Notional Boundaries
Notional Boundaries
Opposite the newly developed high-rise with commercial shopfronts, there was a three-storey building with small compound walls and open spaces. The 42-year-old Nitin Joshi owns a shop in one of the commercial shop-fronts. “Every morning, All the kids from our neighborhood go and wait near the end of this gully where the school bus picks them up. Then my parents visit the mandir at the corner of the street and I go to my shop. In the evening usually my wife or my father goes to the market for a stroll. “
“ In the evening, this market street is pretty crowded. The people coming back from work, children, old people who are out to walk and many Jain’s who come there after their evening prayers.” Everyone visits the market and during the evening time, the market becomes a social hub.
“Upar kyun jaaye?” Mr. Joshi exclaims when asked about the Southern part of Daulat Nagar. “ Everything is available here, shops, hospitals, mandir , ulta waha rehne wale sab log yaha aate jaate rehte hai.” The residents on the Northern side are majorly the Jain community. On the south side, most of the buildings are newly developed. “Waha building bandhne wale bhi Jain hai aur rahene wale bhi.” Says Nitin Joshi. Commercial buildings are crowd magnets and invite a lot of people from many communities and therefore it is not provided.
The blunt contrast of newly built modern housing apartments with amenities and the old mellow bungalows and two stories building with their intimate spaces that appeal to socialization and play has create invisible boundaries between communities and people, where the mental map of the neighborhood explains how their extent of routine is held back to specific areas.
Intersection Of Edges And Religion
A road in Daulat Nagar is marked by a series of environmental graffiti starting from the main road. The Non-Muslim people living in the area tainted these graffiti with slogans of "Jai Shree Ram" to religiously demarcate their area.
The owner of Sai nath general store says, " These paintings were made by the BMC, to maintain the garbage around the walls and the main road. It has become an almost daily conflict. Some Taporis from this side spoil the painting and a few Taporis from the other side clear it out, " he said, gesturing to slums across the road. These slums that fringe the west side of Daulat Nagar comprises two major communities, the Muslims and the Wagdi population. Wagdis are lower-caste Adivasi people from Gujarat that have migrated here and make their livelihood by selling broomsticks, utensils, secondhand clothes, etc. Though this slogan of "Jai Shree Ram'' might seem a trivial thing, that any over enthusiastic teen would have can-sprayed over a beautiful environmental graffiti, it just feels inapt in this context of road number nine of Daulat Nagar, where the lane has many shops and stores owned by Muslim people.
Another street-side chaiwala said that, "We have been here for the last twenty five years, and we have seen the evolution of this area. "Baaki sab log toh sudhar gaye'' he said pointing towards the newly constructed buildings in Daulat Nagar, "par ye log nahi sudhrenge", he said gesturing at the slums across.This tension between different religious communities due to historical grievances and political manipulation is manifested on the walls of Daulat Nagar. The mural is also an unique approach, one that uses the concept of god as a symbol of fear to spread awareness regarding hygiene and cleanliness in the surroundings.