World Heritage Week 2016: How students perceive heritage...III

Living Heritage of Mumbai: BEST Buses

- By Yash Agrawal

As I travel by BEST bus everyday to and from college, I enjoy the breeze blowing over my face and the sunlight falling upon me through the window. I wonder how would it be if in the future I don’t get to experience this.

Model of a Bus, BEST Museum, Anik Depot

The iconic red-orange BEST buses are a part of the city’s heritage. Along with the local trains they are the most important means of public transport. It is necessary to preserve them, not in museums, but as living heritage. We have to save them, and bring back their glory. The trams of Mumbai could not be saved. We have to ensure that buses don’t have the same fate. As for trams, I feel that they could be revived in South Mumbai, running on segregated lanes and not in common traffic. This would not only be a heritage revival but also actually speed up transport and also be a tourist attraction.

It is unfortunate that not a single tram car of Bombay was preserved. They were all sold as scrap. However, there is at least a museum run by BEST in Anik depot, which has various models created by enthusiasts, and objects on display. Interestingly, there are also groups of ‘bus lovers’ on Facebook. These things demonstrate that there are people who care about their heritage.

Models of Trams, BEST Museum, Anik Depot

A couple of months ago this year, BEST Undertaking put up a proposal to change the colour of the city’s public buses. Colour scheme of white with yellow stripes was suggested by the JJ School of Arts. This immediately drew criticism from the citizens, who asserted that the red colour of the buses was an important part of Mumbai’s heritage and must not be changed. The Best Undertaking also realised the futility of the proposal.

As new proposals like this keep coming, I wonder whether I would be able to enjoy travelling in the way as I now do. So I try to enjoy every movement of the present. The future is uncertain. What is there now, what is available today, may not be possible in the future. So enjoy the present moment to the fullest!