neo Classical and Gothic Revival designs. The Hornby road, now named as Dadabhai Naoroji Road (D.N.Road), developed into a veritable sight of colonial splendor with Crawford Market linked to the Victoria Terminus anchoring the northern end and the Flora Fountain, forming the southern end of the Mile Long Road.[4] The Flora Fountain was erected at the exact place where the Church gate (named after St. Thomas Cathedral, Mumbai ) stood before its demolition along with the Mumbai Fort. It was constructed by the Agri–Horticultural Society of Western India, out of a donation of Rs 20,000 by Cursetjee Fardoonjee Parekh. Designed by R. Norman Shaw, it was sculpted in imported Portland stone by James Forsythe. A white coat of oil paint has to some extent marred the antiquity of the structure.[1] The fountain was originally to be named after Sir Bartle Frère, the Governor of Bombay at the time, whose progressive policy had resulted in many of the great public buildings of Mumbai.[5] However, the name was changed before the fountain was unveiled as Flora Fountain, named after Flora (mythology), a Roman Goddess of flowers and the season of spring; her majestic and pretty Portland stone statue adorns the top of the fountain. The four corners of the fountain are decorated with mythological figures.[6][7][8][9] The fountain was originally intended to be built at the Victoria Gardens at Byculla but, in 1908, the grass plot and the palm trees that had camouflaged the fountain were cleared for creating space for pedestrians and horse–traffic between the tram lines and the kerb of the fountain.[5]
[edit]The Chowk

Further information: Hutatma Chowk


The Hutatma Chowk memorial with the Flora Fountain, on its left in the background
From the time the Flora Fountain was built in 1864 and until 1960, the Chowk (square) where five streets meet (hence, also known as the Picadilly Circus of Mumbai[9]) and the fountain stands now, was named as the Flora Fountain area. But in 1960, to commemorate the martyrdom of the brave people who laid their lives in the turbulent birth of Maharashtra State at the square, it was christened as Hutatma Chowk with an impressive stone statue bearing a pair of torch holding patriots. The Flora Fountain, surrounded by the British Victorian era heritage buildings, is very much part of the Chowk and has been declared a heritage structure and it continues to charm visitors with its beauty and with its spray of water. It sits admirably well alongside with the Hutatma statue which adorns the Chowk. (Picture depicts the two structures).[6] It was the decision of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly that recommended to the[10] Government to take necessary steps to erect as early as possible a memorial at Flora Fountain in Bombay in commemoration of the sacrifices of the persons who died on the police firing at Flora Fountain in Bombay in the month of November 1955.
[edit]Signage project

The large sized signboards and hoardings erected around the Flora Fountain precincts marred the beautiful view of the fountain and also of the other heritage buildings surrounding it, in spite of the Heritage Regulations of Greater Bombay, Act 1995 in force to stop such activities. The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) and public spirited people of the area conscious of the developing chaotic conditions in the area took action to redress the situation. With the help of a group of architects appointed by MMRDA, a report titled “Dadabhai Naoroji Road Heritage Streetscape Project”, which addressed the problems and provided designs and plans, was prepared by the MMRDA. But action on ground was initiated by the architects who prepared the report in association with the local shopkeepers, occupants and commercial establishments in the street and the local municipal officer who implemented, voluntarily, the regulation of the shop fronts and signage; the expenses for relocation and redesign of the shop signs were borne by each individual establishment. The L.G. and Cine Blitz hoardings, which used to display latest film gossip, at the fountain were targeted for relocation, apart from other hoardings along the Dadhabhai Naoroji Road.[2][4] The pilot project’s plans fructified and resulted in the setting up of a citizen's association (of the various occupants, owners, corporate establishments and shopkeepers on the Dadabhai Naoroji Road) called “The Heritage Mile Association” , as a non–profit group, with the objective to restore the heritage character of the Dadabhai Naoroji Road through public participation and private sponsorship. These efforts have also resulted in the UNESCO’s “Asia-Pacific Heritage Award of Merit in the year 2004” bestowed on the MMRDA.[4] A public spirited doctor by profession filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in 2002, in the Bombay High Court, against the proliferation of hoardings in the city. The court directed the Heritage Committee to look at the feasibility of hoardings in heritage areas. The Heritage Committee passed a resolution that said “that all hoardings on individual heritage buildings or in heritage precincts must be removed.” The Bombay High Court in its judgment of May 5, 2004, upheld the Heritage Committee’s resolution and ordered that the billboard agencies should remove all hoardings from heritage precincts in the city within four weeks.[2]

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