‘Where is Govandi?’

We are often asked to geographically locate Govandi on the map of Mumbai by people who live in other parts - both affluent and not so affluent - of the city. And though Govandi can easily be identified within the spatial extents, it remains largely invisible from the narrative and consciousness of what Mumbai signifies and stands for. When millions of people flock to the city of dreams or the city that never sleeps, Govandi is not the neighbourhood they expect to see or experience. It remains hidden and invisible under massive flyovers, over which the outside world crosses it, engrossed in their phones with an occasional exclamation, ‘What is that smell?’ 

To those who know of the neighbourhood, the name evokes many emotions, of fear, pity, anger and frustration. Feared by those who lurk on the boundaries, pitied by the ones who are privy to its deprivation and density, and resented by the ones who are at the receiving end of all these emotions and opinions about a place they call home. 

Govandi is an eastern suburban neighbourhood in Mumbai. Administratively, it falls under the M-East ward, one of the densest and poorest areas of the city. According to the Vulnerability Assessment Report, the M-East Ward is also the most polluted area in the city as it houses the most number of factories, an open landfill and is in close vicinity of the refineries and the thermal power plant. The average life expectancy is known to be 39 years, almost half of the national average. 

If one digs further, more such factual markers of deprivation will emerge. However, facts can only tell so much. Numbers can only mean so much.The human experience can’t be distilled into statistics. Moin Khan, a young rapper and filmmaker who grew up in Govandi, challenges these multiple reductionary ideas of Govandi that the outside world has through ‘Haq se Govandi’, translated loosely to ‘Govandi my Pride’. The rap number has garnered more than sixty thousand views on YouTube and is a favourite amongst all the children of the neighbourhood. Moin worked as a delivery boy for Swiggy for a few months to save for production cost of the video. When asked about what prompted him to write and produce ‘Haq se Govandi’, he says, ‘I wanted to give Govandi another identity, which is not linked to crime or garbage.’

Objectives

• Create a robust arts based festival pedagogy focussed on building and platforming the skills/talents of spatially/culturally marginalised communities through inclusive processes.  

• Bring exposure, access and agency to emerging Govandi artists with the help of creative professionals from Bristol and The British Council.

• Develop an alternate lens of engagement for Govandi which celebrates resilience and creativity at a global scale rather than reductionary exposure as a place of have-nots. 

• Creating joyful festivals & celebrating/uniting distinct marginalised neighbourhoods in Bristol and Mumbai.

‘Haq se Govandi’ is not a mere rap but an act of creative resistance. The idea of Govandi Arts Festival came out of the need to spotlight this creative resistance which thrives in the hearts of people - young and old - of Govandi. The festival is also an opportunity to bring sustained mentorship to the artists of the neighbourhood which they can't access easily. The aim is to work with an alternative pedagogy to engage with the issues of the marginalised that centre around expression, joy and celebration, without romanticising the lived realities of the people on the margin.