Mumbai has no concept of urban beauty. Stare out of the window of any typical Mumbai suburb (dunno how it is in the proper city), and you will understand what I mean…
Hapahazard construction, colour schemes that scream for attention without any patterns, overflowing dumpsters, criss-crossing cable wires (thank someone that we get power and telephone from underground cables), unimaginative design plans for urban renewal, stray dogs (and to a much lesser extent now, cows and other animals), illegal hawking, asinine car parking, even worse driving sense (especially of the drivers of those three wheeled vehicles, called autorickshaws, for whom signalling and/or use of a rear mirrror is taboo)…
Makes me want to do something about it…
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The main point of this blog, quite evident from the title now, is those wires that carry a multitude of cable television channels. Established in India since 1995-1997, satellite TV has since then been piped (rather, wired) into our homes by the neighbourhood cablewalla, who more or less, even today, has the monopoly. Of course, there are options like DTH using satellite dishes (http://www.dishtv.com) or the upcoming Reliance/VSNL MSO. But still cable rules the roost.
Now, to get the cable to your place, the cablewalla applies some rather ingenious methods, many of which I am quite ignorant. These wires criss-cross, roads, maidans, tracks, buildings and in general, screw up the skyline… But, how do they do it? I mean from my building to another building across the road, and then the highway, a distance of over 400-500 meters has been flanked by a cable wire. Of course, it is reinforced by a supporting wire, but then, how did they manage to get it up, that too in a hyperbolic straight line?
If you have any clue, please comment away. I do intend to ask the cablewalla, the next time I confront him. Will post an update, if I come to know anything.
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Now downloading all of the TinTin and the Garfield comic strips… 