Jambulvadi 2012

Jambulvadi 2012

This work is about the growing megalopolis of Pune. It traces the history of how a small town Pune which consisted of 17 peths has grown like an organism into a mega city which is now the 9th most populous city in India covering 479 km square area.

Our shared studio was located in Jambulwadi, a suburb near Katraj, in Pune. It was a forested area surrounded by hills and a beautiful lake. In 2012 the whole area was declared to be within
the city limits of Pune. Over-night people were readily abandoning their traditional occupations, farming, done for generations on family-owned lands, in lieu of money for their land from the greedy builders. They cut down trees, and blatantly manipulated the number of trees they are supposed to re-plant as stipulated by the law. They flattened the hills and replaced them with skyscrapers. With advanced technology, man has created machines that can carry out environmental destruction on a big scale. The work is interactive with the viewers making their trajectories and making the peripheries that are still not a part of Pune into the ever growing megalopolis.

Oil on canvas

Oil on canvas