T For Travel

For many years, it has been common for the people of New York to vacation in Florida.  To have a brief respite, especially during the winter months in the city.  It was a fad at one time, for the travelers to purchase baby alligators, and then to bring them back to the city as souvenirs for their children.  The alligators would become too big, and would end up, most often times, being flushed down the toilet.  Urban legend has it that some of these animals survived and bred in the sewer systems of Manhattan.  Growing into giant alligators just under the streets of the city.  And they continue to survive to this day, under the clubs, under the apartments, under the five star New York hotels, remaining hidden from the eyes of the many humans that live on those streets.  So the legend goes.

In 1935 an 8 foot gator was found in East Harlem at the the bottom of a manhole.  It unfortunately was found by teen aged boys, and did not survive.  At the time however, no one actually believed that it had been living down there, just that it may have fallen off of a ship coming from the Everglades, that it made its way up the Hudson River and ended up in Harlem.  In 1959, a book was written by Robert Daley.  This book has become known as a standardized account, of urban legends.  The story follows a retired sewer worker as he discovers the ‘monsters’ in the sewers under New York City, and takes it upon himself to rid the city of this terrifying threat.  This tale was told again in 1960.  The ‘NY White’ was a term previously used to describe the albino alligators, but it was the 60′s, and the legend states that someone in the city had flushed, not baby alligators, but very potent marijuana seeds down the toilet during a drug raid.  No one has ever seen the plants, mind you…as those interested were, of course,  afraid of all the alligators that lived down there.

There have been sightings of alligators over the years, one in 2001 in Central Park and another in 2006 in Brooklyn.  But experts state that the sewer systems of New York are not conducive for their survival.  It is just simply to cold most of the time for them to live, and an alligator needs round the year warmth just to survive, and definitely to reproduce and thrive into colonies under the streets.  Further, the sewers are just too polluted for most animal life, save perhaps the rats. The found alligators are escaped pets, the officials state.  But it does add a bit of excitement, to a late night walk, and passing the steaming man hole covers, and to the imagination and to the lure and legend of such a city.

In New Delhi today, it’s evident that the market for Indian contemporary art is expanding both regionally and internationally.  Sales are strong in showrooms and galleries.  Anupam Poddar is one of today’s most important collectors.  In a short period of time, this young New Delhi–based collector has acquired many works by artists from India, and while doing so has been instrumental in attracting international attention to the Indian art scene while continuing to cultivate it locally.

The Devi Art Foundation, a short drive from the five star hotels in New Delhi, is India’s first nonprofit space and in fact, is India’s first museum of contemporary art.  Artwork from the Poddar family collection form the foundation of the exhibitions at Devi.   Anupam Poddar states that his interest in contemporary art was cultivated by his mother, and his enthusiasm for collecting was the same. He began acquiring art passionately, filling his family home with artwork that he had selected. “There is much care that goes into choosing what is installed,” he says. “It is important for me to be continuously interested in the work and able to live with it.” What does interest Poddar is art that is challenging and often provocative.

In a country where public exhibitions of contemporary art are hard to find, India’s government-run National Gallery of Modern Art seldom shows contemporary work. As interest and commerce in contemporary art increase, other venues, comparable to Devi, begin to emerge. A modern art museum designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron is currently under construction in Calcutta. That museum is scheduled to open in late 2013.

The city of Kolkata was where literacy and artistic expression and thought was born in India.  This has long been a city known for the revolutionary spirit and heritage of the country.  Appreciation for literature and art has made Kolkata a very special and incredible place where new artists, writers and musicians are welcomed and embraced, in a furious manner.  And as many large cities known fortheir appreciation for the arts, such as Chicago, Manhattan or San Francisco, they have a very strong community ties.

Meeting places such as community centers and clubs, cafes and five star Kolkata hotels, often have people meeting for discussions during breakfast or into the evening hours.  Painters and writers and philosophers gather around tables to discuss the issues of the day, the world, their work, and their political and cultural views of society.  In Kolkata, these discussions have gone into the streets, onto the walls as graffiti has become a popular way of expressing ideas.  Nothing is held back, not witty and intellectual banter, nor slander that can be considered a bit outrageous, nor caricatures of political offices.  It is a very intellectually free society.

Many of the buildings are regularly maintained to preserve the artistic integrity of the architecture.  Motifs include styles from all periods of architectural history, from the Baroque era, to the Roman and the Mughal.  Structures have been placed on the list of protected historical buildings.  Some buildings are in a state of decay however, until those who are able, restore and renovate them.  There are many museums of history and art, that celebrate the times in which various works were produced.

As well as with the appreciation of the visual arts, drama and theater and film are supported.  Everything from main stream movie production to folk theater is celebrated.  This appreciation extends to the world of high fashion, music and food as well.  Many book fairs, music festivals and fashion shows occur each year, and the most popular and well respected works of the writers have been translated into various languages.  New, pop music from India is finding its way in the world as well, fusions of the traditional with jazz or rock.  This is a city like none other in India, and welcomes those in the world of the arts with open and anticipatory arms.