An Earthen Postcard from JP, by Babli
Dear Friends,
For some time now, we have been thinking of ways in which it can be possible to allow for fresh images of Nangla Maachi to appear in the eyes of those who live in our locality, JP basti. One of the things we have done is to paint the couplet “It quenches the thirst of the thirsty, such is Nangla; It shelters those who come to the city of Delhi, such is Nangla” on matkas (earthen pitchers which cool water, popular in the summers), and to place these in different places in the locality.
We selected a few shared (public) places which people pass through, and where we think passers-by could stop for a drink of cool water. Through conversation with some people there, we also now have custodians of the matkas, who have agreed to keep them clean and fill them with fresh water everyday.
These are the places in JP where the matkas have found place:
- The horse stable across the road from JP (We are calling it the “horse stable” as a short-hand. It is a place which is known by several names - “the place across the road”, “where donkeys are tended”, etc. Earlier it used to be inside JP basti, but as the settlement grew, it was shifted across the road. JP basti has a complicated relationship with this place. People who work in the “stable” do not like the various names the place is given. And JP basti, it seems thinks of the place as one which is visible to us all the time, but about which little is said and discussed. We did long conversations with everyone who works there, and this culminated in a locality event for which we invited them to our lab a few months ago, and so have friendships there).
- Aslam bhai's tea stall, which is always surrounded by people. A few years ago, Aslam bhai's stall was broken by the man who owned the place, who insisted Aslam bhai was illegally occupying his land. Since then Aslam bhai has shifted his stall elsewhere, but he may be asked to shift again.
- In the “Masjid wali gali” (the lane with the mosque). There are many houses around the masjid. There are among these houses several shops. People stop to pray in the masjid. This lane is quite broad, while the other lanes in the colony are quite narrow. It's so broad, a bus could easily be driven in. Near the masjid is a doctor's shop. Whenever someone gives directions to their house, using the doctor's house as a reference point makes finding the way much simpler. All the lanes in JP get their name from such landmarks, or from the name of someone who lives in the lane, and is well known in the locality.
- Some shops – a meat shop, a barber's shop, an electrician's shop, eating joints on the periphery of the locality by the main road, a shop that sells sand for construction along the main road (this shop is the smaller of all such shops there, and much smaller than the well known Kaka's sand shop), Naeem uncle's grocery shop (the lane is known by Naeem uncle's name. Naeem's lane is five years old. There is no other shop apart from this one for quite a distance. There is a tap near the shop, so filling the matka will be easy).
- We have also placed a matka in the tea stall below the lab. (The lab is in the only pucca structure of its kind in JP, and is known as “the building”. It has two floors – a ground floor and a first floor. The ground floor is used by doctors who come from the adjoining JP hospital for weekly check-ups and is also used for any government-related work like issuing of ration cards, at the time of elections for casting votes, etc. The courtyard is also used on occasions of marriage, as well as to keep and bathe dead bodies before they are taken for their last rites. As the road that leads to the building from the main road is quite broad, it is easy for a lot a people to congregate there. Our lab and the Ankur centre is on the first floor of the building.)
- We have also organised for two matkas to be placed in the Jumma Bazaar (Friday Market), a weekly market held once a week a little distance from JP. For the last few months, we have been going regularly to this market, circulating our broadsheet, wall magazines, booklets etc, and striking up conversations with sellers who set up shop there. It's a very active market, where one can buy anything from new clothes to second hand lipsticks. We spoke with some sellers there about the matkas and they recommended that as they come there only once a week, we speak with the pradhan (local leader) of the area and ask him to let the Delhi Jal (Water) Board personnel know so they fill the matkas during their daily rounds of the area.)
After placing the maktas in all these places, we went around once to check on them. Someone told us he fills the matka at his stall every morning, and at night he keeps it safely inside his home. One of the shopkeepers suggested we should place a lot of matkas in a row along the shops that line the main road outside JP. He said they would all (he included) take care of the matkas and make sure no harm comes to them and they are constantly supplied with fresh water. He said a crowd of matkas with drinking water outside JP would look very nice.
Well, we are very encouraged by such responses, and will think of what more to do.
That's all for now.
warmly,
JP Lab
For more photos, see gallery - http://nangla.freeflux.net/gallery/matka/
These are the places in JP where the matkas have found place:
- The horse stable across the road from JP (We are calling it the “horse stable” as a short-hand. It is a place which is known by several names - “the place across the road”, “where donkeys are tended”, etc. Earlier it used to be inside JP basti, but as the settlement grew, it was shifted across the road. JP basti has a complicated relationship with this place. People who work in the “stable” do not like the various names the place is given. And JP basti, it seems thinks of the place as one which is visible to us all the time, but about which little is said and discussed. We did long conversations with everyone who works there, and this culminated in a locality event for which we invited them to our lab a few months ago, and so have friendships there).
- Aslam bhai's tea stall, which is always surrounded by people. A few years ago, Aslam bhai's stall was broken by the man who owned the place, who insisted Aslam bhai was illegally occupying his land. Since then Aslam bhai has shifted his stall elsewhere, but he may be asked to shift again.
- In the “Masjid wali gali” (the lane with the mosque). There are many houses around the masjid. There are among these houses several shops. People stop to pray in the masjid. This lane is quite broad, while the other lanes in the colony are quite narrow. It's so broad, a bus could easily be driven in. Near the masjid is a doctor's shop. Whenever someone gives directions to their house, using the doctor's house as a reference point makes finding the way much simpler. All the lanes in JP get their name from such landmarks, or from the name of someone who lives in the lane, and is well known in the locality.
- Some shops – a meat shop, a barber's shop, an electrician's shop, eating joints on the periphery of the locality by the main road, a shop that sells sand for construction along the main road (this shop is the smaller of all such shops there, and much smaller than the well known Kaka's sand shop), Naeem uncle's grocery shop (the lane is known by Naeem uncle's name. Naeem's lane is five years old. There is no other shop apart from this one for quite a distance. There is a tap near the shop, so filling the matka will be easy).
- We have also placed a matka in the tea stall below the lab. (The lab is in the only pucca structure of its kind in JP, and is known as “the building”. It has two floors – a ground floor and a first floor. The ground floor is used by doctors who come from the adjoining JP hospital for weekly check-ups and is also used for any government-related work like issuing of ration cards, at the time of elections for casting votes, etc. The courtyard is also used on occasions of marriage, as well as to keep and bathe dead bodies before they are taken for their last rites. As the road that leads to the building from the main road is quite broad, it is easy for a lot a people to congregate there. Our lab and the Ankur centre is on the first floor of the building.)
- We have also organised for two matkas to be placed in the Jumma Bazaar (Friday Market), a weekly market held once a week a little distance from JP. For the last few months, we have been going regularly to this market, circulating our broadsheet, wall magazines, booklets etc, and striking up conversations with sellers who set up shop there. It's a very active market, where one can buy anything from new clothes to second hand lipsticks. We spoke with some sellers there about the matkas and they recommended that as they come there only once a week, we speak with the pradhan (local leader) of the area and ask him to let the Delhi Jal (Water) Board personnel know so they fill the matkas during their daily rounds of the area.)
After placing the maktas in all these places, we went around once to check on them. Someone told us he fills the matka at his stall every morning, and at night he keeps it safely inside his home. One of the shopkeepers suggested we should place a lot of matkas in a row along the shops that line the main road outside JP. He said they would all (he included) take care of the matkas and make sure no harm comes to them and they are constantly supplied with fresh water. He said a crowd of matkas with drinking water outside JP would look very nice.
Well, we are very encouraged by such responses, and will think of what more to do.
That's all for now.
warmly,
JP Lab
For more photos, see gallery - http://nangla.freeflux.net/gallery/matka/
comments
Sabiha Al-Issa
@ 02.07.2006 16:21 CESTDear JP lab team,
Great effort and congrats on your success. Good luck to your future, wherever you are, wherever you go.
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