Eating is an agricultural act - Wendell Berry

Thursday, February 05, 2009

mills to high street - phoenix from the ashes

high street phoenix (aka phoenix mills-PM) is now an iconic leisure/lifestyle destination in central mumbai.
the company website says (they still use 'mills' in their name - strange) :
Today High Street Phoenix boasts the reputation of being the flagship for fledgling shopping and entertainment hubs across the country.
The Phoenix Mills Limited successfully converted a defunct, disintegrating textile mill into the highly productive High Street Phoenix, now regarded as Mumbai's premier lifestyle destination. (emphasis mine)
High Street Phoenix has become a model for the rest of the country in terms of retail led development centers. From haute couture at Quorum to monthly household shopping at Big Bazaar, SF Jeans and Lifestyle, High Street Phoenix boasts of a completely congenial environment. There's something here for everyone.
just recently they opened the PVR Phoenix - a state of the art 7 screen multiplex.
i watched LuckByChance here this week.

while waiting, i gazed at the massive new building that was coming up in the same premises (in the years i have come to this place, construction has been the only constant). it was supposed to be a car park, but now looks like it will be another monster shopping area.
gazing on, i remembered reading a blog post on a research paper (author - Shekar Krishnan) on how PM was developed into this fancy destination on the ashes of the law, workers and other opponents whom they burnt down.

that was 2 years ago...
i shook with disgust on reading that.
never again will i set foot on this vile place, i thundered in my mind.

these 2 years...
i have been to PM a decent number of times. the thunder has been silenced.

not anymore. the disgust and thunder have returned back.
never again will i set foot on that vile place.

"what is the use/need?", one may ask.
this response on not based on use and need.
just disgust and thunder.

5 comments:

Preeti Aghalayam aka kbpm said...

yeah that place is ridiculous. i assumed it was elitism (my reaction) because i stopped going back when they put in big bazaar there. but last month's visit convinced me that it is just sensible of me. enoughs enough. not that my opinion matters but every single aspect of that place irks me. including the people coming there, the music (=noise), everything... home sweet home for me please!

csm said...

kenny - quite justified.
without even going into the past, the present situation is enough reason for the boycott.

Airspy said...

Understandable views.

i boycott Kanteerava stadium out here. It is stunning how it is used purely for exhibitions(jewellery expo anyone?) and never anything related to its original purpose.

csm, why does it fall only on the government to maintain greenery and public parks. Anything green in any copro environment with glass facades is water guzzling lawns with korean grass etc. Banyan Trees anyone?

tangential rant, i agree

Vanessa said...

I visited 3-4 malls in vashi, obviously sprung in the last 3-4 years. They were almost empty with the exception of McD/ food court. We even discussed whether they can really retrieve the cost, whether the stores can really afford the rent and maintainence there.
The only good thing we found was the creation of jobs in the area.
Don't know whats the scene in PM

csm said...

airspy - indeed, it should start with us. cant expect the govt to be able to do green space maintenance.
urban living is sapping the inherent wildness in all living things.

v - expecting tons of malls to fold up in the coming year.
the job creation story of retail industry is superficial at best.
we use such justifications without fully understanding the exploitative reality of these new jobs along with the brutal history on which such creation rests.
that's another post altogether.