In the not-so-distant past, I found myself wandering around the ramparts of the Aguada Fort that juts out into the Arabian Sea in Goa. This Portuguese military stronghold, built in the early 1600s to protect its Portuguese citizens against Dutch and Maratha invaders, has survived the winds, monsoon rains and crashing waves for over 400 years. If its red laterite walls could talk they would tell tales of pirates, traders, travellers and explorers and brag about how they have been one of the few forts in India never to have been conquered by an enemy!
Although a splendid example of Portuguese military architecture, Aguada Fort, like the many historical marvels found across India, gives us only a glimpse of what life would have been like during its heyday. Even though the fort is but a pale shadow of its former glory, I wondered, as I strolled around the bastions, if, during its construction, the engineers, craftsmen and labourers ever imagined how their daily endeavours would eventually become a monument to Portuguese skills and ingenuity, hundreds of years into the future?
Today, over four centuries later, another monument to man’s engineering skill and ingenuity is being constructed. This time it is not blocks of red laterite that are being carefully placed together but rather immense masses of cement infused with steel reinforcement. The ever-growing “Metro”, snaking its way through in the city of Mumbai, is truly a sight to behold and is so much more than just the dust, noise and traffic inconvenience we contend with during our daily commute!
I travel under, over and beside the unfolding structure as I travel to work each day and I must be honest when I say that this construction project is truly incredible! The Mumbai Metro is not beautiful in a traditional sense, heck it is not the Taj Mahal nor is it one of the breathtaking palaces at Udaipur. But what this ugly duckling lacks in aesthetic appeal is more than compensated for in the sheer scale of the construction…the Mumbai Metro is huge! The pillars are huge, the spans are huge, the ever-growing platforms are huge! Everything about the Metro is huge, huge, HUGE!
Everything about the Metro is huge, huge, HUGE!
In addition to the physical construction itself, what truly inspires me is the forethought, planning, management and organisational skills that are being harnessed in this impressive project. To ensure that the supersized blocks of steel and concrete join perfectly, to lay foundations in just the right place, to tunnel under freeways, to lay waterways and to align the spans that will transport thousands of train carriages and millions of passengers, takes a complex army of men and women working in unison towards a common goal.
I have been exploring India’s ancient wonders for the best part of a decade. I have stood in amazement at the ruins at Hampi and the carved rock temples at Ellora. I have admired the Taj Mahal, the Golden Temple, the Khajuraho monuments and the many ancient palaces throughout Rajasthan. I have appreciated the skills and craftsmanship possessed by the ancient designers, engineers, craftsmen and builders who used their ancient technology to create such amazing structures and now hundreds of years further ahead in time, I am admiring the work of the thousands of daily workers who are once again constructing nothing short of a masterpiece.
This time, however, it is not a military fortification for the protection of citizens, a symbol of eternal love or a way to find solace when communing with the Gods, but rather the Metro is designed to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants of a city that never sleeps, the maximum city, Mumbai.
Even though it is under construction the Mumbai Metro can already be seen as a celebration of both India’s present and her past. It unashamedly displays the expertise she has at her disposal in these present times and clearly reminds all who gaze upon her grey concrete pillars and spans of the journey that men and women have travelled and those who have played important roles along the way.
Every expert was once a beginner and every Mumbai Metro engineer and construction worker was once a student struggling to find a seat in the classrooms of yesterday. The architects, surveyors, site managers and leads were once young boys and girls running in the playground, sharing food in the lunch halls and laughing at each others’ exploits on the way home from school. Parents, families and indeed the community at large, nurtured these men and women and provided them with a multitude of opportunities to learn and to grow so that they could play their part in the Metro project today.
The ancient wonders survived the ravages of time and so too, I am sure, will this modern-day marvel. The Metro promises to be standing long after the army of construction workers have taken their final breath and their ashes scattered in Mother Ganges. I have no doubt that in centuries to come, future tourists will wander along the remnants of the Mumbai Metro and experience similar emotions to those I felt as I explored the fort on a Goan beach.
…in Mumbai’s case, it takes a city to build the Metro!
The Metro, winding its way, like a giant grey cobra, through the Mumbai suburbs, is much more than just a railway construction project that aims to alleviate traffic congestion. It is an incredible feat of engineering that is a testament to the ingenuity, knowledge, craftsmanship and, most importantly, the interconnectedness and interdependency of an entire community. The old African proverb suggests that it takes a village to raise a child but in Mumbai’s case “it takes an entire city to build a Metro!”
Email: barry@dremac.co