Seeing Time: Public Clocks Of Bombay

Public Time

- Chirodeep Chaudhuri

I have regularly been asked about how I found these buildings. I could say – with tenacity.

But, perhaps, I should just say that it was a combination of observation, legwork, and sometimes, a feeling in the gut. As a photographer of the streets, it isn’t uncommon to develop an instinct for a somewhat 180-degree vision of happenings on the ground. My peculiar pursuit, however, with time trained me to include in my line of vision the additional 90 degrees of the vertical plane. Quite regularly, in the middle of a conversation, while walking, my eyes would involuntarily travel up the facade to the pediments of buildings. Over the years I started to identify certain features of buildings –Victorian, Neo-Gothic, Art Deco, or even Bombay’s vernacular – which seemed to be likely locations to find a clock.