Space and Land, by Neelofar
Earlier, when there would be talk of the “removal” of JP colony, people used to shun it away as a rumour. My mother used to say, “We have been hearing this for so long now, since the time this colony was beginning to be settled. We used to hear this even when we had come here, 17-18 years ago.”
But today, even though there are no rumours about the dwelling being broken, somewhere people have accepted that this space is not theirs' any longer.
Now, every Sunday, some women get together and go out in search of land, they meet property dealers. It is mostly women who go out to look for land. Perhaps they think in their minds that men/their husbands go out to work during the day and return only in the evening; but women and children live in the dwelling the entire day and so it is important that women know and guage the ways of living, amenities, etc of a new place.
When the women return, tired, in the heat of the afternoon, they bring a lot with them, and tell it to everyone at home and in the neighbourhood.
“Land is available at Rs. 1400-1500 per sq. ft. there.”
“The area is in wilderness.”
“Some people have begun to live there.”
“There are too many mosquitoes there.”
“This is the bus number that goes there.”
“There is also a mosque there.”
“There is a school, too, there.”
“Electricity is a problem there.”
They gather and bring with them many facts and information of this kind, from a single encounter. The decision of whether one should go to live there is a decision that will be taken later, by the entire family.
Many people have bought plots of land elsewhere. Some people have even begun to get houses constructed on them. Some have even begun to go and live there, having given their houses in JP on rent. They come here, now, occasionally.
But people who live in JP have not given up on JP completely. How can they? It is in so many years that they have made this space theirs'.
This relationship is like the mixing of milk and water, which are not only difficult, but almost impossible to separate. But to the government, this relationship seems to be one of a fly in a milk, which can be removed with a finger at any time, whenever...