This World Heritage Week (November 19-25), we put the spotlight on a handful of blogs that showcase Mumbai's heritage structures like never before. Mumbai is racing into the future more than ever before, but with one foot firmly rooted in the past. We celebrate World Heritage Week by showcasing three digital curators who are marrying Mumbai's heritage with social media.
In a city where things move quicker than ever into the future, Simin Patel's blog titled Bombaywalla unravels the skein of Mumbai's architectural past, plucking history from dusty texts and threading it into quirky blog posts.
Bombaywalla acts as a pocket of hope, ploughing on despite (and because of) the cruel caprices of development and modernisation. For instance, Patel laments the cementing of her favourite Tardeo building, Dhun Lodge. "It was destroyed last December and reduced to a shell of its former self," she says.
But both the old and the new jostle for space here. "(Bombaywalla team) also like to cover current news items, like revamping the Sir Hurkisondas Nurrotumdas Hospital as the Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital and Research Centre," adds Patel.
For details, go to:
www.bombaywalla.org; facebook.com/bombaywallablog; Twitter @bombaywallablog
Akhil Kapadia's facebook page,
Know Your Bombay, is a cluster of architectural heritage quizzes, Pictures of the Day and links to intriguing articles. Kapadia's carefully curated collection of Mumbai heritage structures is not only seeped in nostalgia but also invites the viewer to contemplate the vast range of cultural particularities that make up this city. According to him, "it is also a platform for critical analysis of things that are wrong about the city, which we can come together and change."
The flâneur in Kapadia constantly finds inspiration in the twisting lanes of Fort, Kala Ghoda and Colaba. "Their by-lanes are fascinating and never fail to amaze me. I always discover something I haven't noticed before," he says.
For details, go to:
facebook.com/knowyourbombay
Scrolling through Kunal Tripathi's
Mumbai Heritage account is a bit like stepping into a vintage Bombay storybook, teeming with colourful characters and glorious architecture. On one page, you may find a 1930s Godrej ad starring Rabindranath Tagore; on the next, a 159-year-old photograph of Mahalakshmi Temple.
An engineer working with BEST Undertaking, Tripathi says, "There are so many places, which offer a glimpse into our rich past. I suggest that people see Mumbai's least-visited places like the remnants of the original Bombay Fort near St. George Hospital and the replica of the Gateway of India in Gamdevi."
For details, go to: Twitter & Instagram @Mumbaiheritage
One of Know Your Bombay's most successful posts has been of 'Mumbaicons', the design of new logos for train stations on the central line, showcased by a talented designer, Debarpan Das, through the page.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "A vintage picture of Flora Fountain")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}