Taniya Vaidya
Swati Sanghavi
Asim Waqif
Aastha Chauhan
Ravi Agarwal

The group looked at the history of the water in Khirkee. Investigations and interviews with locals lead to a discussion on the future of the water systems in the village.

The presentation outside Khoj in Khirkee.

Introduction.

One of the only two green spaces in Khirki Extension, an urban village in the heart of Delhi, is fenced and locked. It is also a patch of verdant green, contrasting with the surrounding overrun and dry dustbowl like concrete jungle. Unbelievably (it is claimed) the green patch was even till a couple of decades ago a village commons. It was a thriving well- fed water body (jod), which also collected rainwater, before it completely dried up. It was then used as a garbage dump, before being land filled, made green and claimed as a contested private park. The community space had been converted into a private space.

How did this happen? How did a village commons and water body become a fenced in and landscaped private ‘view,’ as if reflecting the aspirations of a new middle class? What was the changing social relationships which allowed this to happen and what implications does this have for the future ecological sustainability of this area? Also questions arise about the meaning of water to the new fragmented migrant urban communities, which live here.

Aapna Pani is an attempt to trace the water ecology of Khirkee. It will in the first phase offered during this workshop, document the water practices through connecting the dots between water wells, water meters, water tanks, bottled water supplies, and interviewing residents about water.

The process.

As part of our ‘Apna Paani’ project we got to trace the flow of water across the Khirkee village, extension and the Hauzrani village across ages. This gave us an idea of not just the ‘water systems’ history but the flow of the political, cultural, technological and environmental history from the Tughlaq dynasty in the 14 century to today. Through our talks with various senior citizens like Masterji and others who prefer to remain unnamed and discussion with other group members Ravi, who works with environmental issues and is an engineer by profession, Asim an artist/ architect who has done a lot of work on ancient water systems, Swati who’s an urban designer/planner/architect, we got to learn a lot and very quickly unravel various threads of info we got and make sense of it. Also discussions with Astha, Amrita, Rahul and Mathiaas helped a lot in how to go about the process.

Satpula lake and dam built during Tughlaq dynasty and the various wells and johars which were part of a very sophisticated water distribution and storage system to water distribution systems of the British to the tubewells, some of which are still in use and more being dug though the water levels are going really deep to the piped water supply from the government and the packaged drinking water business using RO process which is also very much in vogue owing to the bad quality of water of the tubewells/pipes we got to see traces and actual examples of all the above systems.

Interviews with members of the community, as well as with those who “owned” the park, revealed the way the water systems were, and the social relationships between the communities interfaced with these systems. For example there was a well which only the /Muslims’ used while another which was only used by the ‘lower castes.’ Alongside there was a photo documentation of the various ways in which the community dealt with water today, including of the older closed wells.

The presentation.

During the open day for the presentations, a wall outside Khoj was used to display the water documentation and to recreate a sense of the network. The interview was played out on a loudspeaker. The display generated a small discussion amongst the community about water.

We were fortunate to witness and document a place where one could unearth the layers of this long a history.

The children of Khirkee

At the night of the workshop presentations the kids of Khirkee entertained us all by street performances in hip-hop and theatre. Read the project book below written by Andi at Khoj.

The Hip-Hop Dance performance was presented by the children of Khirkee as part of KHOJ’s most recent community-based initiative – Tiny Drops: The Khirkee Hip-Hop Community Centre. This initiative has been undertaken in collaboration with Hera and is ongoing since mid-October. Children learn and practice Hip-Hop with Hera thrice a week at the KHOJ Studios. Currently about ten children regularly come to KHOJ in the evenings to practice their Hip-Hop Dance moves.

Hip-hop dance at Khoj.

The Nukkad Natak/ Street Theatre Performance by the children of Khirkee, was a second performance by them, titled ‘padhna kitna zaroori‘ on the role/ significance of education. This was a community based project undertaken by Andi as an independent artist with KHOJ. She collaborated with Mr. Salim Zaidi, a member of a theatre group based in Delhi for the same. As the theatre workshop, followed by a final performance by the children, garnered tremendous praise and applause in the community, the children were very enthusiastic of doing another performance during the Urban Typhoon Workshop for the participants and the community of Khirkee – this time in the proximity of the KHOJ Studios, in the adjoining lane.

As there had been a gap of a few months since their last performance, the children rehearsed again for about a week, daily for about 2-3 hours prior to their performance on the Open Day of the Urban Typhoon Workshop.

Street theatre on the street outside Khoj.

PROJECT BOOK

NUKKAD NATAK: ‘PADHNA KITNA ZAROORI’ – STREET THEATRE WORKSHOP

By Andi

In my ongoing engagement with the children of the Khirki community, I noticed that participating/performing in a natak–a play/theatre was something that drew excited yelps from all. Having participated in the earlier community theatre project – Ghummakad Toli undertaken last year, some children were nostalgic while sharing their joyous experiences around the stories enacted then. With the onset of summer holidays, the children once again expressed their wish to perform in a natak in their community. To manifest and harness this creative enthusiasm, I collaborated with a team of professional actors, Mr. Saleem Zaidi – a member of the reputed theatre group, IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) Delhi and Mr. Siddharth, to conduct theatre workshops for children, leading to a performance in the community.

Every evening, as I met children at the Khirki Village Park for our art workshop sessions that were now concluding, discussions about the theatre workshops began shaping up. Lists were drawn of children who were keen to participate and initially, about thirty children expressed their interest for participation in the theatre workshop. In our conversations, I communicated the significance of committing to daily rehearsals/ workshop sessions for the theatre with an objective to instill a sense of discipline, determination, and commitment to working hard towards bringing something to fruition.

The workshops were planned to be intensive, for about 2-3 hours daily for a duration of about three weeks, to be conducted at the KHOJ Studios. I, in consultation with Mr. Zaidi decided not to conduct auditions, but offer each one a chance to participate and express themselves in whatever capacity possible, if they demonstrated keenness to do so. The idea being that children who were truly interested and enjoyed engaging in the medium of theatre, would participate regularly in the workshop sessions and would thereby get an opportunity to showcase their talent without fear of rejection, performance or competition. This would enable them to reveal their creative selves freely and openly in a fun-filled and playful atmosphere while gaining in self-confidence.

I invited Mr. Zaidi to the park one evening after an art workshop, for an introductory session to generate interest and orient the children to the theatre workshop. He spoke about the concept of a nukkad natak, its various elements, and facets and the significance of daily rehearsals to be able to step up the performance level in public. Mr. Zaidi ascertained the children’s willingness to participate, inspired and motivated them to join the workshop through enacting humorous parts and jokes, and inviting children to perform and engage in song and dance. Not only did the children enjoy their introduction to the first community nukkad natak, but the initiative also roused the curiosity and garnered much appreciation from parents and the elderly who were regular visitors in the park at evening and who also happily witnessed this session. Few parents eventually brought their young children for rehearsals following this introductory session.

As planned, the sessions of the street theatre workshop commenced on the afternoon of 15^th of July, at the KHOJ Studios. For the first day there was an overwhelming response with a total of 35 children who came in, some accompanied with their parents and a little one accompanied by her grandmother. The first session conducted by Mr. Zaidi and Mr. Siddharth introduced some interesting and informal fun exercises. This helped them as well as others to get accustomed to the group and the individuals thereof while slowly allowing a sense of the collective to emerge. The workshop was defined as a space where the children could freely engage in activities that they are usually forbidden to do at home, schools and most places elsewhere (e.g. to be as loud, scream, make noise and express themselves freely and fearlessly in voice and body). In the beginning when asked to scream as loudly as they can, it was noticed, that many children, and mostly young girls were hardly able to do so. Not for lack of a loud voice or because they were too shy but simply owing to their conditioning to ‘behave’ and reflective of repressed environments that they were raised in, with fewer opportunities thereby showing itself in their faint meek voices lacking in self assurance and confidence. And although they took some time to adjust to this new sense of freedom, later, it was a sheer delight to see these children participate and perform with such innate talent.

In the month-long rigorous workshop, the children were taught about the intricacies of expression, dialogue delivery, posture, and timing with the help of several games and role playing exercises conducted by Mr. Zaidi. He also introduced the group to other co-facilitators who were brought in from time to time to assist him. As time went by some children were unable to continue or dropped out and eventually a core group of 16 remained well after the first week to continue right up to the performance. Barring some children who were forced to leave with their parents for summer vacations, only those stayed on whose fascination for the theatre grew by the day and who eagerly looked forward to their daily rehearsals that lasted for a couple of hours and yet asked for more!

In the initial sessions, the children were given tasks to enact skits/ one act plays on their family dynamics. They were asked to observe their parents, and enact interpersonal relationships expressing their grievances, displeasure, expectations, and aspirations for their children. Many of them enjoyed acting as their parents and depicting themselves in the plays presented. The final play was scripted, worked upon, and developed on one of these skits presented at one of the initial sessions based roughly around the significance of education and the expressed desire of children to learn.

For the final performance, the nukkad natak was titled, ‘padhna kitna zaroori’ with the children bringing in the idea and the theme for it while Mr. Zaidi and Mr. Siddharth fine-tuning its script, structure and direction. The natak had three parts/acts and involved over dramatized, exaggerated, and humorous stances through which it emphasized the role of education. The first part depicted a scenario in which the husband is highly educated while his wife is illiterate; the second scenario depicted a household, which has a highly educated wife with an illiterate husband. Both parts exemplified the miscommunication between such couples, and its consequent confusions involving themselves and others. The third and the last scenario depicted children who are forced onto the streets and are engaged in various activities (e.g. robbery, begging and rag picking) instead of studying in schools. At the end of the three scenarios, the sutradhaar/ narrator draws in the audience by posing questions as to who is responsible for the situations that these children find themselves in and are unable to extricate themselves from. Whether the responsibility lies only with the intermediaries and touts who are directly involved (in engaging children in nefarious activities for instance in the third scenario) or is the society largely and hence each one of us is indirectly responsible (for instance in the first two scenarios where the role of education is not given importance). This drives home the truth that we all play a significant role in perpetuating these larger issues through our complacency, indifference and unwillingness to affect a change. The play ends with the children expressing their keen desire to study through a positive slogan and an inspiring song.

Sunday, the 11^th of July was decided to be the final date for the performance. The Khirki Village Park owing to its centrality and popularity amongst the residents as a neighbourhood meeting point was selected as the venue of the final performance, after consulting and seeking consent of few of the elderly women who regularly spend their leisure evenings at the Park. In line with the oral traditions of the nukkad natak, a crucial part of the street theatre performance was to announce, inform, and seek support of the community for the play. It was agreed that the children would rally through the lanes and streets of Khirki inviting/ requesting people in the community to come and watch their performance while announcing the date and time of the street play. This was undertaken on the evening before the final performance.

The announcement was not as successful as we envisioned. As for the children, it was their first attempt at announcing their play publicly. They were not as well prepared compared to their eagerness and excitement. At the Khirki Village Park the women felt that the children were loud and caused chaos, and consequently some elderly women were offended as their peaceful evening walk was disturbed. Overall, it indeed did turn out to be a bit chaotic as many other younger children from the community rallied with the troupe and were understandably being noisy and riotous in their fun and exuberance. The beating of drums initially intended to foster a festive spirit and to draw people’s attention, only added to the chaos. The purpose of the announcement – to create interest, garner community support and to gain self-confidence in performing outdoors and amongst crowds seemed lost as few elders at the park expressed their displeasure and irritability apparently at the method of our announcement. Nevertheless, apart from being annoyed by the chaotic situation, some of the reactions, for us, also reflected the prevalent class dynamics of the larger community in and around Khirki, as many children performing in the street play, came from the adjacent Panchsheel Vihar belonging to the communities with much weaker socio-economic background compared to the fairly middle-class residents of the Khirki Village area. This incident somewhere highlighted the class / caste dynamics and made us a bit apprehensive about performing at the same venue the following day. But, the next day foretold a different story.

On behalf of KHOJ, we had organized new costumes for the troupe. The performance was scheduled to start at 6 in the evening but on the day of the performance the children came in at KHOJ Studios by afternoon to try out their new costumes and for a final rehearsal. All the children were well rehearsed and ready and looked very impressive in their new costumes and around quarter to six, we headed to the park with basic props (organized by KHOJ). When the children stepped out and started walking towards the park, they garnered a lot of attention. On reaching the Khirki Village gates because of the displeasure of the women in the earlier day, Mr. Zaidi and I sort permission again from women for the performance while the children were waiting outside. To our surprise, many were waiting eagerly for the performance and especially Maya ma stood by us and boosted the confidence of the children during the entire performance. As the play started a lot of people gathered from outside; a group of elderly men who usually sit at the further end of the park joined in, senior boys who practice sports also joined in, parents of the children performing and many regular park visitors mostly women and children from outside joined in for the performance. The audience enjoyed the performance and praised the children for their astounding performance. It almost felt that the tension, which was caused the day before, had temporarily disappeared and the children had won everybody’s heart with their performance. There was a growing demand for more performances for the children at different parts of the Khirki Village. Many children who were forced to opt out of the workshop also approached us to start another workshop soon.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

NUKKAD NATAK: ‘PADHNA KITNA ZAROORI’ – STREET THEATRE WORKSHOP

The project entailed intensive sessions of 2-3 hours daily for a duration of roughly three weeks, at the KHOJ Studios. The street theatre workshop for children leading to a performance in the community was conducted in collaboration with a team of professional actors, Mr. Saleem Zaidi – a member of the reputed theatre group, IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) Delhi, and Mr. Siddharth.

I, in consultation with Mr. Zaidi decided not to conduct auditions, but offer each one a chance to participate and express themselves in whatever capacity possible, if they demonstrated keenness to do so. For an introductory session to generate interest and orient the children to the theatre workshop, I invited Mr. Zaidi to the park one evening. He spoke about the concept of a nukkad natak, its various elements, and facets and the significance of daily rehearsals to be able to step up the performance level in public. He ascertained the children’s willingness to participate, inspired and motivated them to join the workshop through enacting humorous parts and jokes, and inviting children to perform and engage in song and dance.

Finally, the sessions of the street theatre workshop commenced on the afternoon of 15^th of July, at the KHOJ Studios. For the first day, there was an overwhelming response of 35 children. The workshop was defined as a space where the children could freely engage in activities that they are usually forbidden to do at home, schools and most places elsewhere (e.g. to be as loud, scream, make noise and express themselves freely and fearlessly in voice and body). In the month-long rigorous workshop, the children were taught about the intricacies of expression, dialogue delivery, posture and timing with the help of several games and role playing exercises conducted by Mr. Zaidi. As time went by some children were unable to continue or dropped out and eventually a core group of 16 remained well after the first week to continue right up to the performance.

In the initial sessions, the children were given tasks to enact skits/ one act plays with one or more actors on dynamics within the family. They were asked to observe their parents, and enact interpersonal relationships expressing their grievances, displeasure, expectations, and aspirations for their children. The final play was scripted, worked upon, and developed on one of these skits presented at one of the initial sessions based roughly around the significance of education and the expressed desire of children to learn. For the final performance the nukkad natak was titled, ‘padhna kitna zaroori’ with the children bringing in the idea and the theme for it while Mr. Zaidi and Mr. Siddharth fine tuning its script, structure and direction. The natak had three parts/acts and involved over dramatized, exaggerated, and humorous stances through which it emphasized the role of education.

In line with the tradition of nukkad natak the children announced the venue, duration, time, and name of the play in the community one day prior to the final performance. We also sort permission from the elderly women who were the regulars at the Khirki Village Park for the final performance. On behalf of KHOJ, we organized new costumes for the troupe. The performance was scheduled to start at six in the evening but on the day of the performance, the children came in at KHOJ Studios by afternoon to try out their new costumes and for a final rehearsal. All the children were prepared and ready and looked very impressive in their new costumes and around quarter to six, we headed to the Khirki Village Park with basic props (organized by KHOJ).

As the play started a lot of people gathered from inside and outside the park; a group of elderly men who usually sit at the further end of the park joined in, senior boys who practice sports also joined in, parents of the children performing and many regular park visitors mostly women and children from outside joined in for the performance. The audience enjoyed the play and praised the children for their astounding performance. There was a growing demand for more performances for the children at different parts of the Khirki Village.

Karin Andersson
Saumya Ananthakrishna

Download the  Khirkee CookBook

Recognizing the women of Khirkee resulted in a collection of recipes along with stories that tell the history of the village. Not only do the recipes tell of the variety of cooking performed in Khirkee daily, but they also carry the history of the village, its transformation from rural to urban, the origin of ingredients, along with stories of the people of the village.

Woman showing how to slize an brinjal.

Why do I need to go out? My home is my world.

A land which once upon a time had spaces demarcated for women in the public, spaces which women had made and governed for themselves. Be it the numerous wells which dotted around the Khirkee Village or the farms in which women worked the land at par with men. With the diminished usage of the land women’s spaces too become restricted to the indoors. “There are now water taps in our houses where we get flowing water … We don’t have farms to work on, we get vegetables at our doorstep. Why would we want to go out?”

With the disappearance of farming land and wells the public territory which women governed took away with it the spaces women had to meet or collect it. In its place we see spaces built and set up by men making the streets of Khirkee largely male dominated.

Do the women miss those spaces they had in the past we asked?  “We miss our fields, we miss talking to our neighbors while ploughing the fields, but life is definitely more comfortable now.” Meena’s two room house on the second floor is very creatively done up inside. In the room where the women sit the tea cups have been stacked symmetrically in accordance with the design, as we sat in the room the women discussed what was yet to be bought for the wedding of one of the daughters which was coming up. As we sat talking to Meena’s family we asked them if they missed having a space where they could talk to other women. They said when they first got married and came to this village they all missed their families. The youngest daughter in law who had recently been married into the family nodded and said she would like to be a part of a women’s collective.

woman writing recipe.

Our search to find or to bring about a women’s collective led us to make a recipe book. Walking around collecting recipes from women almost always made a collective form with women debating and discussing how a particular dish was made.

In our search for recipes in Khirkee women’s collectives were formed inadvertently, women joined debating, discussing, reminiscing and telling stories of the old days. A space was formed. Our search for women’s spaces in the Public led us to re contextualize the thinning line between the Public and the Private – the “Public as the Private?”.

The work resulted in a cookbook; the Khirkee Cookbook, which was distributed on the final day of the workshop. The cookbook contains recipes connected to women living in Khirkee along with stories of their lives. The recipes do not tell only of daily routines, but reveals the past of the village, related to vegetables and changing prices.

Two happy women.

Nov 9-16, 2010 @ Khirkee Village in partnership with KHOJ.

Visit the Urban Typhoon Web page for more info.

REGISTER NOW!

November 9-16, 2010

In partnership with Khoj. With the support of Ford Foundation and the Norwegian Embassy. ‘KHOJ International Artists’ Association’ is an artist led alternative space for experimentation and international exchange based in India. Part of the global Triangle Arts Trust, KHOJ sees its role as an incubator for art and ideas, artistic exchange and dialogue in the visual arts.

The Urban Typhoon workshop invites artists, architects, activists and academics from all over the world to ideate with residents, grassroots groups and other users of Khirkee Village, New Delhi. The event aims at reclaiming the locality by collectively generating multiple ideas, visions and plans for its future.

During the week-long workshops all kinds of interventions and interactions will take place, stimulating debate, exchange and awareness. The workshop draws its energy and creativity from the involvement of local users, including business owners, housewives, children, teenagers, loiterers and other hoodies. It focuses on local participation and global engagement.

The workshop is documented throughout the week. The participants also produce all kinds of material, which is then uploaded on a user-generated Website. In addition, the output is translated into various installations, exhibitions, essays, festivals, architectural designs, urban plans and site-specific action, during and after the workshop. Its ultimate aim is to inform decision-makers on the aspirations and potential of Khirkee Village.

URBZ, has been conducting similar workshops in various places around the world including Shimokitazawa (Tokyo), Dharavi (Mumbai) and Galata (Istanbul).

The Urban Typhoon Khirkee (New Delhi) workshop is being organized in partnership with Khoj, a globally renowned artists collective based in that very neighbourhood. Khirkee is an ‘urban village’ in a city in fast forward mode, which may need to creatively reinvent itself if it is to preserve its identity in an increasingly alienating global context.

Khoj has operated from there for more than a decade and has initiated several projects, where artists have become urban practitioners projecting visions and revealing choices that formal actors may have overlooked.  In this partnership between Khoj and URBZ, we hope to organize an event that has a special significance to the world of urban engagement in which artists have a special role to play.

Participant Requirements:

The Urban Typhoon workshop is multicultural, multidisciplinary and a multimedia event. Students, urban planners, architects, designers, artists, sociologists, media artists, political activists, and anyone with a high motivation to work in urban spaces and willing to engage local communities for the week long duration of the workshop is welcome to join.

The objective is to produce creative alternatives for the future of a neighborhood threatened by limited official choices and imagination.

Please fill up the registration form, including a 100-word bio-note of yourself and a face-picture.

We will be in regular touch through e-mail after that.

Travel and boarding expenses are to be borne by the participants (so,don’t wait to make travel bookings! We will also make reservations at reasonable rates in local lodges and hotels to facilitate the process).