Supersize Shivaji

Keeping with the anything-you-can-do-we-can-do-better spirit of the times, the Maharashtra government will plant a gigantic statue of Shivaji four whole feet taller than the Statue of Liberty into the placid blue of the Arabian Sea. The bronze colossus is set to be among the 10 biggest statues in the world, but the question is 8212; what does it announce besides misguided machismo?

Statues make powerful statements about their time and context 8212; from the moment they are erected in great pomp, whether they live on as abiding symbols or outmoded relics, or whether they fall spectacularly from grace. In the opening sequence of La Dolce Vita, a giant plaster statue of Christ flies over Rome, suspended by cables from a helicopter, arms outstretched in irrelevant benediction. In a memorable send-up of the scene in Goodbye Lenin, a huge overturned bust of the communist leader is flown over newly unified Berlin. In real life, the toppling of statues has become the framing moment for momentous historical change 8212; remember Saddam Hussein8217;s famous fall in Baghdad8217;s Firdos Square? It8217;s no wonder that back home, political squabbles are routinely fought over civic symbols. The mine8217;s-bigger-than-yours political contest is only too apparent in states like Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu recently, Mayawati tore down her own statue for not being sufficiently overpowering.

But then again, cultural takeaways can change, even around fixed statues. The symbolic meanings of the Statue of Liberty have mutated over the years, from the days when it was a French gift signifying the universality of American ideals and the stirrings of liberty in other lands. It only began to be a symbol of welcome to immigrants after Emma Lazarus8217;s poem with its moving line about 8220;huddled masses yearning to breathe free8221;. In Maharashtra8217;s current political climate, as Shivaji becomes a rallying point for those who persecute scholars and vandalise libraries and Raj Thackeray8217;s virulently anti-migrant vision threatens to pervert the very essence of Bombay, this statue makes its point clear enough. But who knows, in a different, more large-hearted Mumbai, this statue may connote something altogether different.