The western part of Mumbai is far moreover desirable than its eastern seaboard. But this transition only happened 2 centuries ago, prior to that the eastern part of Mumbai was a hotspot for all the formal & informal gatherings, from the government bodies to a lot of spots of socializing were majorly in Eastern Mumbai.

The western seaboard became a hot-selling cake only after Marine Drive was built, aka Queen's Necklace. Thus, giving rise to some iconic buildings many of which are still standing strong, introducing the citizens' to art decor and a new lifestyle. Leading many academics to study this massive transition.

This week on The Wire Talks, joining Sidharth Bhatia, is Abigail McGowan, a professor at the University of Vermont. Our guest particularly focuses on what makes these architectural buildings in the western part of Mumbai, stand apart from the rest.

Her book, Crafting the Nation in Colonial India, dives deep into how crafts seized the political imagination back in time, thus becoming fodder for debate for the present and future of the nation. 

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The Wire Talks is a weekly podcast, in which each week host Sidharth Bhatia, Founder Editor of The Wire, will chat with guests on politics, society and culture. The guests may or may not be in the headlines, but they will definitely have a lot of interesting things to say. With a running time of 30 minutes and maybe more, these chats will not be like much of the mainstream media today, or like the instant gratification provided by social media.

You can listen to this show on The Wire's website, the IVM Podcasts website and all audio streaming platforms.