Mumbai: Apna bhi time aayega, says this clock tower

Clock tower art work at Mahim-Bandra cusp is about a metropolis moving at megawatt speed, with one eye always on the clock

Mumbai's frantic pace of life has been epitomised by a new artwork that is turning heads. The cusp of Mahim-Bandra now has an installation inaugurated on November 13. This is a 40-foot-high clock tower, with figures of people from varied walks of life, a dabbawalla, fireman and students below looking up at the tower. 

The entire work is called, ‘The Spirit of Mumbai Tower’. The message is that the megapolis where life is usually at Formula One pace is ruled by the clock. Nitin Kulkarni, Artlusion’s director, said from his Mahim office, “The project took roughly six months from conceptualisation to completion. I was told to do something different and I knew it had to be eye-catching given that this is a very traffic dense spot. I wanted Mumbaikars to look at this and start thinking and talking.”

Mumbai means

Artist and creator Kulkarni wanted to capture what he called was the “essence” of the city. “What 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 capture”.

The clock tower all lit up

The clock tower concept, Kulkarni said, “Came 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 congestion.”

The inspiration

The 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. “You can hear it above the traffic noise,” 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, “These are made of bolts. We have nuts and bolts. I have made these out of those bolts,” said Kulkarni. The figures below the clock tower are of people from different strata of life that make the city ‘tick’ 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. “The idea is to have a broad generalisation of people we may encounter or interact with daily. Kolis, for instance, are part of Mumbai’s identity,” said Kulkarni. “Bandra itself as an area has tremendous diversity and so this work aims to capture the wide spectrum of people, the western suburb represents as well,” explained the creator.

Beauty focus

“There was a challenging phase while this was being made,” said Kulkarni, who claimed some material was filched by the, “Vagrants and we presume by some drug addicts in that area. Things were eventually sorted once cops were brought in,” said the artist. “I 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 inch,” laughed Kulkarni, who believes, “Street 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 visibility.” For locals too, the ‘Spirit of Mumbai Tower’ can work as a conversation starter, the creator said. 

40 Feet
Height of clock tower art work

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