[Urbanstudy] Brahmin gali : meeting dinuka

[zainab at xtdnet.nl]

Dear Vaibhav,

Congratulations! You are the first stipendary for this year whose post I
have seen on this list. Where are the others? (Or maybe my poor eyesight
has missed some of them!)

I read your posting about Dinuka. I thought it was interesting and some
thoughts that have come to me, I am writing here.

I have usually encountered the same coldness that Dinuka has encountered
in Delhi. It appears to me that in Delhi, there is a fear of the
'stranger'. A Burmese refugee friend living in a colony in Delhi
complained of similar coldness and aloofness that she experienced from the
neighbours and residents in the colony. In this light, it might be
interesting to figure out where this coldness to strangers comes from in
Delhi. My suspicion is that this has to do with the historical development
of Delhi as a city, the notion of 'migrants' and 'strangers', the fact
that Delhi has been colonized by the Mughals and various other dynasties
in the past. It is only a hunch! I guess the postings of last year's
stipendaries, Shweta and Aasim, on the Shanibazaar, especially one posting
on Malviya Nagar, might also provide cues. (You could look them up on the
list archives.)

You make this statement "At the end of three years he has a "positive"
feeling about the people in his locality," I am curious to know why the
word positive is in inverted commas?

I am not sure at this stage whether I should make this comment, but I will
make it anyway. Mapping Brahmin galli by itself is interesting - the
contests, the conflicts (subtle and otherwise over identity), people's
perceptions, practices, attitudes towards outsiders, etc. However, to
attempt consciously to derive the city from Brahmangalli (taking Brahmin
galli as the footprint) can lead to some problems. I have been reading
Doreen Massey's book "For Space" and she makes some useful commentaries on
how this approach can lead to problems of universalizing, negating
specificities which make up spaces.

Eager to read more. Keep posting.

Regards,
Zainab