00:00 Outlook brings to you excerpts from the issue titled 'In the Name of Ram'.
00:04 It analyses the narrative of Ayodhya, what was, what is and where will it go from here.
00:11 Temple Town, Tinsel Town by Tanul Thakur from Outlook.
00:16 The new Ayodhya, remodelled as a glitzy temple town, exudes celebratory spirit and promises limitless development.
00:26 But a closer look reveals its contradictions and discontent.
00:31 Ayodhya, like an anxious orator, talks in its sleep.
00:35 After ten in the night, the town plunges into deep silence.
00:39 The shopkeepers, hawkers and devotees have retired for the night.
00:44 The loud speakers pouring out devotional songs are quiet.
00:49 But on the main re-bombed road, the Ram Janbhumi Path, the shop's shutters are wide awake.
00:56 Wearing a fresh coat of black paint, they display diverse saffron signages.
01:03 Two arrows, a bow, a mace-turned trident, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh flag,
01:09 a crown wearing Hanuman and a phrase that showers, sweeps and cleanses the town,
01:16 mutating into a greeting, a clarion call, a bhajan, an identity.
01:22 Jai Shri Ram.
01:24 Two weeks before the temple's consecration, Ayodhya resembles an event management firm
01:30 rushing through last-minute preparations, or a mythological film set under construction.
01:36 Near its roads, buildings and temples spread soil, sand and stones.
01:42 JCB machines rumble, trains and forklifts saunter, construction workers plaster, paint, hammer.
01:52 Over the last one and a half years, the town has changed so much that several natives say
01:58 it feels like we can't recognize our own home.
02:01 Dualities mark Ayodhya 2.0.
02:04 What it shows and what it hides.
02:06 What it was and what it will be.
02:08 Not too long ago, many devout Hindus harked back to their glorious past, the Ram Rajya,
02:14 to assuage their anxieties and hone their identities.
02:19 But now, they can't wait for the future.
02:22 Godot will arrive any moment, sitting atop the Sone Kichidiya, flapping her wings.
02:28 Or take their Senejo, Lord Ram, both an infant, Ram Lalla, someone to protect, and a warrior,
02:35 Sri Ram, someone to pray to, or the town's architecture.
02:40 The divider on the Ram Janmabhoomi's path holds elegant lampposts.
02:45 The paints pop, the road glows.
02:47 But if you enter a gully shooting from the main bazaar, you will discover Ayodhya 1.0.
02:54 Crowded, crammed, chaotic.
02:56 The cars have grown, the lanes have not.
02:59 If you stay here for long, you'll see a town drops its mask.
03:04 A place tired of pretending, posing, posturing.
03:08 For this and more, read the latest issue of Outlook.
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