Bombay Imagined

Our ‘what ifs’ can be riddled with regret, assumed to have been the option we missed out on. But what if what we didn’t have was indeed a blessing? With his book Bombay Imagined, architect Robert Stephens takes a reader on a tour of the city’s has-nots so they can decide for themself.

A principal at RMA Architects in Mumbai, history buff and collector of old books, in 2013, Robert stumbled upon a plan for a 400-acre park in Mahalaxmi in the 19th century book Professional Papers on Indian Engineering. It made him question what else might have existed in the city’s unbuilt history and led him to scour archives, studios and libraries across the world — almost five dozen of them, in search of answers.

Bombay Imagined is his seven year exploration distilled into a hefty tome that moves through the timeline of the city from 1670 to 2020, highlighting two hundred plans and ideas that didn’t come to fruition. Nearly doomed to a similar fate, the project lived in his closet but was fortunately reinvigorated during lockdown, a re-seeing of the city, while being largely removed from it.

We recently attended a talk by Robert, and were struck by his sensitivity towards Bombay, and towards working in collaboration with many others to self-publish. Above all we appreciated the ways him and his debut book honour the imaginations of individuals, well- and lesser-known, through the ages. 

LOVER spoke to Robert about his interests, his creative process and for good or for bad, the Bombay that wasn’t.

The beginning of this book was in many ways, other books. Can you speak about your interest in rare (old) books, how it began and how it’s going?

Baap re, what a great question to start with. When I was a teenager I used to work with my father in South Carolina as a landscaper — mowing grass, picking up sticks, moving leaves, etc. There was one property in particular, an old plantation in Summerville, a few minutes from where I grew up - and it had a tree at the back of the property with shackles on it. I would shiver every time I worked around that tree. We could come to no other conclusion but that slaves were shackled and beat on that tree in the 1800s. Somehow, that experience and the painful imagination that spurred from it, made history very visual for me. It allowed me to dive into old and rare books, and see what I was reading. History was very real to me, and continues to be so.

While my earliest readings from rare books centred on slavery in America, it expanded as I moved to Mumbai in 2007, to the city and her own unique history (which as many will know, is also intertwined with the story of slavery and the American Civil War). Once I started, I never stopped reading old books. I find them enriching and encouraging (most of the time!), and a great reminder that one day I too will be long gone, but the book remains.  

Looking back, what was the first piece of found material that made its way to what is now the book but didn’t necessarily spark the idea of the book?

Another deep question! It must have been in 2010 when I had the good fortune to come across the 1964 Draft Development Plan for Bombay. This was at Mumbai’s most incredible used book venue, the Flora Fountain footpath booksellers. I had never heard of the plan before, and by-and-large I had no knowledge of Bombay’s urban planning history, but I was intrigued. I bought the report for Rs. 1,500 and it sat in the cupboard at my 225 sq ft SRA scheme rental flat for years. I browsed periodically, and then years later when it was clear that the Dahisar Lake reservoir scheme was to be part of Bombay Imagined, the book came in very handy!

What is Urbs Indis?

Urbs Indis is a little studio that I founded in 2016, under which I explore and create imagery and creative writing regarding cities of India. Bombay Imagined is a project under the Urbs Indis studio, and hopefully more books, exhibitions and creative works will follow in the years to come.   

You worked on this project over seven years. At which point, did you know it was meant to be a book?

Because of my love for the printed word, I always knew it would be a book. But at the same time, I also never knew when it would be a book. Life is complex, and between my responsibilities at RMA Architects and with my family at home, I truly had no idea when it would happen. In fact, I gave up for many years, and even at one point offered to hand over all my research to a publisher. My logic was — at least the material will get used, because I’m clearly never going to get to it!

Fortunately, the publisher in question did not bite, and the material stayed with me. Then, a few years later, when the pandemic hit, I was poised to go on a writing spree. I ended up writing for 200 days straight. On day one, when the creative writing spark was clear (and while the world as we knew it seemed to be spiralling out of control thanks to Covid-19), I knew the book would happen.    

Which of these unrealised projects is your favourite good idea? Conversely which of these is your favourite bad idea — one so absurd or terrible, that it really stood out to you?

Every week my answer to these questions change! Hahaha. Today, my favourite good idea is NV Modak’s Love Grove Sewage Scheme of 1939. Simply put, Modak’s plan was to treat Mumbai’s shit with a two tier system of primary and secondary treatment on land, before discharging it to sea. Modak recommended it was best to sacrifice some land, so that the sea is not destroyed with untreated human waste. His plan was not followed, and now we basically pump exceptionally toxic sewage directly into the Arabian Sea at Worli. 

My favourite bad idea would have to be the Banganga Tank Children’s Park. What a terrible idea — to fill Banganga Tank with soil and make it a playground. It was so bad, it was enticing, making it my favourite bad idea. Truth be told, Aniket Umaria’s speculation for this piece is just brilliant, seductive one could say!      

For projects for which visuals did not exist, there are both speculations as well as overlays in the book, some of which use your aerial images. Can you talk about this decision and process?

I love to communicate ideas through visual forms, and because of this, I was very disappointed to have found more than three dozen projects from Bombay’s unbuilt past, for which there were no drawings or sketches. For a while I thought for sure we would have to drop the projects from the book. But I could not bring myself to do that, because of the power of the ideas were so strong, I could see them in my mind. My imagination was vivid with imagery. So one day, I made a sketch of one such vision (for Samuel Perke’s Lift Wheels of 1858) and sent it to a Mumbai-based visualiser Aniket Umaria. He then did something magical — he transformed my pencil sketch into an absolute work of art, recreating mid-19th century Bombay at Mahalaxmi with the first ever visualisation for Perke’s plan. With that one experience, I knew we were onto something special - telling the stories of unrealised urban plans through previously unimagined and non-existent visuals.      

The use of aerial images was another decision that evolved over time, as Fauwaz Khan and I worked on the book. Fauwaz was project manager, and a hard-working genius! With the aerial images, we decided to overlay big plans — such as the MSRDC’s Worli to Nariman Point Sea Link, over an aerial image of the city that I had taken in 2013. What was really exciting about this decision and addition to the book, is it created this incredible loop of imagery — from the relatively empty Island visuals from the 1600’s and 1700’s, to the dense megacity of today. What a physical transformation in just a few hundred years! One often hears about this transformation in textual form, but rarely sees it in visual form. In Bombay Imagined, we created both!   

Can you share a bit about how becoming a parent unleashed a sense of play towards/in the project?

Basically, I took myself less seriously! I let go of trying to impress anyone or look a certain way or write a certain way. I just did what I enjoyed. Our son LOVES to play, it brings him deep joy, so I decided that I would LOVE when I write, and when I create. Basically, I transformed into a small child. 

What are some learnings that emerged from the archives while creating the book? What are some patterns that you observed?

My first learning is that Mumbai seems to have a very, very short urban memory. And because of this many plans end up being repeated, decades apart, again and again. The Mumbai Coastal Road is a great example. Since 1870 there have been multiple plans for a road in the Arabian Sea, and interestingly each plan fails to directly acknowledge the plans that preceded one another!

It is a similar case with parks. There have been umpteen plans for a large public park in central Bombay — the aspirations basically follow similar threads, while the people who dream them and how they represent these dreams change.   

The people want to know. What is it like inside the Asiatic Library and how did you (convince them to) become member 5-266?

It is just magical. Magical on account of the layers and layers of incredible rare books in old Burma teak wood cases. Unfortunately, my time inside the physical library was limited due to work commitments. But in the last few years they launched an online repository which is fantastically dense.  After browsing their digital shelves, I realise that I have not even scratched the tip of their beautiful archival iceberg.

And the enigmatic question — how did I become a member? Well, let’s just say lots and lots of paperwork! At the time, I had to have two references of existing members, who vouched for my character! I believe things have changed now, and the membership application process is a bit more simple!

You returned to the project during the lockdown. Can you talk a little bit about your morning routine for working on the book?

The morning routine actually began the evening before. Around 10PM I would set out ground coffee and a french press on the kitchen counter, next to a filled kettle. Then, I would organise all my research and set it on our dining table, along with a blank A3 pad and a solid lead graphite pencil.

Upon waking at 4.45AM, after having coffee and breakfast, I started hand-writing. This was my deep work time. 5AM—7AM. No distractions. No phone calls, no emails, no social media, no visual interruptions (except from our cat, Bonnie). I literally did this for two hundred days straight, and the first draft of the book was done. It was a truly special time for me personally.       

It seems the self in self publishing is quite a misnomer. In your talk, you made it obvious that it takes a village to self-publish. What are some tips you can offer readers who are interested in self publishing their own books?

Gosh, where to begin! As I say in every talk, this book would not have happened without the tenacious work, love and care of dozens of collaborators. I was exceptionally fortunate that each and every individual who worked on Bombay Imagined, poured their heart and soul into whatever they did. My first tip for anyone interested in self-publishing is to set your expectations straight from the beginning: There is a 99.9% chance you will lose money in this process! So be clear with those practical expectations.

Then, once you can come to terms with that likely reality, build a great team, one by one, a team who will challenge you and support you. Book designers, artists, a project manager, copy-editor, index creator, printers, binders, etc. Build a team. Work with them and listen to them, and focus on creating something that you will be truly proud of, regardless of the immediate financial outcome (that flawed system by which “success” is generally determined).    

Your wife Tina Nandi who plays a big role in the communications for this project, is a co-founder of Love Your Parks Mumbai. How important is public space and good civic planning in your personal and family life?

Golly, back to the tough questions! Bombay is a really challenging city because at a macro scale, it does not follow any kind of general plan! It is in many ways a free for all - those with money acquire what they can, and flip it for their own financial benefit. The rupee rules the roost! So good civic planning that takes all residents into account is really important because we, unfortunately, do not experience it on a large scale on a day to day basis! But on those odd days when a remnant of a plan or altruistic aspiration is experienced — such as the newly created Steps public-open space in Bandra, we cling to it for dear life. We savour and enjoy it, even if it is a drop in the ocean of concrete.  

I read that you used to be quite a flâneur. What are some of the other ways you currently engage outdoors with the city?

Currently, my primary engagement with the outdoors is in the Mumbai local train! This is one of the quintessentially Mumbai realities — the fact that travelling by train can also be a form of exercise and essentially an outdoor activity!