According to this story in Indian Express the BMC (Mumbai's municipality) is planning to assign each ward in the city with its own colour which will be used for things like official signage. The idea is that people should be able to identify which area they are in by the colour for that ward:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/soon-you-can-tell-a-city-ward-by-the-colour-it-sports/1118060/ I was quite thrilled to notice that on this map Bandra West, the ward where I stay, and where quite a few gays and lesbians stay, has been assigned the most vibrant colour - a bright and shocking pink. Bandra always used to be called the Queen of the Suburbs, and now it looks like the BMC is giving this official recognition! According to the story some thinking did go into these choices with Dadar, for example, being assigned orange for its status as the Shiv Sena's heartland. But then why is Malabar Hill dark green and Colaba purple and Versova navy blue (one of my friends pointed out that if Bandra is the queen of the suburbs, then Yaari Road in Versova is the diva princess, so something more flamboyant than navy blue would be expected). Anyway, even if it doesn't make too much sense I am happy for Bandra Proud Pink status. I can think of so many reasons why it is appropriate beyond just the fact that so many gays and lesbians live here (which in itself is a sign that this is a fairly cosmopolitan area where neighbours don't make too many problems). When Bombay Dost magazine launched, it had a mailing box address at a business centre near Bandra station and for so many gay men across India that address was proof that others like them existed in this country and could be contacted. I remember Ashok saying how soon after the magazine was launched they got a call from the lady running the centre asking when they were going to come to collect the flood of mail that had come into that Bandra address. Bandra station has always been a cruisy place and Sopan tells me that it was a regular meeting place for people, not just for sex, but to meet friends and have a drink in the many bars close by - another sign why Bandra was a good place to meet was its relaxed attitude to alcohol. And when McDonald's opened its first outlet in Mumbai on Bandra's Linking Road, it was where Gaybombay started having its first meets, and we still have our meet on the first Sunday of each month in Bandra (though not McDonald's). Bandra was where for a couple of happy years Azaad Bazaar opened as India's first rainbow store, and it was automatically a drop in and hang out place for many queer kids. AzBaz is no longer around, but D'Kloset is still in Bandra, the only community store in the country, proudly announced with a big rainblow flag on its door. Bandra is where so many events in the run up to the Queer Azaadi March take place. These are just some of the reasons off the top of my head for why the BMC colour choice for Bandra is bang on. Can people think of more? And how can we encourage the use of the official colour of the Queen of the Suburbs? Vikram
