Brickfields- History is etched in the urban.
Diaspora sensibilities have their own articulations. The Punjabi migrant worker selling masala chai is unmistakable. The photo of Swami Vivekananda in the flower shop next to the Kovil, and the realisation that history does not need to be performed, yet heritage has a tourist dollar value. The modern towers and office blocks share a historic terrain which the glass tower might not recognise, as the intangible cultural significance is hardly captured on a balance sheet.
The Ganesh Temple which shares its neighbourhood with three Hyderabadi biryani places and an Andhra Church nearby shows a part of Brickfields which is from current day coastal Andhra, and not Tamizh. The Sai Baba mandir with the two Sai Baba’s from Shirdi and Puttaparthi, and the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage poster in the same vicinity, depicts a global Hinduism, which is key to the idea of India from the diaspora.
The multiplicity of faith institutions in the enclave and the sheer density of it makes it global, from a Vihara to a Methodist Church.
Change Thinker 