One step off the plane and the sticky night air wraps itself around me like a thick blanket. I can feel it working its way across my skin, into my clothes and hair (which begins to curl on contact) and I close my eyes for a brief moment as the scent of the city washes over me. It's almost second nature now, making my way through customs and baggage claim, straining my neck to find the familiar faces waiting for me in the crowded waiting area outside, hailing a cab and finally making it home in the dead of night (I've never actually arrived in Mumbai in the daytime before), only to collapse in bed and wake up to the sound of the city beneath my feet. I'm finally home.
Last summer when I came here I was so nervous about being alone that the first few days in Mumbai, I was consumed with doing the right thing, saying the right thing, being the right person and trying dreadfully hard not to offend anyone. It took me at least a week to feel fully comfortable; but this time I just ease back into the rhythm here without a second thought. It really does feel like home now. I can wander back and forth across the hallways to all the different houses on the floor, hail a rickshaw with my cousins to go to the station and stop in the kitchen before every meal to chat with my bhabhis and attempt to learn another recipe. I'm not nearly as paranoid or nervous about going around on my own and even though what little I can manage in Hindi can hardly be called language "skills" I can feel it all coming back to me just by being here.
I leave for Bangalore on Friday, which is another place I can maybe call a home of sorts. It will be strange to be back there without my classmates and friends, but this time, I'll get to know the city on a whole new level, one in which I'll only have myself to rely upon and a greater responsibility to really understand this place and my place in it. I think the first order of business though, will be ordering a sweet lime soda.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
A Brief Overview
As a departmental honors student in the Jackson School of International Studies, I am required to write an extensive capstone research paper on the topic of my choosing. The focus of my research is on the construction of an elevated light rail in Bangalore, India. Construction on the Bangalore Metro Rail Project (BMRP) began in 2006. The route crosses North-South and East-West, cutting through the heart of the city and expanding outward. This is Phase I, with additional construction planned over the next decade in order to expand the route to cover more of the city. As of right now, most of the eastern leg of the route, which spans from the City Railway Station to Old Madras Road, has been completed and will begin running as early as December 2010.
I will focus on this eastern leg of the route for my investigation. The impetus for this study began last summer on a study abroad trip to Bangalore through the UW. The title of the program was "Social Justice and Activism in Bangalore" and was lead by Professor Anu Taranath. Half of this trip was spent working with a women's rights organization called Hengasara Hakkina Sangha (HHS) and the other half was spent with the Environmental Support Group (ESG). While working with ESG, my classmates and I were exposed to numerous social justice and environmental issues in Bangalore, one of which was the construction of the Metro. Generally I do not have much of an interest in mass transit systems, so I was surprised at the interest I took in the Metro and the issues surrounding it. Our colleagues at ESG were careful to present multiple perspectives on the Metro, taking us to many sites of Metro construction, introducing us to many people who were effected my it in varying capacities and encouraging us to speak with government officials and employees of Namma Metro (the company heading the project) as well as average citizens.
In investigating and learning more about this issue, I was taken aback by all of the negative effects that Metro construction had on the city. The BMRP raises many environmental, social, spatial, political and human rights concerns, yet a majority of the people my colleagues and I spoke with on our site visits and in interviews seemed to support its existence in the city. The more I learned about this issue the more intrigued and perplexed I became. I left Bangalore at the end of the program feeling frustrated and unsatisfied - I wanted to know more about this issue.
Upon returning to Seattle and preparing to write my application to the Jackson School Honors Program, I knew exactly what I would propose as the topic of my research project. I was accepted into the program and spent this past quarter researching and refining my research question. Here's what I ended up with: Why, given the plethora of negative effects that Metro construction is having throughout the city, the low projected ridership, high use of alternate forms of transportation and the inaccessibility of the Metro due to cost, do many citizens support the Bangalore Metro Rail Project? To explain why there is seemingly such widespread support for the construction of the Metro, notwithstanding the negative consequences with regard to spatial, economic and social mobility for many citizens who will most likely not even use it as a form of transportation, I will argue that the Metro functions as an aesthetic marker of taste: more than just a means of transportation, the Metro constitutes a Bourdieuian form of symbolic capital that signifies congruence with Bangalore's image into a modern, developed city.
I will be in Bangalore for about 5 weeks this summer to answer this question and see if my hypothesis is even close to being true. I will be working closely with ESG once more, working as an intern while I conduct my field research. Most of my research will be based on interviews with various segments of the population. I will also survey the rhetoric surrounding the Metro in blogs, newspapers, on websites and in advertisements. This blog will be used as a medium for recording my findings, observations and experiences. In addition to being in Bangalore, I will also spend time in Mumbai, Jaipur, Delhi and Sonapani - so get ready for some random posts from these locations as well!
I will focus on this eastern leg of the route for my investigation. The impetus for this study began last summer on a study abroad trip to Bangalore through the UW. The title of the program was "Social Justice and Activism in Bangalore" and was lead by Professor Anu Taranath. Half of this trip was spent working with a women's rights organization called Hengasara Hakkina Sangha (HHS) and the other half was spent with the Environmental Support Group (ESG). While working with ESG, my classmates and I were exposed to numerous social justice and environmental issues in Bangalore, one of which was the construction of the Metro. Generally I do not have much of an interest in mass transit systems, so I was surprised at the interest I took in the Metro and the issues surrounding it. Our colleagues at ESG were careful to present multiple perspectives on the Metro, taking us to many sites of Metro construction, introducing us to many people who were effected my it in varying capacities and encouraging us to speak with government officials and employees of Namma Metro (the company heading the project) as well as average citizens.
In investigating and learning more about this issue, I was taken aback by all of the negative effects that Metro construction had on the city. The BMRP raises many environmental, social, spatial, political and human rights concerns, yet a majority of the people my colleagues and I spoke with on our site visits and in interviews seemed to support its existence in the city. The more I learned about this issue the more intrigued and perplexed I became. I left Bangalore at the end of the program feeling frustrated and unsatisfied - I wanted to know more about this issue.
Upon returning to Seattle and preparing to write my application to the Jackson School Honors Program, I knew exactly what I would propose as the topic of my research project. I was accepted into the program and spent this past quarter researching and refining my research question. Here's what I ended up with: Why, given the plethora of negative effects that Metro construction is having throughout the city, the low projected ridership, high use of alternate forms of transportation and the inaccessibility of the Metro due to cost, do many citizens support the Bangalore Metro Rail Project? To explain why there is seemingly such widespread support for the construction of the Metro, notwithstanding the negative consequences with regard to spatial, economic and social mobility for many citizens who will most likely not even use it as a form of transportation, I will argue that the Metro functions as an aesthetic marker of taste: more than just a means of transportation, the Metro constitutes a Bourdieuian form of symbolic capital that signifies congruence with Bangalore's image into a modern, developed city.
I will be in Bangalore for about 5 weeks this summer to answer this question and see if my hypothesis is even close to being true. I will be working closely with ESG once more, working as an intern while I conduct my field research. Most of my research will be based on interviews with various segments of the population. I will also survey the rhetoric surrounding the Metro in blogs, newspapers, on websites and in advertisements. This blog will be used as a medium for recording my findings, observations and experiences. In addition to being in Bangalore, I will also spend time in Mumbai, Jaipur, Delhi and Sonapani - so get ready for some random posts from these locations as well!
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