[Reader-list] Notes from Bangalore - contd

[zainab at xtdnet.nl]

I
"These days when I travel by auto rickshaws, I notice the addresses of the
auto drivers
(auto drivers in Bangalore have to put up their driving license and
address details on the auto).
I wonder where these addresses are in Bangalore. I start chatting up with
some of the auto drivers to find out where exactly their residential
addresses are. I now realize that this city tries to hide its slums. Most
of the areas which are shown as addresses of these auto drivers are
actually slums which we cannot see. It is different in Bombay where you do
not have the space to hide the slums."

II
I think of individual identity and group identity these days. I have
realized that identity is not an end in itself. I am not sure if I can
extend this statement to all, but I do believe that identity is a means to
an end for a lot of groups. There is something material about identity
which allows the individual and which allows groups to be able to mobilize
their claims and rights by alluding to their identities. What then is this
identity? What kind of a self and a subject are we with and without our
identities?




Zainab Bawa
Bombay
www.xanga.com/CityBytes
http://crimsonfeet.recut.org/rubrique53.html