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Colours on rampage
SHRADDHA Shaw

Source: HT, 5th May 2006

Australia must have lost to India in bidding for the 2011 Cricket World Cup but this Australian textile artist is here to stump the art lovers. The collection of unique three-dimensional textile works by Megan Kirwan-Ward that started at the India Habitat Centre on Wednesday is sure to leave the visitors speechless by its strong visual appeal. Not only the hues and the texture but also the shapes and forms of Kirwan- Ward's work display the best of two different geographic environments - Australia and Sumatra. Said the artist: "My work is the result of trans-cultural impact that brought me closer to Sumatra."

'Most of the work is hand done by native Sumatran women at Kirwan-Ward’s workshop.

Inaugurating the exhibition, David Holly, the deputy Australian high commissioner, accepted that Australia must not have been able to make any significant mark in the world of art but gradually the scenario was changing. He said, “Attempts are being made to inspire the youth to explore their talent in arts, literature, music and so on.”

Raj Liberhan, director, IHC and Alka Panday of the Visual Art Gallery were also present. Said pandey: “The quilts here look very similar to the Gujarati embroidery, even to appliqué of Orissa and shibori of Japan but a closer study reveals the difference in texture as well as the process of making it.”

The exhibition is on till May 8.

IT’s EVERYONE’S WORLD CLASS CITY
Dunu Roy and the Hazards Centre held Shehar.com at the Habitat Centre to give Delhi’s slum-dwellers a voice

Source: Civil Society, Vol.3, Issue No.6, March, 2006

FEBRUAY 4 was like any other busy Saturday at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi. The auditoriums were all booked. Out on the lawn and its adjoining cemented spaces there was serious lunchtime eating on the agenda. The mild winter sun offered just the right warmth - as it always does at the height of conference season in the capital.

But round the corner from the spotless white tables and umbrellas and the glinted steel dishes put out for the buffet, the Habitat was also playing host to something not quite so measured. At its compact amphitheatre, which is sunk out of sight between buildings, rough and ready troupes were performing plays about life in Delhi's slums. There were messages of squalor and disease, inequality and failed aspirations. The performing slum-dwellers had also brought along their audience of ragpickers and daily wage earners - perhaps because they were unsure of how big an audience they would get or may be just to do some sightseeing. The Habitat. though the hub of so many NGO offices, would normally be out of bounds for them.

The plays told the stories of construction labour, water shortages, garbage disposal eviction, police harassment, migration from rural areas and the lack of housing. The players were children and young men and women. They tried to capture the urban divide between the manicured surpluses of the posh heart of Delhi and the wretched shortages experienced in the squalor on the capital's fringes.

Called Shehar.com, the event was organised by the Hazards Centre whose guiding light is the gentle Dunu Roy, all of 61, but in jeans and sneakers with white hair flowing down to his shoulders.

The Hazards Centre has been working in the slums of Delhi for the past seven years, It was set up by the Sanchal Foundation to provide professional support to social action groups and organisations on anything that is dangerous to the survival of the community, In Hindi it calls itself Khatra Kendra.

With other urban grassroot groups it forms the Sajha Manch, Together they have been trying to build a dialogue between planners and people who live and work in Delhi. but whose voices aren't heard and whose legal status as residents is perpetually challenged, Shehar.com was one more new move on this chessboard, It was in response to the robust celebrations by the Delhi government of plans to become a world class city in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

"What is a world class city?" was the question that the Hazards Centre and the slum-dwellers were asking, Through their plays about their lives, the slum¬dwellers, who constitute perhaps 30 per cent of Delhi. were providing a range of answers, By doing so at the Habitat they were asserting their right to be heard, They were asking for a place at the tables of the Habitat.

So, the play from Bhalaswa, a resettlement colony in a distant northwestern corner of Delhi. told of how eviction from the city had meant children having to leave school and the loss oflivelihoods for the adults. Shifting out of a slum in the city hadn't resulted in a better life because Bhalaswa was just as bad in civic terms, And much worse in many other ways because of the absence of a wider city infrastructure.

Similarly, the Toli group's offering was all about water and the disputes that arise over it. It expressed concerns over the privatisation of supply. Ashray Adhikar Abhiyan brought the homeless along, Jigar, a group of children living on the streets, staged a play on how children drift from their homes in rural areas and lose themselves in the city.

There were also performances from groups who have never lived in a slum and wouldn't know how to survive in one, but are concerned about the future of Indian cities, Steps for Change did Kahani har ghar ki on environment and waste management There were campus offerings as well from Kirori Mal College, Hans Raj College and Jawaharlal Nehru University, The Kirori Mal and Hansraj performaces - on labour and livelihoods - were vibrant and vigorous, By comparison, JawaharlalNehru University staged a dreary monologue on working class realities called Hamlet in Faridabad, If the white tables round the corner seemed far removed from the spontaneity and freshness of Shehar.com, so did JND's Hamlet seem to belong to some exclusive enclave.

But it is in the contrasts, the zones of grey that answers perhaps lie, Says Dunu Roy: "I think contrasts are very educative, We were doing our plays and performances on one side and an NGO was doing a meeting on sustainable development on the other side, And people could see the difference, Not only in the poor, but in the messages that were coming across envisioning the city," "Equally, even among our performers, when the first play came up people saw¬ the contrast-how an intellectual sees Hamlet in Faridabad, And how the workers in Faridabad see Faridabad, Contrasts lead to questions, they lead to ideas, This is something everybody should be able to see, We are not saying we have all the answers, What we are saying is at least start questioning what is around, If you can provoke that process, you begin to ask the right questions."

It is also important for people who may not have property rights in Delhi but contribute to its economy to have the confidence to be seen and heard in places which are at the heart of the new world class vision for Delhi. "They must say, Don't look at us only as being poor. We are talented and have ideas," says Roy.

The Habitat management's permission for staging Shehar.com itself came as a part of a process, which began when Hazards Centre was asked to present at Habitat its views on the master plan for Delhi the year before last.

"Instead of saying here are our experts, we said here are our people and would also like to participate-rickshaw-pullers, slum-dwellers children fro street. ragpickers," explains Roy The first thing the slum-dwellers said - and Hazards Centre encouraged - was that they didn't understand a word of what was being said because it all in English, "We said then you demand that whatever is said should be said in a lan,§ you can understand otherwise how can you participate," recalls Roy "So v( timidly they asked people to please speak in Hindi. But the moment the speakers began using Hindi they stumbled because their mode of articulate English, The idiom changed and with it collapsed their ability to sell and t ideas," In fact. by being able to change the medium, a different set of ideas was allowed to surface and find temporary currency "People should be able to go into these centres of intellectual and economic power. the offices of the DDA, the Delhi Secretariat and so on and make tl voices heard, Just as much as they should be able to make their voices head in their own localities," says Roy

The Shehar.com performances at the Habitat underlined the need for speeding up the process, The campaign for Delhi as a world class city has 1: strident and has excluded people in the unorganized sector, their rights as citizens and their role in the economy. "There is a very media driven, corporate driven and administration driven ( idea of a world class city, It has gripped the imagination of a particular clas: Nobody seems to go back to facts and figures, The idea itself is problematic you look at the master plan it says three things: sports, tourism and conventions," says Roy So, how does the Hazards Centre see a world class city? First of all the Hazards Centre believes in articulating needs more democratically The present vision of being world class as it now exists ma: be the best or the most sustainable, In the absence of consultation and discussion, it could be defined wholly by the profligacy and surpluses of t} rich whose idea~f urbanisation may be crafted only by the defining of thei own needs, "So if people in bustees are saying today they are getting 10 litres of water what they need is 40 litres and the norm on the other hand is 270 litres wE consider this as sustainable use of water. It's a good way of looking at the c explains Roy "For Delhi to be a world class city it should be sustainable, it should fulfil everybody's needs and it should be humane,"

There is also the question of how money is spent For instance. is the Rs 15,000 crores invested in the Metro the best use of such huge resources?

"If you look at sports every city in the last 30 years which has organised either the Commonwealth games, the Asian Games or the Olympic Games, is today in debt Organising events like this creates problems for the city in the long run," says Roy.

The question is of opportunity cost. If you have Rs 15,000 crores should it be put into a Metro or something which gives a much higher social and economic return. "This is one question we should ask. Are we spending money for the long-term benefit of the city? That should be the notion of a world class city."

Hazards Centre went to the communities it works with and asked them what they wanted. There were suggestions for schools, community centres and hubs from where skilled workers could offer their services. But when the Hazards Centre went to the authorities with these suggestions there was no quest giving land for such facilities because that would mean recognition of the of slum-dwellers.

"We did a workshop with 400 women. We asked them how they would their settlement to look. We asked them to make a plan." recalls Roy. "It was a very interesting plan. They wanted the school in the centre. So we asked why. They said because it will be safe and secure. It's logical. You put the school; the centre of the community so that they can look at it. The concept is of protecting the future."

In another community where there are many construction workers the Hazards Centre asked what they regarded as important to their future. They said they valued regular work more than anything.

"They told us they had seasonal incomes. There was the insecurity of work. However, the contractor who employed them always had work. They never saw him standing in the labour market This meant that there was work available. They said they needed regularity to ensure they could look at tomorrow with a certain degree of comfort" says Roy.

"They said there were so many people in the slum - carpenters. mason: plumbers - and could they offer their skills directly without the contractor coming in? Then the idea developed to have a register with who does what. And from that came the need for an office at which they could be contacted with phone and an STD booth to generate some additional revenue."

Everyone said a school could be put on top of the office so that it would possible to keep an eye on the children and ensure that the teacher was al working with the children. A common kitchen could provide lunch packets. The structure could also work as a community "According to us. this is privatization of a dif: kind which works." says Roy. "It is a vision of a class city which can be applied across communities. Our exercise was done in Vikaspuri. The probll when we took it to the municipal authorities tl said it's a good idea but we can't give space beG the moment we give you land for a Basti Vikas Kendra we are giving you legality."

The Hazards Centre's concerns are with the r plan drafted by the Delhi Development Author (DDA). The vision of world class in this plan is a city "free from the malaise of the working Poor.”

The DDA therefore seeks to remove people through eviction and dump them out of sight c peripheries of the city with little or nothing to of by way of housing, drainage. water, schools! health care.

It doesn't solve the problem of migration, no it define the role the city is expected to play.

Roy observes that though the government is to declare squatters as illegal and court's order demolition of illegal constructions, no attempt made to address the "acts of omission" by the government.

Targets for providing affordable housing, commercial district centres and so on have not met. Under such circumstances, what are people expected to do? The crisis is one of governance.

Similarly, though much is made of flyovers a spanking new Metro, there seems to be no attempt to address the need for cheap public transportation in buses or to factor in cycle lanes though this is how most people need to travel.

Worrisome are the contradictions in the master plan. For instance, the working population is expected to inflate by 7.9 million in 2021. The] expects 1.7 million of them to find employment non-household manufacturing and 2.4 million trade and commerce. But simultaneously the p avowed goal is to avoid major economic activities that may result in large-scale employment. Where then will the new jobs be found?

The staging of Shehar.com was an attempt to connect on these issues. In the songs, dances a plays that slum-dwellers brought to Lodi road were messages that don't seem to get included in the vision for Delhi's future. The question therefore whether a Delhi which chooses to live in denial ever hope to be world class.

Four years of learning
By Chinmai Gupta

Source : HindustanTimes.com, HT Next , New Delhi, February 20, 2006

Habitat Learning Centre (HLC), the social wing of India Habitat Centre, on Sunday, celebrated its fourth anniversary on Sunday. Close to 350 underprivileged children from the centre’s 45 partner NGOs put up some brilliant performances for the occasion.

The event commenced with a puppet show put up by Search Years, an NGO that trained 10 children from Literacy India for the same. Titled Call of the Tiger, the puppet theatre told the story of a jungle, with innovative characters talking about the destruction of our jungles.

The ghost of the jungle held all the other characters responsible for replacing green forests with concrete jungles. Subtly, they incited the children to think about conserving nature and take responsibility for their actions.

The thought-provoking show instigated one to think of ways to put an end to such hideous acts such as poaching of national symbols of beauty the tiger for its skin, elephants for their tusks and bears for entertainment.

Search Years aims to harness the power of children’s creativity through innovative approaches like this puppet show. Various other acts followed this performance with dances and songs by children from the various NGOs. HLC runs a wide variety of programmes working towards the upliftment of underprivileged children, especially in the slums of Delhi.

They help the underprivileged keep pace with changing times through their programmes like computer literacy, English conversation classes and theatre workshops.

Source: Hindustan - Hindi
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Green panel turns to plight of 'recyclers'

Source: The The Indian EXPRESS, New Delhi THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2004

The plight of recy­clers- kabadiwalas and rag-pickers ­and the informal sector in waste management was the focus ofthis month's Action­line series.

A panel discussion on "Formal vs Informal: The Case for waste Recycling in Delhi" was jointly organised by The Indian Express and Indian Habitat Centre, in collaboration with Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group.

The panel examined the possibility of incorporating the informal sector in the MCD's formal garbage management plan. Bharti Chaturvedi of Chintan said that the recyclers (or kabadi­walas and rag-pickers) han­dle about 20 per cent of the waste, whereas studies show this figure can be as high as . 59 per cent in markets.

The recyclers save the MCD Rs 20-26 crores annu­ally, or 14-19 per cent of its annual budget.

"One of the main con­cerns is the health problems faced by the re­cyclers, with exposure to toxic or contaminated materials, poor living conditions and poor med­ical facilities. For instance, 84 per cent of children involved in the profession are ane­mic," said Charturvedi.

Additional Commis­sioner MCD Reena Ray ad­mitted that they face severe toxic hazards. She added that there are several illegal units on the banks of the Yamuna. Recycler Jaiprakash Chaudhary said the main problem faced by the sector was harassment by police, MCD officials and lack of health infra­structure. "The only method that can eliminate this while incorporating us into the formal sector is issue of official identification cards and licence for recycling," he said.

Vision 2004: They have a dream

Source: The Indian Express, 10th February, 2004

It was with good reason that Neha Dutt-winner of the Habitat Young Visionary Award 2004 this Sunday-thanked her father for for her victory. "I have always loved arguing with him. We share the same wavelength and can debate on every issue under the sun." says Dutt who is a second year student of Economics Honours at the Shri Ram College of Commerce. Lookd like those endless session of debate and witty repartee have paid off. En route to her victory, Dutt submitted an essay on the topic: "The Magic that India needs" and answered questions from a panel of eminent judges at the final round this weekend at India Habitat Centre (IHC).

Dutt's prize is a short-term training programme at Cambridge University in the UK. THe other finalist will get to work as interns at TERI, UNDP ot any of the other organizations that have there offices in the IHC complex. They are Pawas Bisht (Hindu College), Astiva Chopra (St. Stephens' College), Advitya Dewan (Shri Venkateshwara College), Garima Dutt (Stephen's) and Priyanka Ghosh (Lady Shri Ram College). The contest was organized by IHC and an ad agency Equus Red Cell (The Indian Express Group was media partners). IHC Director Raj Liberhan was refreshingly candid as her said since our inception we did not conciously looked at the profile of our audience but increasingly we were drawing people whose active life was behind them. That isn't good for multi-dimensional Center like us. We lacked the perspective of the young. Suhel Seth of Equus added, "Through this we are celebrating young people who can think originally."

The contest format was unique. The students of Delhi University colleges were asked to spell out their vision for the future in an essay. From the 41 entries, six were shortlist through preliminary rounds. On Sunday the six finalists spoke on stage about their vision, then replied to the questions by, among othe former Chief Justice of India, Justice JS Verma, media honcho Siddharth Basu, industralist Rajshree Pathy and Planning Commission member N.K.Singh. You can expect college student from all over India contesting for the next year's Habitat Young Visionary Award.

Swapan Seth of Equus Red Cell says, "Equus us a very young company. So we're being extremely selfish in investing in the youth. the ad world is currently chocked with the old and senile people." His company is soon lauching a website where young people can post their ad ideas. they will be apid if their iseas are selected. "I wouldn't thank you for being here. The young deserve your time," Liberhan told the audience.

IHC and Equus join hands to find stakeholder of the future

Source : The Asian Age, November 9, 2003

India Habitat Centre and Equus Red Cell have launched a joint venture by the name of The Annual “Habitat-Equus Young Visionary Award.” Targeted at college students, this forum aims to create a platform for discourse and thus assisting in building up of intellectual capital. It seeks to recognize the stakeholders of tomorrow. More importantly, it wants to promote the freedom of speech, the ability to speak one’s mind without hesitation. The “Young Visionary Award” will be for cogency and novelty of thinking, on an issue of contemporary importance and relevance. The content should represent the engagement of young minds with the political, cultural and social events.

Suhel Seth, the chief strategic officer at Equus Red Cell, says, “ WE at Equus want to invest in such a cause because it will help in shaping the future of India. It will develop a generation that speaks its mind.”

“ I am shocked at the fascination the young generation has for rock and fashion shows. The art of public speaking has fizzled out.” He added, “ This needs to be given importance.”

Equus, which is the only corporate body that is investing in this venture has put aside an annual sum of Rs 2 lakh to give this idea shape. “If all goes as planned, this will shape into something big and then hopefully we will have more investors,” he adds.

IHC director Raj Liberhan is the other man behind the concept. “The award is not for delivery of speech, diction or articulation. It will be for content and novelty of thinking on an issue of relevance.” IHC will be taking care of the logistics of the debate and will provide venue for the event.

“The winner will be awarded an internship with a UK university. This would provide winner an opportunity to get valuable exposure and interaction with specialists in his chosen field of interest,” he added.

“The world is full of leaders. We need to distinguish them from the others,” he said.

The topic for discussion include, “ How to Democratise Democracy?” and “The Magic That India Needs”, among others. More information will be available at select colleges spread over Delhi which include St. Stephens, Lady Shriram, JNU and also IHC. Entries should be submitted to IHC by November 20.

DELHI/ LIFE - A special birth anniversary
By Bindu Shajan- Perappa

Source : The Hindu, February 18, 2003

THE HABITAT Learning Centre (HLC) at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi completed one year on Monday. An as part of its first anniversary celebrations, the Centre ha_ planned numerous activities over the next three days.

It has invited as many as 27 non-government organisations that it has worked with over the past one year to participate in various activities including a painting competition, plays, dance, music and discussion on the potential of Integrated Communication Technology for breaking the digital divide.

Present at the celebrations would be artist Bulbul Sharma, cricketer Ajay Jadeja, and his wife, dancer Aditi Jadeja. The second day will showcase, creative and artistic talents of children through various competitions.

Speaking about the Centre, the Director of India Habitat Centre, RM.S Liberhan explains: "The Habitat Centre was set up to provide a physical environment which would serve as a catalyst for a synergetic relationship between individuals and institutions working in diverse habitat-related areas and would therefore maximise their total effectiveness."

The India Habitat Learning Centre, according to him, was set up to provide children access to Information Technology so that they are able to explore more options for a better quality of life.

"HLC also trains facilitators working in slums so as to enhance the quality of their interaction with children and. are equipped with efficient tools to impact IT education to them," he adds.

The Centre, meanwhile, has also partnered with various NGO working in the field of child education to push its initiative of spreading the web of IT. In this area, the Centre is a resource bringing together children from marginalised communities for programmes that will provide them with computer literacy, curriculum enrichment, skill development, capacity building and training. HLC claims to have trained over 581 children and 204 facilitators on the basics of computer literacy in its effort to enhance life skills, especially of school drop-outs.

Yamuna in Brahmaputra
Krishnabhakti flows back from Assam with Sharodi Saikia at IHC tonight

Source: The Indian Express, October 3, 2002

MODESTY in a classical dancer? But Sharodi Saikia, luminously beautiful minus her heavy dance makeup, is painfully humble as she explains what a Delhi audience should look out for in her performance of Sattiriya at the IHC Auditorium tonight at 7 pm in HLC series. Sattiriya, as many in the Capital already know, is the traditional dance of Vaishnava sattras monasteries) in Assam. They are part of the local bhakti theatre called Ankiya Nat and evolved as an artistic ritual after the religious reformer Sankara Deva galvanized Assam in the 15th century. This art is usually the preserve of celibate monks in the sattras and it is only recently that Sattiriya came up for recognition as a 'classical' form by the Sangeet Natak Akademi. While other practitioners like Indira Bora, Pushpa Bhuyian, Garima Hazarika and Pratisha Suresh have also learnt other dance forms, Sharodi is wholly a practitioner of Sattiriya. She commenced learning with Guru Reseswar Borbayan in 1972 and her present guru is Ghana Bora Borbayan who is still a monk in a sattra - the venerable Mool Kamalabari Sattra that shifted from Majuli Island on the Brahmaputra to the mainland due to erosion.

Sharodi points out the amazing cultural connection with the banks of the Yamuna: Shakara Deva instituted Brajavali as the language of Sattiriya compositions, not Sanskrit or Assamese. The ragas however are closer to the Carnatic system and the curvilinear movements resemble those of Mohini Attam and Manipuri (curiously, these are Vaishnava dance forms, too). Sattiriya mostly explores the 'Vataslya Bhava' or emotion of motherly love. Yashoda-Krishna is thus an endless theme, though (and Sharodi quakes at the prospect), there is also a speck of Shrinagara - in the lyrics of Sankara Deva. This is because while Sankara Deva may have begun the movement, it was his chief disciple Madhav Deva who actually instituted the sattras and developed the art - and Madhav Deva, unlike Sankara Deva, was a strict celibate. (This 'specialisation' is a contrast to how Krishna the Lover is a major element in India's other classical styles).

Sharodi's programme of six items is designed like a Sattiriya primer for Delhiites. She begins by sanctifying the rangbhumi (stage) with a Krishna Vandana and goes into a pure dance segment called Ramdaani to introduce essential movements (Sattiriya exudes 'lasya' or feminine grace, with 'tanava' or masculine vigour apparent only in the drum dances of the monks). 'Gitornas' comes next (dancing to a song). Sharodi presents a love lyric by Shankara Deva (Sita's reaction at her swayamvar when Ram is described to her) followed by Madhav Deva's lyrics on Yashoda-Gopal. The 'shlokarnas' that follow resemble the 'kavitt' of Kathak: a fast rhythmic section exploring tall in dance. Sharodi will conclude with 'melanas', the main item, which plunges deep beyond the surface splashing of movement in Item TWO, The Ramdaani. The recital will last 70 minutes.Copyright© India Habitat Centre