【聯合報╱By MAX BEARAK╱王麗娟譯】
A Mumbai Times Square? The Neighbors Object
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MUMBAI — It was a bold proposal. In an effort to bolster tourism, India’s new central government laid out plans last month to transform parts of one of Mumbai’s oldest and most charming neighborhoods into a “cultural hub.” The inspiration: Times Square in New York City.
The planned renewal of Kala Ghoda, which means “black horse” in Hindi, includes an enormous video screen and a nearly five-meter Indian flag that would loom over the neighborhood’s maze of century-old buildings . Tourists could snap selfies with costumed cartoon characters.
這是一項大膽的建議。為提振觀光，印度的新中央政府上月宣布新的計畫，準備將孟買最古老、最迷人社區的一部分，轉型成「文化樞紐」。靈感來自紐約市的時報廣場。
印度語意為「黑馬」的「卡拉戈達」區的更新計畫，包括設置一個巨大的電視螢幕和一面長約5公尺的印度國旗，俯看著社區內迷宮般的百年建築。遊客還可和著傳統服裝的卡通人物玩自拍。
“We’ll have a fair. We’ll have jugglers. It’ll be an outing. It’ll be buzzing,” said Valsa Nair Singh of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation , which works with the Ministry of Tourism .
The proposal hits all the right economic notes. Tourism figures high into the government’s plans for economic revival, and getting Mumbai’s many business travelers to stay an extra night would be a major boost to a lagging luxury sector. Last year, more than four million foreign tourists visited Mumbai and other sites in the state of Maharashtra, the highest rate in the country.
瓦沙．奈爾．辛格的「馬哈拉施特拉邦旅遊開發公司」與觀光部合作，他說：「我們會有市集、有雜耍。就和外出郊遊一般。它將成為話題。」
這項提案在經濟上切中所有要點。政府的經濟復甦計畫以刺激觀光為重點，而讓許多孟買商務旅客多待一晚，對停滯不前的精品業會是一大刺激。去年，逾4百萬外國觀光客來到馬哈拉施特拉邦的孟買等地觀光，是全印度最多的一邦。
But locals aren’t exactly thrilled with the idea, which may not even be legal. Preservation groups and residents associations have denounced the plans, citing potential noise pollution and lack of parking space.
“The Times Square model is a nonstarter,” said Maneck Davar of the Kala Ghoda Association, a nonprofit that undertakes cultural preservation projects. “This is the first time the government has ever expressed interest in helping us develop Kala Ghoda, and we appreciate that, but we told them, ‘Sorry, you cannot do this because the area is an official silent zone and heritage district. ’ ”
但當地人對這個點子不太領情，甚至不認為合法。保護團體和住民協會以潛在的噪音汙染和停車空間不足為由，聲討該計畫。
從事文化保護計畫的非營利團體「卡拉戈達協會」的馬尼克．達瓦說：「時報廣場的模式行不通。這是政府第一次對協助我們開發『卡拉戈達』表達興趣，我們很感激，但我們要告訴他們，『對不起，你不能這樣做，因為該區是官方訂定的寧靜區和文化遺產區』。」
India’s Supreme Court passed rulings in the early 2000s that prohibit construction projects in designated heritage districts like Kala Ghoda that would disturb the relative silence around judicial, religious and educational institutions like the Bombay High Court, Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue and Elphinstone College, all dating to the colonial era.
But Anand Kumar, a former joint secretary in the Tourism Ministry , said it made sense to focus on heritage-rich areas like Kala Ghoda because it creates compact tourist districts. Luxury hotels and restaurants are already clustered there .
2000年代初期，印度最高法院裁定，禁止指定的文化遺產區如「卡拉戈達」等從事興建計畫，以免擾亂司法、宗教、教育機構周遭環境的相對寧靜。該區的孟買高等法院、內塞特．艾里亞胡猶太教堂、埃爾芬斯通學院，年代都可追溯至殖民時期。
不過，觀光部前聯合秘書艾南德．庫馬爾說，聚焦於像卡拉戈達這些文物豐富地區十分合理，因為它可創造緊湊的觀光區。豪華飯店和餐廳已聚集該地。
Mr. Kumar said that his office wanted to communicate ambition, and that “everyone knows that Times Square is the center of the world.”
Santosh Desai, a columnist who has written about India’s consumer culture, called the proposal an effort to proclaim India’s presence on the global map .
庫馬爾說，他的辦公室要對外傳達這分雄心，「時報廣場乃世界中心是人盡皆知的事」。
撰寫過印度消費文化的專欄作家桑托斯．德賽表示，這項提案是在世界地圖上宣示印度存在的一項努力。
“Here,” he said, “we have a strong desire to say ‘We have arrived,’ or ‘We have caught up.’ ”
Mr. Davar said he was confident that preservation efforts would prevail. “When you find art on the walls of caves, you don’t rub it off and paint over it.”
他說：「在這裡，我們強烈的想告訴世人：『我們到了』或是『我們趕上了』。」
達瓦則說，他有信心，文化保存的努力終將獲勝。他說：「當你在洞穴牆壁上發現藝術時，你不會將它拭去，重新上漆。」
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