[Reader-list] Urban spaces and identity formation: IFS posting

[madhura l]

Hi all! I'm Madhura and I'm writing from Pune. My study is titled, *'**Urban
Spaces and Identity Formation: exploring the 'vartaphalak' culture in Pune
city'*. It revolves around a particular 'genre' of public space that is a
result of a popular practice among the various collectives in Pune city. The
practice is that of putting up '*vartaphalak*' or notice boards, which serve
as visual markers of the collective that exists in the precincts of that
notice board. In many cases, these notice boards are not 'stand alone'
markers, but are a part of an entire set of accoutrements, which the
collective uses to declare its presence in that space. Most commonly, the
additional accoutrements are in the form of a small covered space, like a
bus stop, which serves as a place where people can sit and read daily
newspapers provided in a rack. Or there could be a couple of benches,
adjacent to the notice board, again meant for sitting. Sometimes there is an
additional provision of space where drinking water is made available to the
pedestrians during summers in huge earthen pots (*pan poi*). It is also not
uncommon to find a small temple in this same space.



These notice boards are put up by collectives which are constituted by
political as well as non-political organizations in the city, including
local, branches of all the political parties, collectives like Ganesh
mandals, '*Yuva mitra mandals'*, residential collectives, auto rickshaw
drivers' unions etc. The content of the notice boards ranges from local,
collective-specific concerns to commentary on current regional or national
issues. These spaces become the centre point around which many local
celebrations like '*Satyanarayan Puja'*, Ganesh festival, Independence Day
and so on are organized.



The remarkable feature of these spaces is that they have extremely rich
visual content. Firstly, there are the various comments, notices,
announcements written on the boards for local community members to read.
Examples of this include notice offering condolences to the family of the
deceased, who was the local resident, announcement of a blood donation camp
organized in the locality, congratulatory message on the occasion of
Independence Day, comments on some current issue, like the financial budget
or Samjhauta blasts and so on.



At the same time, the various symbols and imagery that is inscribed in and
around these spaces, though ubiquitous, are significant visual markers of
identity, local, regional or even national. These range from the symbols of
political parties, displayed prominently on the boards or the newspaper
stands, colour of the newspaper stand itself, photographs or pictures of
prominent national leaders/ icons like Gandhi, Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule,
Shivaji etc. Similarly, the content of the boards itself also is a clear
indicator of the political/ ideological alignments of the collective that
the boards represent. These identity signifiers are particularly underlined
during a local celebration, which centers around that space. In many places
occasions like Gudi Padwaa, Ambedkar Jayanti, and Independence Day are
celebrated with great pomp, with the enthusiastic participation of the local
community members in the organization of the events.



These hubs thus serve to weave in multiple levels of concerns for the local
community members. By reflecting interests and happenings within the local
community, it serves to consolidate the local communal fabric. At the same
time, articulation of the regional or national identity makes it possible to
extend and strengthen this sense of solidarity to include the larger
regional or national 'community'. Identity building and consolidation of the
same is a major area of study in the context of these spaces.



As already mentioned, several of the notice board spaces are sponsored by
local branches of political parties. Notably, all of the newspaper racks are
also financed by various corporators' ward development funds. The political
link is obvious in many places, while it is obscured, though present in
several others. Based upon the assumption that these spaces do play a
considerable role in strengthening community identities through activities
couched in religious or social service sphere, they also become a convenient
strategy for political mobilization and political activity in the local
areas. In this light, what kind of population are these spaces aimed at,
would be another point of inquiry. Who makes use of these spaces, who takes
initiative in maintenance and organization of the spaces and celebrations
around it, what is the class, gender, and age profile of people who access
these spaces; these are some of the questions that the study would seek to
explore.



Another significant aspect of the '*varta phalak*' culture is the spatial
distribution of these hubs in the city. One can safely say that the network
of the hubs is definitely denser in the older parts (*peths)* of the city
than those, which have been recently developed. This is not a coincidence,
given the fact that it is largely the older parts of the city, which
participate in the political identity formation of the city. A crude
caste-based division is evident across the older *peths *as some areas have
a predominantly lower caste/ artisan caste populations as opposed to some
others, which are inhabited by upper caste populace, notably Brahmins. The
question is whether there is a difference in the rhetoric used in the
notice-boards here, based upon the differential caste population in the
respective *peths*. A primary level hypothesis is that the rhetoric used in
the areas inhabited by lower/ artisan castes is directed more towards
strengthening local level community and regional identity, while the
rhetoric used in upper caste areas is at a different level, appealing to
identity linked to cultural heritage and nationalism.



Given the nature of these spaces, the study would be inadequate without a
gender analysis of the same. Analyzing the users as well as the composition
of these spaces from a gender point of view would be interesting, especially
since these spaces constitute sites for articulation and consolidation of
identities as well as political mobilization. I plan to construct a
photo-essay comprising of maximum 35 photographs, covering the above issues.
The outcome of the study also includes a review paper exploring these issues
in detail; it would be based upon the fieldwork done during this study as
well as a review of literature in the area of public spaces, visual culture
and identity formation.

* *

*Work completed till now*

I've managed to finalize my 'field areas' so to say, as well the specific *
vartaphalak* in those locations. I would be including a maximum of 15 such *
vartaphalaks*, spanning the four areas of Sadashiv Peth, Narayan Peth,
Guruwar Peth and Ghorpade Peth. The first two areas are almost exclusively
Brahmin populated areas, while the latter two display a high proportion of
lower caste communities and Muslim population. The *vartaphalaks *belong to
a variety of collectives, including political parties, local *yuva
mandals*or 'friend circles' and religious trusts. Majority of them are
Hindu
collectives, though there are two Muslim collectives from Guruwar and
Ghorpade Peth.



The exercise of building rapport with people who are associated with these
spaces was a huge learning, to say the least. Let me locate myself as a
researcher here: I'm a middle class Maharashtrian Brahmin woman, who has
always inhabited the 'progressive' 'modern' part of the city. Sadashiv Peth
and Narayan Peth are the kind of areas with which I'm familiar; but in my
growing years, areas like Guruwar and Ghorpade Peth, people there, were
definitely the 'other': lower middle class, non-Brahmin communities. This
study gives me the opportunity to deconstruct my own notions of class and
community as I interact with this very group of people to understand what
these spaces mean to them. Till now I have gotten an enthusiastic response
to my venture, with members of local collectives promising earnest
co-operation.



My brief interaction with people who actually write the content on the *
varaphalak* led me to concretize my intention to profile these persons,
their backgrounds and their political aspirations. But it's hardly a
homogenous group and developing some kind of an interview guide requires
much thinking through and some more interaction, I think.



Brevity was never a skill with me, as is obvious now. But any comments,
questions and feedback on the study are most welcome!
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