Urban Space

An “Insular” Introspective On Memory & Cross-Cultural Exchanges

The photograph seen here is of the Insular Ice and Cold Storage Plant during its final stages of completion located in Ermita, Manila, Philippines. Inspired by one of Mesha Murali and Surajit Sarkar's accession cards for the Centre for Community Knowledge (CCK)'s Delhi Memory Archive (see related links for the original accession card), I felt inspired to look towards some old photgraphs of Manila from the American colonial period to find some of, what they refered to as "the relational and intangible aspects of the everyday urban experience". This is one such photograph. 

A Visit to the Market Place (2)

Maybe the people I met today are not asking themselves all these questions. The awareness messages just ask them to "wear" a mask. At the same time, the Minister of the Interior has issued an order on the wearing of masks and the police are punishing all those who do not respect the measure by making them pay a fine of between 3000 and 6000 CFA. One of my neighbors who goes to the market every day told me that she thinks it's a bit stupid to have to pay such sums when a mask costs between 100 and 300 CFA on each street corner.

Photographs as Memory Triggers

Photographs have proven to be interesting tools to get people to open up about themselves and share memories of their past. For instance, the photo of Anwar posing at Phasi Ghar (execution point) not only got him talking about the monument that no longer stands, but also reminded him of his childhood spent dressing up and posing for photographs at various locations in Mehrauli, Delhi.

Mesha Murali: Bus stand se aage. Kahan?  

Brainstorming the Impact of Urban Life: Classroom Discussions

In the class, I asked my students that “how does the increasing degree of urbanization change the next generation’s view on localized cultural identity? And how should we as anthropologists collaborate with the community?”

In the class, I discussed on the concept of urban life and then I asked the students to think about the ways in which they all could engage with Taungthaman Village to understand the impact of urban life.

Changing Nature of Public Spaces

It was believed that if one made a wish with their arms wrapped around the Iron pillar with their back against it their wish would be granted. Before the iron railings that ‘protect’ the Iron Pillar today, many visitors, both young and old, would try their luck at making a wish. Similar are the memories of long-time residents of Mehrauli. Many remember being able to freely enter the Qutub Minar complex and playing or picnicking, before the ticket booths and high walls of today.

A Tour to Bio Science Park

Leiden Bio Science Park was founded in 1984 at the west of the Leiden Central Train Station which is the largest and fastest-growing science assemblage in the Leiden. The 2km wide campus includes housing, a university, a hospital, restaurants, a sports center, business companies, and many others. In the photo, it mentions the model of Bio Science Park which is proposed to be set up as a lively campus.

Mapping the Neighbourhoods

A Google map representation of the town of Pipariya situated in Madhya Pradesh, India. The map is marked with 25 local neighbourhoods (names in Hindi script Devnagri) that were an often-recurring reference point in the oral narratives recorded with the residents of the town. Highlighting the politics of everyday spaces, the map can be considered a visual marker of a settlement where some places are more or less relevant than others.       

Moving Roundabouts

“The tea and snack joints at Mangalwara Chowk have always been very integral to the town of Pipariya. During the 1950’s and 60’s, there were two very popular joints here. One of them was called ‘Bharat Hotel’ and belonged to a Sindhi fellow. Sindhis came to this town after partition and set up small scale confectionary shops. The other one was run by Mr. Shyam Jaiswal. These joints were the hubs of all the political and social gossip in the town.

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