If the sprawling Katha Asia International Utsav "" held at Delhi's India Habitat Centre this week "" had an overriding theme, it was interconnectivity and participation. Festival co-director Sushma Bahl repeatedly emphasised the need for citizens to be personally involved in the development of their cities. Sri Lankan writer and filmmaker Tissa Abeysekara pointed out how fragmented city life has begun: "There is no communal living". Charles Landry, regarded an authority on city futures, remarked that "putting ideas into practice is all-important".
The main idea behind the event was to foster responsible citizenship but this doesn't begin to convey the scale of the festival, which was a pot pourri of seminars, discussions, exhibitions, interactive workshops and film screenings, all built around the city theme. Unlike many other events on this scale, the programme schedule was available well in advance, and while there were a few last-minute changes, that was par for the course.
Students were especially enthusiastic participants: writing contests were organised for them and architecture students read out proposals for slum development, which they had prepared beforehand.
"It was heartening to see the extent of youth participation," says Bahl, "especially since the festival was conceived as an all-inclusive project. We have become too accustomed to seeing city planners planning away, but there is no real dialogue "" no sense of what direction people would like to see their city take. That's one thing we wanted to amend."
There are many ways forward, says Charles Landry, citing the example of a city he once worked in where "a tradition was started whereby citizens would gather near the waterfront in the evening, light torches and admire their city's vistas by that light. You'd be surprised at what this sort of thing can do to build solidarity."
Landry, who founded Comedia, an organisation working for creative cities, also cites the example of a building near a city centre, which had a large mural of flying swans painted on it. "It sounds like a corny idea on paper, but the transformative effect was a powerful one. After talking to many residents I realised they were all saying the same thing: that they felt a surge of joy every time they walked past the building."
More practically, "a city must be thought of as a living work of art. Everything "" people, buildings "" is a resource that can be used for improvement." And the implementation of ideas is more important than coming up with those ideas, he stresses.
Abeysekara has a historical perspective on the development of city-life. "When cities first began to grow," he says, "they were seen as repositories of sophistication and culture "" as centres where artists would flock for patronage. Today, however, we see that most south Asian cities have become associated with corruption "" look at the perpetual theme in films where the Big Bad City is contrasted with the simplicity of rural life."
Abeysekara believes this is largely a byproduct of colonialism and that there's no real going back to the good old days. "One thing that can be done, however, is that cities can be integrated into mainstream culture. As things stand they are on the outside of culture." He has a point but it feels somewhat contrary to hear these words, given that we are smack-dab in the middle of a well-organised, expansive cultural event right in the middle of Delhi.
Inevitably, some of the special guests used the main theme of the festival as a launchpad to discuss broader topics associated with their areas of specialisation. Author Kiran Nagarkar, for instance, began his delightful talk by mentioning some peculiarities of his city. "Marathi is the language of the state and yet most Mumbai-ites refuse to speak it "" barring hardcore Maharashtrians," he said.
But he then went on to speak about the rapid dying out of languages, and how schools should make the learning of four languages compulsory. "It will open up the dead pathways in our brain, expand our ways of thinking and help us become more tolerant of other people."
