From architect to politically engaged curator, Kaiwan Mehta wears many hats

It traumatised him to see his boyhood landmarks burn down in a night, but he learnt an early lesson - that politics is baked into the soul of a city

Spare and professorial, with a slender frame that belies his 40-plus years, Kaiwan Mehta does not strike you as one who roams the streets at night. But appearances are deceptive; for a man who trained as an architect, went on to study literature and Indian aesthetics, and finally completed his doctorate in cultural studies from the Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bengaluru, nothing is really calculable. Not his professional choices, nor his politics — Mehta, theorist and critic in the field of visual culture, architecture and city studies, wears several hats with ease. He has published several