I have been worried about SafeYelli for a while now. The website is the only sign of life (for SafeYelli), and that to me is a sad state of affairs. It no longer is the sign of vitality and hope that I think has carried my practice for some time now.
I disagree with or rather find the circumstances of its founding premises too fuzzy: of technological solutionism, of a lack of relationships and solidarity with the system nor people, SafeYelli never directly interacted with the local police, or PGs, or other actors. Without (human) relationships what could have been achieved? Much cynicism has taken over the hope that I placed implicitly in individual action or technology-based solutionism. I must recommend Evgeny Mozorov’s To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism, although I myself have not finished the book.
The notion of having to tabulate these experiences is by itself an epistemicly irky one. We appear to talk like the state to make the state see me. Talk in tables and numbers and PDFs so that our language matches.
This was prompted by this article, ‘The lies we tell ourselves’ by Sam Pressler, in which I discovered much of the vocabulary of what I have been feeling that the initative lacked.But a genuine commitment to solidarity (in any form) requires a genuine commitment to proximity and mutuality. My favorite colloquial definition of solidarity is “to carry each other’s burdens”; this definition alludes to how solidarity is both a physical act and a spiritual act. It requires being in physical proximity — in our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our third places, and our living rooms — with those who are different than us. It also requires a spiritual mutuality: they need to need us, and we need to need them, not just as a one-off, but consistently over time.
This gave me an opportunity to reflect and remember… SafeYelli in the news: Citizen Matters, the Hans, the Deccan Herald
I’ve been spending a lot of time with Harsha and Vinay in Bidar and in Bengaluru. I spent the last week wholely in their company. I have been observing them, supporting them in their initiative. Aman tells me, in the context of my earlier work (read SafeYelli and others) that its nice to have them as mentors, whereas I was stressed earlier as i was individually anchoring things.
I can just learn and be now. I meander in their company, learning to meander like them. I see like they do, like they have learnt to see. I laugh like them, as they teach me to laugh things over. I learn to speak like them, as they speak the many tongues of their lives. Kannada and Hindi and Urdu and Tamil all come together in my conversations now, a Kannada verb, a Tamil tense and a Hindi suffix. This particularly makes me happy, that I may now share in the joy of their tongue’s implicit humour and emotion.
I spent 2 days in Hyderabad. I took a bus from Bidar to Zaheerabad thinking that its better I get on the first bus I find, but I ended up waiting for an hour at Zaheerabad at around 5pm. I could find no KSRTC busses, which I was frequently recommended would be the faster option, so I got on a TSRTC bus to Lingampally and then took an auto to Banjara Hills where my brother is staying.
I was struck by the many Dargahs that I often encountered in each street, be it on a plot or beside a zebra crossing. I walked everywhere, went to Numaish Masnuāt-e-Mulki (an annual exhibition of arts and crafts happening since 1938), walked to Salar Jung Museum, walked to Charminar, walked backed to MG bus stand and
We went to the Nizam’s Museum, and were awestruck by the amount of silver there. Much of it appears to be public institutions gifting to the Nizam… which is an interesting practise (to use public funds to gift to the Nizam, which then ends up in a private collection). I wonder what kind of similar practises exist now (wink wink).
The Salar Jung museum was however very dissapointing, for I
assumed that the curation would revolve around the city. The Salar Jung family
served as viziers to the Nizam says Wikipedia. It is my mistake to
have assumed that the collection would contain a bit of the Nizam’s
history, for the original collection itself appears to have been
diversely not from the region. But I was more affected by the amount of
addition that has been done to the museum while in the government’s
hands.
The museum’s website says
Later the Government of India with the consent of the family members took over the Museum formally through a compromise deed and the museum was administered by the Ministry of Scientific Research and Cultural Affairs, Government of India. Finally, in 1961, through an “Act of Parliament” the Salar Jung museum along with its library was declared an “Institution of National Importance”. I wonder what it means to modify the collection and curation so extensively and yet call it by the same name.
I had to rush to the Shanthi Nagar Bus Stand from somewhere in MG Road to catch a bus to Chennai. My auto driver appears to be Tamil and he makes lively conversation all along the way. While passing by Shoolay Circle, he comments that Shoolay (or Sule) in Kannada means ‘whore’ and the circle used to be a place where sex workers used to solicit. A Google search does not reveal much other than a built-over lake called the Shoolay Tank.
I have been talking of biking and travelling the country for some time now. Too many times and too less money I like to think. Harsha recommends that I read ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ by Che Guevera, his diaries written while travelling with a friend across the South Americas.
While walking to the KBR National Park beside Banjara Hills, I was told not to take a photo of the entrance, which I found weird. Upon the staff’s insistence I deleted the photo, and when I enquired why at the counter, they did not cite the law, but instead said that many VIPs visit, and so they request no photos be taken. I will leave the reader to understand my annoyance.
Vinay and TeamYUVAA got the Deccan Herald Changemaker award yesterday. Congratulations Vinay and team! This was a private event in The Falcon’s den, which is a very interesting choice…Vivek notes that last time, it was held at BIC.
I had a call with Mihir Pathak ‘learningwala’, and Nidhi Pal, who are doing some great work in Vadodara, Gujarat. They’d reached out about using apps to document spatial observations for young people, but we ended up having conversations about our professional journeys and I was intrigued by their way of running fellowships for young people. They’d reached out as a result of reading my weekly notes! I’m happy.
I talk of how cities can be lonely, I write:
These cities make me feel lonely…i think one needs a home that’s beyond the utilitarian roof, the nearly empty but sustaining water can and the mouthless-heart, to ever feel like these large space of the city can welcome you. My home needs a speaking heart too. Photos from Hyderabad, Bangalore
- January’s mapping party in Chennai is happening tomorrow!
