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Regional understanding via travel based ethnography

A case study of women traveling by metro in Delhi

2012

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It’s 7 in the morning and the cold November chill only makes her pull her sweater close to her and rub her hands for warmth. Srinja is on her way to Gurgaon, for an interview scheduled at 9:30am. While she regularly zips around town in her Honda Brio, she has decided to take the Metro today. Why? Because the address that she is going to is nearly 80 kilometres away from her home in Greater Noida. “Though I love driving, who’s going to do an inter-state drive for 3 hours through Delhi’s insane traffic?”

Hoping to find a seat in the early morning train to Rajiv Chowk and then if she’s lucky even after the train change all the way to Huda City Center in Gurgaon. “The Metro will take me two hours to reach Gurgaon, but then it’s a far more convenient mode of

transport than anything else. I may not get a seat all the way to Gurgaon, but I still prefer it to driving. I think the Metro does an incredible job of connecting all corners of Delhi and NCR!”

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Delhi in the 21st Century is a fastener for multiple satellite cities that bear its common existence by attaching itself to the nation’s capital. So while Delhi and the National Capital Region have become synonyms for one another, what it has done among other things is give the people of cities like Noida, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad –the identity of being a Delhite! She likes the city for its opportunities. The metropolitan tag, she says is such a lure and an identity shifter that she feels

that living in the city has made her more confident of herself. Three years is what it has taken Srinja to call herself a Delhiite.

A DELHITE: increasingly an identity construct

referring to a person living in the Northern/

National Capital Region “Yes, I am a Delhiite, I

live in Greater Noida now but I lived in Vaishali

briefly before when my family moved from

Meerut three years back”

So will Delhite increasingly be reference for a mind-set rather

than a geographical cue?

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But for some others, the city is an identity that they are born with. Shruti Pushkarna, a 29 year old Media Consultant from Rohini says that she knows of no other way of life than that of a Delhiwallah! A city that has been a part of Shruti’s growing up years, from her childhood memories, to education, career and friends. However, she feels that off late Delhi’s pollution, noise and loud and show off culture is quite a put off!

32 year old Somdutta Malhotra too calls herself a Delhiite! She swears by the city’s ‘hi-fi’ malls, restros, pubs, discs and other hangout joints, she is also well versed the typical Delhiite’s vocabulary of profanities – something which she says she has to be armed with even against her own wishes sometimes.

For Somdutta, the Metro is her lifeline. Unlike Srinja who takes the Metro occasionally, Somdutta, an Instructional Designer in an MNC travels to Gurgaon every day from Malviya Nagar. Her train timings are fixed, 7:30 am to 8:50 am while she clocks her return between 5:15pm and 6:45pm. Mother to 3 year old Veer, Somdutta prefers the Metro when she is traveling without her son.

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She spends much of her mornings while on the way to her work tending to important emails and catching up on her schedule and meetings lined up. As someone who spends a lot of time in commuting, she prefers finishing some of her critical tasks while on the Metro. “On my way back, I am glued to BBM and WhatsApp. My husband works out of a different city and we usually connect in the evenings.” Somdutta has been a Delhi resident for more than 17 years and feels the city has played a significant role in her life and personality.

Harsha, on the other hand believes that being born and brought up in Delhi is an advantage. She feels that a small towner sometimes lacks the ability to make the city her own. She on the other hand, she says, is more adventurous, more liberated and confident. Harsha is a newly married 26 year old who lives in Janakpuri and travels to Noida for work every day.

“I met my better half in this city and so Delhi is very special to me.

Besides, I got a great education here. I went to some of the best educational institutions in the city.

I owe the city my confidence and personality.”

For her, the Metro gives the personal space that she needs in her life.

“I live in a joint family and our house isn’t very big either. Though I love my family a lot and we live happily under one roof, I crave for personal

space sometimes.

I look forward to traveling on the Metro it gives me my personal space,” she says going

back to the Hanif Qureshi on her lap.

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Mrs Preeti Gulati also lives in Janakpuri and she often takes the metro to meet some friends living in Mayur Vihar. For 45 year old Mrs Gulati Delhi has been home for more than 20 years since she has lived here ever since she got married 20 years back. “Somewhere down in my heart I am still that naïve little girl from Bhatinda,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.

“I lived in a small town where everyone knew almost half the city. I’ve lived here for more than 20 years, I can’t still call Delhi my home, “She adds, “jaante toh bahut logon ko, lekin dost ab bhi wahi Bhatinda waalen hain. Kuch saal pehle meri do saheliyan Mayur Vihar shift ho gayi. Tab se har haftein unse milne jaati hoon.”

With a husband in construction business, a son studying architecture and daughter in the final year of school, everyone in the Gulati household has a busy life. “Sab ki apni apni zindagi hain…” she trails off leaving behind a sense of loneliness that can be seen in her eyes..

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32 year old Indira Chatterjee feels that instead of the city, it’s one’s own nature and behaviour that influences friendships and relationships. A single woman living in the city on her own terms, Indira says, “I have to shoulder multiple family responsibilities. There are several struggles that I have to overcome but Delhi has given me the strength to deal with them all.”

Tanea, a 29 year old CII executive lives in Faridabad. As someone who travels long distances on the metro every day, she feels that it is easy to maintain friendships in the city, but people tend to be self-centred and flamboyant in Delhi.

32 year old Tabassum was born in Aligarh, but her parents moved to Zakhir Nagar in New Delhi sometime in the mid 80’s. Born into a traditional Muslim home, Tabassum likes the city for the exposure it has given her. The first girl in her family to complete her studies, Tabassum is a teacher by profession. “Independent and self-reliant, I run the house,” she says with a smile. She ‘likes’ Delhi but feels that it being the centre of Indian politics is prone to constant tension, “You never know what the political ramifications may turn out to be,” she says. Tabassum also brings up the constant fear in every woman’s heart in Delhi – safety. Tabassum always

takes the Ladies Coach on the Metro. Clad in a Hijab, Tabassum feels that the city is extremely hostile to woman’s modesty. “I am always scared, always on the lookout for people who are out there, I have to be careful always,” she says, “Before the Metro came I used to travel on buses and it was such a nightmare. The nightmares don’t end on the Metro, but the Ladies Coach is somewhat a relief!”

30 year old Semonti lives in Patparganj and travels to Jhandewalan Chowk for work every day. “I am just another girl next door. I dress conservatively when I travel alone. That keeps me safe,” she says.

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Shruti Pushkarna on the other hand has gone ahead and taken Krav Maga lessons to arm herself with a few self-defence techniques. Shruti, like Tabassum has a history of travelling on Delhi’s notorious buses.

She says, “The male gaze is not as much worrisome as it is pathetic. One just learns to live with it. It’s sick and totally unchangeable I think.”

Somdutta Malhotra on the other hand is contemplating keeping a Swiss knife tucked in her handbag! “Delhi is just not safe! I don’t feel safe at odd hours, early mornings and late nights and that’s the reason I avoid being out during these hours. I plan my work accordingly. On heavy workload days or on month ends, I work from home – because I may jeopardise my safety while traveling late.”

Kusum Bhandari however almost laughs off the Delhi woman’s sense of security when she says, “I have lived in Hyderabad for 5 years now, and I can say that it is as much unsafe for women as is Delhi! No city in India is safe for a woman anymore. All she can hope to do is avoid

troublesome areas.” Kusum misses Delhi the city she grew up in, and on a short holiday during the festive season Kusum packed in as much as she could, from visiting relatives, to meeting old friends and former colleagues, shopping and eating at her favourite joints. She was on her way to Bengali Market with her 6 year old daughter and a friend to

sample the goodies at Nathu Sweets. “I love the instant connectivity that Metro has given all of Delhi. When I studied in DU, I had to take the U-Special buses, now the metro makes traveling

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to North Campus such a breeze!” Kusum calls Delhi her soul city, the city where she feels ALIVE.

Unlike Shruti, who though calls herself a true blood Dilliwali despite lacking the tags of flamboyance, and wants to settle in the quietude of Dehradun, Kusum is waiting for her job to bring her back to the city. “I am trying my best to take a transfer back to Delh. % years is a long time to tell me that I cannot live in any other city other than Delhi,” she says.

External link to blogs on Delhi Metro

1. http://www.thedelhiwalla.com/category/delhi-metro/

This document is produced as a DOT NEWS initiative. Dot News is a product for deeper understanding of regional variations and what it means for your brand.

1. Based on immersive technique to understand the city and its people 2. Fusing multiple narratives across regional tourism, broadcast journalism, inter culture

discourse 3. We experience the city almost like a native and combine the first person narratives with

fly on the wall techniques and some dialoguing post observation 4. Leveraging travel based ethnography as our key meaning construction context to gather

an unique POV on the city

To know more about the same – write to info@connectingdots.in

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Annexure

Additional Reading : http://www.groundtruths.com/index.php/2009/04/02/ncr-2021-planning-to-decide-future/

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www.connectingdots.in

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