The essay, City Surfaces Tell Time and Stories, talks about the precinct of Kolsa Bunder on the Eastern waterfront of Mumbai and argues against authoritative planning proposals that have been suggested in the past. The dwellers of the port exist in a state of precarity and the proposals prove this statement further.
It suggests ethnographic research as a manner of conducting architectural study in order to plan for a neighbourhood.

The essay by Tanuja Vartak was awarded the best of top three prizes.