'Site under Construction (Galli nali Gopuram )

OH! Where are you, my dear Bangalore?

I have been searching for you

In old buildings on city lanes,

Searching through the aroma of food and the scent of the city

Sparking memories and emotions

The houses and city lanes that marked your existence are no more

The path had a unique character that took us to memory lanes is lost forever

Now leading to nowhere

Where are you, my dear Bangalore?

Now you have a new identity with concrete flyovers under constructed sites

The operation for a makeover has torn your heart and soul

You are bleeding inside out

With the dust and revamped soil I

Through the dissection of the city (body and soul), we have lost you forever

You Cry out in a pain.

It is so painful to see you lose your identity I don't want your makeover

My heart and soul are looking for you my heart and soul are lost the scent of mallige jade

I want to see the same old Bangalore

With a heavy heart, I look toward the city

The soul lost under the spark of a thousand lights

Now replaced Sparkling Maggina jade with led lights

OH! Where are you Bangalore?

'Site' under construction is a performance-installation work developed during the project period. The idea is a response to the city of Bangalore which is always in the process of development of several 'sites' that are under renovation, and deconstruction, and where new structures are built to widen the roads or metros are constructed and old buildings are demolished. and splashing of led lights of the festival. I consider the 'site' as my body and as the city itself which is always in the process of deconstruction and construction. It is in between celebration, like a lighted street god, and the goddess-like lighted Gopuram in a mood of celebrating nostalgic, melancholic, humorous, and emotional attachment to memories of the city and childhood. It is an existential site to stay alive and awake, where life passes and the present ever keep moving.

Dimple B Shah 10 Jan 2023