[Reader-list] A Sailor's tale...

[tripta chandola]

Dear Taha, 

As part of the pphp project I had conducted few months of
enthnographic research in and around the spaces of Nehru spaces and
have been pursuing it for the last two years as part of my own
individual projects. Reading your posting evoked intense nostalgia for
the space as i experienced it initially and I thought it might be
interesting to share some of the ideas, experiences and trajectories
henceforth drawn. Also give you some leads on contacts within Nehru
Place.

One of the persons who would immensely provide valuable input into
your research is Mr. Anil Aggarwal, the president of Nehru Place
Welfare Association. This contact would be useful not only to examine
the real estate values and the increasing imaginations of the
`threats' within the commercial spaces but also security in `domestic'
spheres as he is the Resident Welfare Association president of one of
the nearby colonies. I interviewed him more than once and you would
find these interviews in the sarai archive. I am not sure how easy it
would be to find Anil Aggarwal by asking around and I would be more
than happy to send the contacts only it is going to take some time at
the moment.  He is also the person who can put you in touch you with
builders, security agenice etc and all.

I haven't specifically explored the security issue specifically but
over the last more than a year I have been trying to understand the
real and imaginary `threat' perceptions which arouse the need for
specific kind of security. For instance, when I was working in Nehru
Place the `threat' was of the recently evicted slum dwellers
re-squatting in the spaces. There were guards and specific gates
installed at strategic locations within Nehru Place to ensure that
these people could not enter Nehru Place with their goods. But in the
recent times with the prolific construction around the boundaries of
Nehru Place, when you walk from Intercontinental towards lotus temple
you would witness the high rises coming up, specifically within these
buildings where construction is happening or has happened there is a
percieved threat of reporters `reporting something', what that is is
not explicit but something. So despite my many attempts to get through
the buildings I haven't managed. In an other context, residential area
which shares proximity with a prominent slum in Delhi, the  RWA
employes security services which are specifically going to ensure that
slum dwellers cannot enter beyond a certain point in the public garden
in between the two. It would be interesting to know about the types of
threats which define the need for certain securities in these areas.
How are they different in the commercial and residential area? How
much of the imagined threat permeates the immediate ecologies?

Regaring the lift and the markings, in most buildings like the
Chrinjiave Towers which have more than one lifts, the floors are
`marked' out by the odd and even floors the lifts go up to for
smoother traffic within the building.

The odds even out the missing, I guess. 

Cheers 
tripta