Regional understanding via travel based ethnography A case study of women traveling by metro in Delhi

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Regional understanding via travel based
ethnography
A case study of women traveling by metro in
Delhi
2012

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It’s 7 in the morning and the cold
November chill only makes her pull
her sweater close to her and rub her
hands for warmth. Srinja is on her
way to Gurgaon, for an interview
scheduled at 9:30am. While she
regularly zips around town in her
Honda Brio, she has decided to take
the Metro today. Why? Because the
address that she is going to is nearly
80 kilometres away from her home in Greater Noida. “Though I love driving, who’s going to do
an inter-state drive for 3 hours through Delhi’s insane traffic?”
Hoping to find a seat in the early
morning train to Rajiv Chowk and
then if she’s lucky even after the
train change all the way to Huda
City Center in Gurgaon. “The
Metro will take me two hours to
reach Gurgaon, but then it’s a far
more convenient mode of
transport than anything else. I may not get a seat all the way to Gurgaon, but I still prefer it to
driving. I think the Metro does an incredible job of connecting all corners of Delhi and NCR!”

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Delhi in the 21st
Century is a fastener
for multiple satellite cities that bear its
common existence by attaching itself to
the nation’s capital. So while Delhi and
the National Capital Region have
become synonyms for one another,
what it has done among other things is
give the people of cities like Noida,
Faridabad, Gurgaon, Ghaziabad –the
identity of being a Delhite! She likes the
city for its opportunities. The
metropolitan tag, she says is such a lure
and an identity shifter that she feels
that living in the city has made her more confident of herself. Three years is what it has taken
Srinja to call herself a Delhiite.
A DELHITE: increasingly an identity construct
referring to a person living in the Northern/
National Capital Region “Yes, I am a Delhiite, I
live in Greater Noida now but I lived in Vaishali
briefly before when my family moved from
Meerut three years back”
So will Delhite increasingly be
reference for a mind-set rather
than a geographical cue?

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But for some others, the city is an identity that they are born with. Shruti Pushkarna, a 29 year
old Media Consultant from Rohini says that she knows of no other way of life than that of a
Delhiwallah! A city that has been a part of Shruti’s growing up years, from her childhood
memories, to education, career and friends. However, she feels that off late Delhi’s pollution,
noise and loud and show off culture is quite a put off!
32 year old Somdutta Malhotra too calls
herself a Delhiite! She swears by the city’s
‘hi-fi’ malls, restros, pubs, discs and other
hangout joints, she is also well versed the
typical Delhiite’s vocabulary of profanities –
something which she says she has to be
armed with even against her own wishes
sometimes.
For Somdutta, the Metro is her lifeline. Unlike Srinja who takes the Metro occasionally,
Somdutta, an Instructional Designer in an MNC travels to Gurgaon every day from Malviya
Nagar. Her train timings are fixed, 7:30 am to 8:50 am while she clocks her return between
5:15pm and 6:45pm. Mother to 3 year old Veer, Somdutta prefers the Metro when she is
traveling without her son.

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She spends much of her
mornings while on the way
to her work tending to
important emails and
catching up on her schedule
and meetings lined up. As
someone who spends a lot of
time in commuting, she
prefers finishing some of her
critical tasks while on the
Metro. “On my way back, I
am glued to BBM and WhatsApp. My husband works out of a different city and we usually
connect in the evenings.” Somdutta has been a Delhi resident for more than 17 years and feels
the city has played a significant role in her life and personality.
Harsha, on the other hand
believes that being born and
brought up in Delhi is an
advantage. She feels that a
small towner sometimes lacks
the ability to make the city her
own. She on the other hand, she
says, is more adventurous, more
liberated and confident. Harsha
is a newly married 26 year old
who lives in Janakpuri and
travels to Noida for work every
day.
“I met my better half in this city and so Delhi is very
special to me.
Besides, I got a great education here. I went to some of
the best educational institutions in the city.
I owe the city my confidence and personality.”
For her, the Metro gives the personal space that
she needs in her life.
“I live in a joint family and our house isn’t very
big either. Though I love my family a lot and we
live happily under one roof, I crave for personal
space sometimes.
I look forward to traveling on the Metro
it gives me my personal space,” she says going
back to the Hanif Qureshi on her lap.

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Mrs Preeti Gulati also lives in Janakpuri and she often takes the metro to meet some friends
living in Mayur Vihar. For 45 year old Mrs Gulati Delhi has been home for more than 20 years
since she has lived here ever since she got married 20 years back. “Somewhere down in my
heart I am still that naïve little girl from Bhatinda,” she says with a twinkle in her eye.
“I lived in a small town where everyone knew almost half the city. I’ve lived here for more than
20 years, I can’t still call Delhi my home, “She adds, “jaante toh bahut logon ko, lekin dost ab
bhi wahi Bhatinda waalen hain. Kuch saal pehle meri do saheliyan Mayur Vihar shift ho gayi.
Tab se har haftein unse milne jaati hoon.”
With a husband in construction business, a son studying architecture and daughter in the final
year of school, everyone in the Gulati household has a busy life. “Sab ki apni apni zindagi
hain…” she trails off leaving behind a sense of loneliness that can be seen in her eyes..

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32 year old Indira Chatterjee feels that instead of the city, it’s one’s own nature and behaviour
that influences friendships and relationships. A single woman living in the city on her own
terms, Indira says, “I have to shoulder multiple family responsibilities. There are several
struggles that I have to overcome but Delhi has given me the strength to deal with them all.”
Tanea, a 29 year old CII executive lives in Faridabad. As someone who travels long distances on
the metro every day, she feels that it is easy to maintain friendships in the city, but people tend
to be self-centred and flamboyant in Delhi.
32 year old Tabassum was born in Aligarh, but her parents moved
to Zakhir Nagar in New Delhi sometime in the mid 80’s. Born into
a traditional Muslim home, Tabassum likes the city for the
exposure it has given her. The first girl in her family to complete
her studies, Tabassum is a teacher by profession. “Independent and
self-reliant, I run the house,” she says with a smile. She ‘likes’ Delhi
but feels that it being the centre of Indian politics is prone to
constant tension, “You never know what the political ramifications
may turn out to be,” she says. Tabassum also brings up the constant
fear in every woman’s heart in Delhi – safety. Tabassum always
takes the Ladies Coach on the Metro. Clad in a Hijab, Tabassum feels that the city is extremely
hostile to woman’s modesty. “I am always scared,
always on the lookout for people who are out there, I
have to be careful always,” she says, “Before the Metro
came I used to travel on buses and it was such a
nightmare. The nightmares don’t end on the Metro,
but the Ladies Coach is somewhat a relief!”
30 year old Semonti lives in Patparganj and travels to
Jhandewalan Chowk for work every day. “I am just another girl next door. I dress
conservatively when I travel alone. That keeps me safe,” she says.

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Shruti Pushkarna on the other hand has gone ahead and taken Krav Maga lessons to arm
herself with a few self-defence techniques. Shruti, like Tabassum has a history of travelling on
Delhi’s notorious buses.
She says, “The male gaze is not as much worrisome as it is pathetic. One just learns to live with
it. It’s sick and totally unchangeable I think.”
Somdutta Malhotra on the other hand is contemplating keeping a Swiss knife tucked in her
handbag! “Delhi is just not safe! I don’t feel safe at odd hours, early mornings and late nights
and that’s the reason I avoid being out during these hours. I plan my work accordingly. On
heavy workload days or on month ends, I work from home – because I may jeopardise my
safety while traveling late.”
Kusum Bhandari however almost laughs off the Delhi woman’s sense of security when she says,
“I have lived in Hyderabad for 5 years now, and I can say that it is as much unsafe for women
as is Delhi! No city in India is safe for a woman anymore. All she can hope to do is avoid
troublesome areas.” Kusum
misses Delhi the city she grew up
in, and on a short holiday during
the festive season Kusum packed
in as much as she could, from
visiting relatives, to meeting old
friends and former colleagues,
shopping and eating at her
favourite joints. She was on her
way to Bengali Market with her 6
year old daughter and a friend to
sample the goodies at Nathu Sweets. “I love the instant connectivity that Metro has given all of
Delhi. When I studied in DU, I had to take the U-Special buses, now the metro makes traveling

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to North Campus such a breeze!” Kusum calls Delhi her soul city, the city where she feels
ALIVE.
Unlike Shruti, who though calls herself a true blood Dilliwali despite lacking the tags of
flamboyance, and wants to settle in the quietude of Dehradun, Kusum is waiting for her job to
bring her back to the city. “I am trying my best to take a transfer back to Delh. % years is a long
time to tell me that I cannot live in any other city other than Delhi,” she says.
External link to blogs on Delhi Metro
1. http://www.thedelhiwalla.com/category/delhi-metro/
This document is produced as a DOT NEWS initiative. Dot News is a product for deeper
understanding of regional variations and what it means for your brand.
1. Based on immersive technique to understand the city and its people
2. Fusing multiple narratives across regional tourism, broadcast journalism, inter culture
discourse
3. We experience the city almost like a native and combine the first person narratives with
fly on the wall techniques and some dialoguing post observation
4. Leveraging travel based ethnography as our key meaning construction context to gather
an unique POV on the city
To know more about the same – write to info@connectingdots.in

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Annexure
Additional Reading : http://www.groundtruths.com/index.php/2009/04/02/ncr-2021-planning-to-decide-future/

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