Bhuj
(AZHAR TYABJI)
RECONSTRUCTING THE HERITAGE CITY
How would one rebuild a beautifully crafted city after a devastation? This is the core question the book under review asks about the heritage town of Bhuj. A severe earthquake in 2001 severely damaged the 450-year-old city. Planners and organisations are busy rebuilding it ever since. How should the reconstruction proceed? Should the city''s heritage be completely reconstructed or should the damage and devastation seen as an opportunity, asks the author. The book pursues this question and simultaneously explores the tool of ethnography as an instrument to understand the social needs of the people. Tyabji is of the strong belief that ethnography will allow planners to immerse in their field of action and help prioritise reconstruction agenda.
Urban development
The book has six sections. It begins with an overview of the early urban development and its political connections. The relationship between the city and art development is subsequently explained and the emergence of unique neighbourhood units like the falias is discussed. The photographic archives are deeply explored to look at many iconic buildings and spaces in the next two sections. The fifth section deals with the gradual changes of Bhuj and the instantaneous devastation caused by the earthquake. The last section is about rebuilding, public participation and organisations involved in the reconstruction.
The book is more than extensively illustrated; it is a riot of photographs. At times this excess helps to cathartically release the sense of loss and the desire to get nostalgic. However, much to the credit of the author , he refrains from proposing a total reconstruction of the past. The economic change, disconnect between art, craft and craftsmen, the loss of well-knit neighbourhoods and the necessities of the present provide the restraint. The first person stories it is interspersed with are not only rich in detail but reflect the lingering memories of the past as also the present aspirations of the people. It is also consistent with its avowed objective to create a collaborative canvas.
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