Anonymous Dwellers

A city is always more than its buildings and streets. The built provides a stage set for stories, energies and ideas. Even those seemingly solid territories of "real" cities, have some fantasy to their construction. In the following essay, I examine, four different animals, whose roles define the people who inhabit this city. A society that produces design embeds that design with an array of implicit directions and meanings.


parrot:

The city breathes belief in various forms. Here, with the saint and his mausoleum in the backdrop, they say his powers have kept floods at bay. I wonder if that is true, but here, even belief systems are packs of lies. Dictated by a master, I pick pre-determined fortunes, and make it a thing of fate. Countless believers visit my booth, swooned by the smell of roses that actually do not belong here. It is a set up for the magical. It is a simulation, and I perform every day.


donkey:

In the endless network of carriages and autos, we tread the roads of Saddar every day, delivering freshly washed cloths at doorsteps. In the same houses, where drawing rooms are clad in velvet, I am a symbol of stupidity - more formally known as the Gadha . I work endlessly to provide a living for my master. My loyalty makes me look like a fool.

monkey:

Traffic signals become places of entertainment he makes me wear hats, salute to adults and children, and hop around on front windows. I smile gleefully, almost pretentiously, making my audiences laugh. It is all an act; with my neck chained to his hand, this performance, is not that of freedom. It liberates the minds of people- afleeting moment of gratification- in this city fraught with violence and drama. They roll up their windows, I hop down with my head hanging yet again, and I realize, I have only two minutes until the next act.


camel:

"Funland", a theme park which is just 2 kilometers north of the beach is an empty sight every day. Instead throngs of people come to "Seaview" beach strip. My long neck is covered with garlands of florescent yellows and reds. It is a colorful affair against the grey and blues of the water behind. But again, just like my bird friend who tells stories of the future by the mausoleum, I assure you this is all a set-up. I donot belong here really. The endless sand dunes of Sindh are home. Here, itjust so happens, that I carry children and adults on my hump, walk distances, and suddenlyI become a frame, a way of experiencing the sea. Muchlike a wanderer against this dramatized theme park, I wander away, slowly forgetting home.

Cities and myth have had a long and historical relationship - the two are beautifully linked. The city that I present to you now is a myth of sorts. A circus fraught with many contradictions, where animals play the role of clowns, become slaves and tell stories of the future. Here, the real, becomes the fictional. But rest assured, all characters are real, but work as metaphors.