[Reader-list] Public Space: Musings on Community and Individual

[zainab at xtdnet.nl]

5th Jan 2004

Public Space: Musings on Community and Individual

In the month of December 


27th Dec 2004: Home is where the computer is. And computer is where the
World Wide Web is. And World Wide Web is where the blogs are. Blogging –
it’s become the favorite activity of all these days. And there are massive
bloggers’ communities everywhere. There are meetings happening. There are
conversations and discussions. The World Wide Web is giving rise to
several communities, communities which are created on the web and then
meet in the world of physical spaces!

This evening I am at Nariman Point. It’s already dark. Santhya is around.
So is Shah Rukh. I ask Santhya to bring me my favorite sweet corn fare. He
pushes off! I meet Shah Rukh. “Kya re?” I ask him. “You know I got caught
by the police yesterday as well, even when you had warned me,” he said
shyly. “Aren’t you afraid?” I asked him. He replied, “Yes, I feel scared.
There is fear. But this is dhanda. Have to do dhanda nah? Why don’t you
drink coffee these days? You must drink coffee. It is good!” I laugh. Shah
Rukh laughs too and walks off. Dhanda! It’s an addiction in this city.
There is fear, constant fear of the police, of authority, of being caught.
But dhanda is dhanda and it must happen! As Shah Rukh utters his words of
doing dhanda despite the fear, I think of dad. Dad! Dad loves his dhanda.
He was almost willing to die for it when they came to burn it down. He
decided to run to save his burning factory. And we had to hold him behind,
saying, “If there is life, there can be dhanda as well.” This is an insane
city, a city of perpetual dhanda!

Santhya is also doing dhanda out here. As he is collecting orders, he
notices a police officer charging towards him. He quickly slips off and
walks coolly, as though nothing has happened. He walks his tapori walk and
then goes and sits by the Pay & Park booth. The police officer says
something to him. He listens calmly. The officer goes away. There is major
talk about tactical city. Mumbai is what I call “Practical City”. Yes, we
are a practical city, a rational city!

Santhya comes back with my order. I hand out a fifty-rupee note to him. He
is expected to return thirty-five rupees back. He fishes out for change in
his pockets and then tells me, “I don’t have change just now. But do you
trust me to come back with the change? Bharosa ha?” Santhya’s two words,
“bharosa hai” struck me hard! Trust 
 hmmm, it’s on trust that this city
works. Mumbai is a city of networks. And networks operate by a minimum
modicum of trust. Over a period of time, we have become a mistrustful
city, a city of suspicious beings. As Santhya is gone to bring me my
change money, I stare at the private security guards. Why do we employ
private security guards? Because we are a mistrustful people! Santhya
comes back and hands me twenty of the thirty-five rupees. “I see you here
everyday. I can take back the remaining amount anytime,” I tell him.
Visibility and Regularity – two more critical features of networks! Trust
is there because there is regularity. And within the gamut of regularity,
there is visibility. That is how we learn to trust in this city. Take the
example of the local trains. Regular commuters are regular buyers. And
credits operate and credits work because of regularity and visibility.
There are rarely bad credits!

In the landscape of the urban, regularity and visibility are two funny
characters. While they are there, they are also not there. Our practices
of time narrow down our networks of regularity and visibility. With
regularity and visibility, can there be community? There are several
communities which operate around Nariman Point. Communities of senior
citizens who meet regularly; communities of chauffeurs whose car-owners
come to work in Nariman Point, networks of chauffeurs and the BMC
Pay-&-Park guys, communities of hawkers and regular customers. With every
transformation, some communities die out and new ones come up. Some
communities stay on despite changes.

I think of the bloggers’ community I just met in Pizzeria a while ago
before stepping on to Nariman Point. And I am amidst communities of people
here on Nariman Point. At every point in time, there is a need to belong.
We each want to belong somewhere. And I wonder whether the urban is a
landscape of communities or of individuals or both. I am coming to believe
that a public space like Nariman Point is a network of communities. And it
is also a space where community formation can take place.

Public spaces huh 




Zainab Bawa
Bombay
www.xanga.com/CityBytes