KHIRKEE VOICE FEBRUARY 1, 2017 Tasty Delights of Khirkee
ISSUE #2
Can Street Art Help Fight Corruption?
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W EF E B RAU A RYT 1 , H2 0 1 7E R CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA
12 PAGES Afghani Girl Visits India
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SPECIAL ISSUE ON MULTICULTURISM Jahajee Great Grandmother’s Story Continues
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Poetry from Somalia
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www.khojworkshop.org Designer T-Shirts & Hip Hop
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ARTS & SPORTS
CAN BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER, THINKS THE BUDDING ARTIST OF KHIRKEE EXTENSION photographs: suresh pandey
Gurgaon, in retrospect, he feels like the tower was signaling his future. Khoj became a doorway into a whole new limitless world for Adil, who had always had an interest in art, even as a child. His first introduction to the artistic practice came in 2010, when he interacted with artists during a residency at Khoj. He met two young artists with whom he became good friends, quickly making him realize the potential
DEMERARA, GUYANA
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
MOGADISHU, SOMALIA
Adil gives medals to the winning team at the football match organised for Khoj Dustak NEW DELHI, INDIA
Mahavir Singh Bisht
A PATNA, INDIA
dil compares his life’s journey to a lift, which is constantly going up and down three floors. On the top floor he sees himself living life as an artist, using art to build bridges with the
community. On the second floor is his life as it is at present, where he gets to interact with a variety of artists regularly, while learning and thinking about the creative process. The ground floor is his past, where he dealt with the countless struggles life threw his way. While he doesn’t
Malini Kochupillai
GOLD PRICE
24 CARAT / PER GRAM J A N U A RY 2 7 , 2 0 1 7 AFGHANISTAN
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SOMALIA
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ohammad Shahabuddin is a serious man, but his face lights up when you address him as Shibi, a nick name that has stuck since he started the project he is eager to talk to us about today. A resident of Khirkee for the past five years, Shibi has a small workshop tucked away in one of Khirkee’s many by lanes. The workshop is a constant buzz of activity and whirring machines, with men diligently creating exquisite embroidery on lengths of fabric. With not many employment options for a graduate of Arabic, and with a few failed ventures under his belt, Shibi started working in this workshop with his brothers around 2012, and discovered a passion that could also sustain him. Shibi’s abiding interest in art, and his ambitions to do something big and meaningful with his life, drew him to Khoj for its many public events. As he got acquainted with the Khoj team, he also started meeting some of the artists who come in and out of the institution for its many residencies. It was during one such residency that Shibi got a big break. In September 2016, the team from Khoj introduced Shibi to Liza 9
tell us much, he does say that these tough circumstances have only made him stronger. Adil’s unusual journey with art started in 2008 when he got an opportunity to work at Khoj in their library. Before that he used to work at the Infinity Tower in
of art to breach class and social boundaries. Khoj has given wings to his boundless imagination, and he hasn’t stopped flying since! In the years he has spent with the institution, Adil has worked on a mind-boggling variety of 9
Bilateral in the Back Alley Khirkee Craftsman Starts Exciting Collaboration with South African Artists photographs: malini kochupillai
Shibi proudly shows his craftsmanship to an admiring Liza
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KHIRKEE VOICE • February 1, 2017
WHAT IS SO SPECIAL ABOUT KHIRKEE ?
#tastebudding SADAF HUSSAIN & MALINI KOCHUPILLAI
Haji Hajib Ahmed likes to serve Lassi because it is the only thing that can quench your thirst as well as fill your belly. In the winter, Haji sahab’s shop offers samosas and kachoris. Afghani Tandoor corner serves Afghani Donuts, Afghani Breads and home made pickles. Hafiz Ji, a resident of Khirkee for fifteen years, owns three food joints, one serving biryani, another serving Mughlai food and tandoori rotis and a third that serves nihari and keema. The neighborhood boasts of a variety of street food, the most unusual of which is the mobile cart serving hot biryani and haleem with a garnishing of freshly cut onions and lemon. Sheikh Shabbir sells chicken and aloo pakoras and jhalmuri, which are staples of Bihar. African Kitchens serve food that is typical of the country that the proprietor hails from. Charlene’s kitchen serves goat stew, Cassava and fried fish with plantains and salad- the most popular.
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We bring you this new issue of Khirkee Voice with great excitement and anticipation; Khoj, where this project was born in September last year, is supporting us in bringing the publication out as a quarterly, and we are super excited to bring you more stories from the lives and lanes of our special neighborhood. But what makes Khirkee so special? Why does this village deserve a newspaper of its own? Khirkee is a microcosm of the city, like a mini city, or a city within a city. Something about it draws people from all over the country, and across the world, to come and make a home here, however temporary. Maybe this is because of the mall and hospitals across the street. Or maybe it is something in the atmosphere, or the frenzied activity on the street, which makes it that much more inviting to people who may be new to the city. Jane Jacobs, the American-Canadian journalist and activist known for her influence on urban studies and author of the renowned book, ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’, has said “By its nature, the metropolis provides what otherwise could be given only by traveling; namely, the strange.” Nothing could be more true of Khirkee Extension, where one encounters a multiplicity of cultures, ethnicities, foods, shops, and strange art works on every street. Few other neighborhoods of Delhi can boast of the variety of things one sees and experiences on a daily basis here! There is something comforting about walking down a street overlooked by shops and street food vendors. A kind casual friendliness starts to develop with the people we pass by everyday. With these regular, albeit fleeting acknowledgements from neighbors and shopkeepers, a real sense of belonging and familiarity develops over time, creating an ephemeral feeling of community and connection. Cities, which are called engines of growth and commerce, can be very alienating places, with everyone too caught up in etching an existence to give a thought to anyone else. For someone new to the city, a passing ‘namaste’ from the grocer or the cobbler can go a long way in making them feel welcome. Khirkee also sets itself apart from many of its surrounding neighborhoods because if its narrows streets and alleys. While many complain about not having space to park their cars because of this narrowness, it is because of the lack of cars in the neighborhood that its streets remain lively and full of human activity, making pedestrian movement relatively comfortable and safe. While the larger city continues to be developed primarily for cars, the human scale seems to have been forgotten, or ignored, along the way. Can a city designed for cars provide comfort and happiness to the many humans that occupy it- the old and the young, the poor and the disabled, the cyclists and the many who do not want to be stuck in a two hour traffic jam, where is the space for them in our city? There is space for them in Khirkee Extension, where the street makes space for everyone, and everyone finds a place to hang out. In this issue, we focus on Khirkee as a multi cultural melting pot, bringing you stories from the many locals, travelers, drifters, migrants and laborers that live here. The cultural diversity of Khirkee makes it an exciting place to be in, and here we celebrate this variety and richness in its many forms in the hopes of creating a collective consciousness and sense of pride among its residents and visitors.
February 1, 2017 • KHIRKEE VOICE
MARYAM SAFI i n t e rv i e w e d by Ita
A street in Cosmopolitan Khirkee Extension
Mehrotra
Maryam is a human rights activist from Kabul, currently studying in Linnaeus University, Vaxjo, Sweden. I met her in Sweden last year at a cultural exchange program. We discovered that we both spent a fair share of time in Khirkee village and Hauzrani.
I: Did you come with family, where did you live? M: It was my mother, my younger sister and me. We rented a tworoom apartment which cost us Rs. 2000 a night. What was nice was that the owner of the house was an Indian but he could speak Dari, our language, and when I asked him how he learnt it he said that he has been renting rooms to Afghani people for so many years that he learned our language! When we were there he even fixed the Afgani channels on TV, which made my mom happy!
was the beautiful Taj Mahal. There are so many historical places to explore, llike the Lal Qila, Qutub Minar, Jama Masjid, and so many gardens – like the Lodi Garden, which is one of the most beautiful gardens a person can see in their life. I can say that every Indian has a big heart because people live together and are so connected to each other. I realized how welcoming Indians can be when one day my mother and I were with my youngest sister who insisted on entering a wedding hall we were passing by- we entered even though we didn›t know anyone and it was obvious that we are tourists. We ate, drank and enjoyed the party without feeling like strangers.
“...the owner of the house was an Indian but he could speak
I: Were you comfortable living in Khirkee? M: Yes, many Afghans have opened small businesses there, we could find pharmacies run by Afghans and even most signs were in our language.
Dari... he even fixed
I: What would you do for meals? M: We usually ate at one of the many Afghani restaurants, made my sister so happy! Those run by Afghans served very good food; they even have their own bakeries for Afghani bread just like back home.
my mom happy!”
I: How long would you stay in Khirkee? M: Just a few days, then we would travel, to Agra or other places and stay in hotels wherever we went. I have also traveled to India for study tours and official work trips but not stay in Khirkee then. I: What was your impression of India during your visit here? M: I found both the country and the people very kind and hospitable. You can learn about one of world’s greatest change makers - Mahatma Gandhi. One of my favorite places
the Afgani channels on TV, which made
I: Do you have any tips for someone visiting for the first time? M: If you want to learn about the real India and enjoy the most from your visit, you should do what the locals do, use Rikshas and local trains, try the street food and wear Indian dress. You can ask any information from Indians on the street and they will answer with kindness and patience. If you speak a little Urdu, you can easily mix it with English and everyone will understand you. Even though there is lot of poverty, you see the strength of the Indian nation and how they fight to meet challenges. If you consider the rich history, strong cultural values, and pride of the Indian nation, you will find the country very rich indeed!
raju parmer
The Sophiatown of Delhi Melissa Tandiwe Myambo
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n December, 2016, I went to have my hair done in a small basement salon in one of Khirkee Extension’s twisting alleys. I banged on the metal door and walked into the Cultural Time Zone of the African hair salon. Inside, my Nigerian hairdressers are absorbed in watching Jenifa’s Diary, a web series about a Nigerian hairdresser, on their tablet. Jenifa seems to be having endless drama in her Lagos life but here we are in South Delhi, and my hairdresser is just trying to make a living to support her family. As I get settled in, a veiled woman from the Maldives walks in with her Sudanese husband. They are bringing their two little daughters to the salon to plait their eldest’s hair into neat cornrows. The eldest goes to an Englishmedium school with my hairdresser’s daughter in Green Park. It’s her birthday today so when the Ugandan neighbor arrives, a favorite “Aunty,” it’s time for a little celebration. The other hairdresser who sings in the choir at one of Delhi’s African churches starts us off in a zesty Happy Birthday. Then we bow our heads as she leads us in a Christian prayer asking for the coming year to bring the child many blessings. “Amen,” says the Muslim lady as we finish the prayer and hand around slices of chocolate cake. I wonder if there will be enough left over for the large Sikh family who are constantly in and out of the salon. Cosmopolitan: displaying aspects of multiple cultures and nations.
If you should try and locate the Cultural Time Zone of this African hair salon inside the larger one of Khirkee Extension, you probably won’t find it. My hairdresser doesn’t want to attract too much attention to her business as the police and xenophobic residents often harass African business owners. But if you could find it, what would you think? Isn’t Khirkee one
of those rare places in the world that is truly cosmopolitan like 1950s-era Sophiatown, South Africa’s most famous neighborhood? Khirkee Extension is full of migrants not only from many states of India, but also large numbers of Afghanis, Somalis, Nigerians, Nepalis, Congolese, Ugandans etc. It is a place where Muslims live alongside Hindus and Christians. It is generally a very multi place - a multilingual, multicultural, multiracial place. But most people do not use the word “cosmopolitan” in relation to Khirkee because it is not glamorous or wealthy or very westernized. They use “cosmopolitan” and “international” to describe the massive complex of luxury malls that sits directly across the street from Khirkee. As the sink in my hairdresser’s salon is not working properly, I had to wash my hair in the fancy Fitness First gym in Select Citywalk Mall, where the deluxe showers never run out of hot water. I wrapped my wet hair in a big doek and risked my life crossing traffic-filled Press Enclave Marg to go to Khirkee. As I walked through Khirkee’s narrow, pot-holed streets, side-
everyone speaks the same global languages of English and money. It is a place dominated by the culture of global capitalism. Khirkee, on the other hand, is where many different peoples are living together, speaking their many languages, and actively practicing their many different social, religious and cultural traditions. It is a place where xenophobia and racism are rife and violence can erupt. But it is also a place like South Africa’s famous Sophiatown, a radical place, which the apartheid government destroyed and razed to the ground in the 1950s. Sophiatown represented the opposite of what the white minority, racist, apartheid government wanted South Africa to be. Yes, it was a poor and squalid place filled with criminal gangs but this is not why it made the South African government afraid. The government feared Sophiatown’s rich culture of coexistence. Many different races, classes, and ethnicities fraternized there, listening to jazz music and discussing progressive ideas in multiple languages. Despite its problems, it was a real community
www.gauteng.net
Ita: What brought you to India? Maryam: I came to India for short trips during the winter months, January and February when it is very cold back in my home but warmer here. We had some friends in Khirkee and they told us to come stay there. My friend was studying there and her father was sick, he needed regular treatment. A lot of Afghani’s stay around that area as it is close to Max Hospital.
Sophiatown before it was demolished in 1956
stepping a bloody, squashed rat and avoiding oncoming motorcycles speeding through the throngs of people, I thought about the meaning of “cosmopolitan.” Khirkee is far more cosmopolitan and international than the mall with its H&M, and Zara, and McDonald’s. These are western chains but inside the sealed confines of the airconditioned mall,
and represented the best of what South Africa could be. Khirkee could be the Sophiatown of India. With more resources, city officials who cherish the area’s potential, and community programs that strengthen community bonds and celebrate diversity, Khirkee could show the whole world what it means to be truly cosmopolitan.
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great grandmothers forced migration.
Ordeals of the Jahajees in the Caribbean Jungles
TEXT + ARTWORK ANDREW ANANDA VOOGEL
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coloured narratives from the ground, animals and spirits that haunt the trees and paths from deep within. There’s a story about this jungle that grandmothers tell their grandchildren in order to keep them from leaving the plantation. It’s about a pair of yellow eyes that peer from far, far back in the jungle. At night they glow with a pale golden hue. During the day, they are indistinguishable. The black pupils of these eyes skirt detection and if your sight happens to falls upon them from the plantation’s edge, you are drawn into the jungle, never to return. • • •
æ Jumbi Man II, Oil on Paper; 2014
Caste, Oil on Paper; 2014 Sugarcane, Silver Gelatin Print, 2007 Cutlass, Silver Gelatin Print, 2007
Seawall, Silver Gelatin Print; 2007 Crossing, Silver Gelatin Print; 2007
A young girl sits amidst the buzzing mangroves, crouched and peering out beyond silhouettes of wrapped vines and warped trees. At her back, an intricate maze of green creates a vortex stretching beyond infinity. Chapter, volume and verse never to be written, instead narrative endlessly expands backwards along the floor of the interior. The pallid blue sky æ æ
Artist’s rendition of his
known as a machete, is held by the many browned and cracked hands of all of Bharat’s tribes. No village spared, no caste forgotten. Each of them exiled here, each a resilient symbol of passage and history. Yet, the cutlass democratizes all. No differentiation between Indians. Now we have only one task, one puja, one destiny, one memory and one caste: SLAVE. The only break in the landscape is the many brown rivers that feed the soil. They rush in, then stop and stagnate near the cane fields, filling trenches with spiteful lotus blossoms. Their delicate petals do not belong here. Where the cane stops, there exist only two realities. On one side the retreating sea and on the other the jungle. The impassable desert of sooty silt where the sea should lie only holds one option for those who cast themselves towards her: OBLIVION. And like the sea, there’s a story about the jungle too. This indefinable mass of earth articulates and draws space through intricate interruptions of the darkness. Vines that weave
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sanctuaries for the newly escaped. Their only salvation amidst the endless hunger of the plantation or hundreds of years, is the depths of the interior, far the lower parallel of the beyond the reach of the plantation triangular trading system owner’s whip-end. has funneled countless human Across the seas, boatloads vessels from West Africa across the of Indians: coerced, stolen, Atlantic into the jungles of the Old manipulated, forced and beaten World. A world that today barely are bearing their own dark passage. exists, except in the dimming Arriving in the new world sick and memories of the dark green starving, survivors touch down in mangroves the land of still-birth time. A land The tyranny of the colonial whip whose refusal of the sea leaves a has chased hundreds deep into perfect impassable border: miles the jungles. They’ve abandoned of ashy silt that stretch to the the wrought institution of the horizon line. As if even the ocean plantation to live amidst the herself denies arrival upon these buried treasures and the ancients shores. in their forgotten land of exile. A cruel, hot sun arises in this Along the coast, bits of Saharan land. It is a device of an even sand approach, having taken flight crueler master whose demands from across the jet-stream. They are beyond the capability of land on the shores of the New our human machinery. He has World, distant reminders of a broken up the day, leaving us home whose roots were chopped only two realities: cane-cutting and whose bodies were smuggled and sleeping. The Indians, into the shadowed passages of dubbed Jahajees work from sun dank wooden holds, across the up to sun down and have come many thousands of miles that as replacements for the recently eventually take us here: the hot escaped Africans. An ever-swaying and humid land of still-birth time. motion rhythmically moves them Thin rivulets of smoke arise through the infinite green of the from deep in the jungle. Morning cane fields. Side to side, back and fires scatter across the interior, forth, diagonal cuts through the where small clearings have become cane, endlessly. The cutlass, also Dark is the night, deep is the jungle. Decades of time shift without notice.
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EXCLUSIVE SERIES FORCED INTO THE OCEAN
February 1, 2017 • KHIRKEE VOICE
Demonitization Hits Local Laborers Mahavir Singh Bisht
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gives way to the hot sun as it begins to rise. The girl smacks a fat mosquito as it manages to break the surface of her sweat stained brown skin. Crouched
atop a low hanging branch, she hears a voice calling from across the jungle path. “Mala, it’s time! Get your things and go on to school.”
f you go past Select Citywalk mall and enter Khirkee, and turn left at Sai Mandir, there is an empty Indicash ATM. Since demonetization on Novemb er 8th, the ATM has been refilled with cash only twice. In the evening, there is a lot of activity there. People gather in small groups and are often heard talking about their homes and families, and about day-to-day affairs. This is a different world, where words like “digidhan” are similar to an abuse word. Hanan is from a small village in Bengal, and has been working as a plumber for the past twenty years. He says that it’s as if life has stopped after 8th November. The contractor has not released his money, who in turn says that he has not been paid from his superiors. India is a country where, on the one hand people live in villages and small towns, and are dependant on their sons or husbands’ daily wages for subsistence, and on the other are words such as “digi-cash”, “black money” and “cashless economy”, casually discussed in the daily news. As per data released by the Central Bank, 6 crore people in India dont have bank accounts, and most of these people are from villages. Bharat(name changed) is a 28 year old labourer from Uttar Pradesh, who earns approximately
300-400 Rs a day. He asked me with great humility, “Bhaiya, (brother), how does one send money via the mobile phone?” When I asked for his phone, he showed me an old Nokia. I told him that one needs to download an application on the phone, through which money can be sent immediately. The only condition is that one needs to have a smartphone. He takes back his old phone and looks at me with wonder.
For a Rs. 500 note, one can get Rs. 300-400, and for a Rs.1000 note, Rs. 700-800 100-200 people live in this part of Khirki, who work in the nearby posh areas as guards, plumbers, helpers, painters, tailors and cleaners. This is an entire class of people who leave their villages for a lack of facilities and jobs. But cities are modern, and it is tough to catch the pulse of the city. They find themselves feeling backward here. In such a situation, the only solace is to find support in those who are similar to you in speech and look. Together, they make up a small village in the city, where the rules and values are like a village, but the hustle-bustle and dilemmas are like the city. Safdar(name changed) is from a small village in Bihar. In the past few days he had to exchange some 5001000 notes he had earned through
being a daily wage labourer for less, so that he could buy some essential supplies. For a 500 Rs note, one can get 300-400 Rs, and for a 1000 Rs note, 700-800 Rs. He had opened an account under the Jan-Dhan scheme, but it was closed. He says that he is hardly educated, and asks whether he will be even able to use a smartphone. As everyone clamours to tell their story, one labourer complains that the current government calls itself a government for the poor, but this ruling is hardly in favour of the poor. This is a double whammy, on the one hand it is tough to survive, and on the other hand, their families back in the village are not being able to buy seeds for the rabi crop due to a paucity of cash. In such a situation, they find themselves helpless. Mr. Gulati runs a paint shop in Khirki. He says that now sales are 30 percent of what they used to be. He has to travel long distances to withdraw money from his savings account. As per him, there is an ATM of every known bank in the vicinity, but none of them have money. What can one do in such a situation? Everyone here wants to air their concerns to the government in one voice. With no apparent end to their woes in sight, they look wistfully on as a line of young office goers forms outside the Indicash ATM.
HipHop Crew Design Art T-Shirts
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omegrown BBoy crew Khirkee 17 is making a name for itself in places of high art. For the past three months, Hari Full Craazy, Akshay Tashan and MC Freezak have been working with the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art on an exciting project that combines the boys’ many skills and interests. Commissioned by the museum to design a line of T-Shirts inspired by the art of Jeram Patel, the boys have been making many drawings based on the exhibition of his works. The team at KNMA has been helping the boys in understanding and interpreting the abstract works. Months of hard work paid off when the museum organized a big launch for the line of T-Shirts, accompanied by hip hop performances by Khatarnak, Survival Crew, Slumgods and Khirkee 17 themselves. Set in one of the large gallery spaces of
Slumgods perform at KNMA & Khirkee 17’s Screen Printed T-Shirts
the museum, the performances were striking with the beautiful paintings of Jeram Patel in the backdrop. Attended by an audience of artists, friends, supporters and family, the beat boxers, rappers and hip-hop dancers had the crowd rocking to their beats and rhythms. Impressed by the boys’ enthusiasm and passion for clothing design, the museum has plans to continue to work with Khirkee 17 to design T-shirts for future exhibitions. The boys’ families were at the venue and could hardly contain their pride and happiness at their success.
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KHIRKEE VOICE • February 1, 2017
SISTERS BROKERS Stroke of luck brings sister’s to Khirkee, cancer takes one of them, the other must carry on alone.
photographs: malini kochupillai
Malini Kochupillai
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he sits back authoritatively and considers which candidate will win from Muzaffarnagar, her home-town, predicting that the BJP will get UP this time. She has big hopes for the BJP despite their election having a negative affect on her real estate business over the past two years. Over cups of tea, she starts to reminisce about a series of fortuitous events that brought her to Khirkee Extension about 10 years ago. She tells us the story from the beginning, when she and her sister lent a man they knew a sum of Rs. 50,000. A few months went by,
when the man showed no signs of returning the loan, the sisters went to meet his grandmother, to ask if she had a solution. The grandmother related her own woes with her sons, who were drunks and had gambled away almost all of her property in Khirkee Extension. She told the sisters of one house she still had in Khirkee, which she had locked up some time ago, and offered to give it to the sisters in exchange for the lost loan. The sisters said they would buy the place from her as they were already looking to invest in property, and struck a deal. The sisters later found out that the old lady had given away all of her earnings from the sale to the Gurudwara. She stops mid story,
on hearing a friendly ‘Mamma’, at her shop. A young Ugandan lady has come asking for help with her landlord. Mamma quickly reassures the young woman, switching easily to English, that she will speak with the landlord and resolve the issue and turns around to continue with her story. The sisters were able to fix up their new Khirkee abode with some more help from the old lady, and quickly setup a small snack shop in the front of the house, which was originally planned as a shop, located as it was at the end of a street. It was an immediate success. Although the sisters had some tiffs with neighbors to begin with, they soon settled in and over
time, the neighbors were more accepting of the small business on their street. The business was a roaring success a little while, but they say all good things come to an end, and a disagreement with their contractor forced them to look for an alternative. The new guy also worked wonders for their business.
He was clever and was able to cater to a lot of needs they originally thought they could not provide.
This success was short lived however, upon hearing one day that some relatives will be visiting them in Khirkee for first time, they decided that having a sweet shop at the entrance to their home was a little tacky and decided to change tracks again. A few incidents of passersby asking them for help with finding accommodation lead the sisters to start their own real estate agency, one that is today a hub of activity and conversation, helping immigrants from across the world find a place to call home in Khirkee Extension, all with a welcoming smile. She stops mid conversation again to attend to an Afghan man who wants to know if he can send money using Western Union, to which she replies in the negative, saying regretfully that the service was down. She turns back to us to lament the slowing down of business, but admits that such is life. She reminisces about her sister, who passed away after getting cancer, she misses her, but life must go on, as it always does in Khirkee Extension.
Medical Tourism in Khirkee Cheryl Mukherji rsh, 27, sits across from me as he narrates—switching between broken English and Hindi— his journey to Khirki. “I came to India in 2011 on a tourist visa. I saw all of India, but Delhi is the best part for work. I first lived in Lajpat Nagar, but when I heard that Malviya Nagar had medium budget of staying, I moved to Khirkee in 2012.” Arsh, who calls himself a consultant and guide, helps medical
why he thinks so many patients flock in to India, he looks at me as if it’s a given: there is no doctor in those countries; medicine is not good—especially in Afghanistan— no machine. He adds further, “80% of the Afghanis come to India for medical treatment. Poverty drives them to borrow money from their relatives for the same.” Arsh stays with his immediate family in the neighbr, but he yearns for his motherland Afghanistan. H feels that this is the closest he feels to home: in helping people from
by the hospitals”, he says. A visa-on-arrival scheme for tourists from select countries has been instituted which allows foreign nationals to stay in India for 30 days for medical reasons. Rooms, often small and dirty, in Khirkee and Hauz Rani are available for these tourists for about Rs.1000 per day. For patients who suffer from severe ailments and have to make recurring trips to India for treatment, accommodation in Delhi just adds to a list of expenses already too heavy on their pockets.
as shelter when they cannot afford any lodging in the city. “We don’t ask for money. We just want them to have a comfortable stay while they’re getting treated in Delhi.” “I find this job comfortable. I don’t have any other work apart from this. I cannot do anything by myself- cannot open a shop, cannot start a business”, Arsh reflects. He cannot, because “the government doesn’t allow it”. And in these moments of realisation, he suddenly feels like an outsider in a country he has been staying in
through what the patients give him, if and when they themselves can afford to. Medical tourism is a growing sector in India. The government has removed visa restrictions on tourist visas for people from Gulf countries, which is likely to boost the sector further. Arsh remarks with a wry smile, “Sometimes I feel that the hospitals need the patients more than the patients need the hospitals.” He is right. And that is where Arsh comes in-to act as a mediator between the seeker and
tourists who come to Delhi in getting the best possible treatment available for their illnesses. “People come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Syria mostly in the first 3 months of the year because the weather is suitable; it’s not very hot. I attend to approximately 10-15 patients every month”, he says. On being asked
his land, because he cannot go back any time soon. He is eager to let me know how his work is more than just a business for him. He doesn’t wish to feed off their ignorance in an unknown country, they have already lost too much, and cannot afford to lose anymore. “The least I can do is to show them the right path, or they will be overcharged
“They don’t come with families because it is more expensive. One patient and one helper”, says Arsh. “When they come to know that I am from the same country, they are less apprehensive. When we speak the same language, they trust me.” Arsh empathises with the patients’ constraints. He often offers his own house or a friend’s
for 6 years. Even though he refers the patients to prominent private hospitals in New Delhi, he doesn’t have formal contracts with them. There is no documented evidence of him helping and guiding the patients, no say in how much he is paid. There is no sharing of profit from the revenue generated by the hospitals with him. He earns
the sought after, through everyday acts of kindness, struggling to make a home in a small corner of the big city. These acts of kindness and empathy, soften the oftenharsh blow the city can give to new comers. He ends the conversation saying, “I pray that no one ever needs me, that no one ever falls sick enough to need me.”
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projects with artists from across the world. From creating art with food, to working with all kinds of materials and mediums with a variety of artists, he started to understand that art can communicate endless experiences and ideas, and could be a strong medium to send out a message to the community. As he continues his work at Khoj, Adil has been busy teaching himself all kinds of skills and developing some of his own ideas about art and the community. One of his favorite projects started during an event celebrating 10 years of Khoj’s existence in Khirkee. Adil was responsible for arranging a football match between teams from within the neighborhood, and was able to gather a bunch of kids eager to play and maybe form a club. While that first match was a success, subsequent attempts have been less so, given the paucity of open spaces for the kids to play in. Adil hopes that the ongoing rejuvenation of Jamun Park, being undertaken by the mall, will accommodate this need, convinced that football would be a great boundary breaker in this highly fragmented community. BACK ALLEY BILATERAL / from page 1 Groebler, an artist in residence from Cape Town in South Africa. Liza is a painter who likes to work with different mediums and materials in her work, and she was looking for someone local to make embroidered interpretations of her paintings. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Shibi eagerly took on the work of interpreting Liza’s paintings into embroidery, excited to be working on something unique and artistic. Working with tight deadlines, and not always with the help of an interpreter, Shibi was able to deliver the work to high praise and appreciation from all the artists, with Liza being especially pleased with the quality
LOCATION SURPRISES MANAGER
Initially hesitant about being in Khirkee, in a year, cafe manager Devika Menon grows to love and appreciate the neighborhood
28°31’51.80”N / 77°13’3.06”E
ARTS & SPORTS / from page 1
malini kochupillai
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had never thought I would manage a cafe, not even in my wildest dreams. That too, in an urban village like Khirkee, and inside an art space like KHOJ. Last year, I embarked on this journey, which has been one of the most satisfying of my life. I worked in the non-profit sector for around three years while I was
and consistency of the work. In fact their collaboration during the residency was so successful, that Liza has continued to send Shibi more paintings from Cape Town on email, which Shibi prints and makes ready in record time. Liza’s husband Norman, also an artist and painter, was so impressed with the workmanship that he sent Shibi one of his own paintings to embroider. On a recent visit to New Delhi to pick up their pieces, Liza and Norman looked extremely pleased with the results of this collaboration, and look forward to working a lot more with Shibi and his team.
Liza and Shibi with their collaborative work Norman holds up his embroidered painting with Shibi
studying. However, I was always been interested in starting a small cafe of my own, so when I came across this opportunity of working at one, I lapped it up! But, my judgemental mind scared me about working in Khirkee. Coming from a sheltered background, I had never experienced people from such a different social class face to face. Earlier, it was a struggle walking down from Sai Baba Mandir to KHOJ. I would get stared at, and feel really vulnerable. But now, I
walk with a determined stride. I have made friends with the local sabjiwala, who gives me free matchboxes when I buy vegetables. The person at the local grocery store is also really helpful. Whenever we dont have help in the cafe, these two really go out of their way to find someone for short term employment. I am also amazed at the diversity of people from all over the country and the world that comes to Khirki, and I have been fortunate to meet some of them at the cafe.
Dance Classes bridging Social differences Sukaina Husain
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t four o’clock without fail, a group of girls from the Hauz Rani and Khirki villages congregate at Khoj every single day. Peeking their heads around the corner, they pace up and down Khoj’s walkway with notebooks and pencil cases clutched closely to their chests, frowning for lost time until their art and dance classes begin for the evening. It was only following the completion of REVUE artists, Sreejata Roy and Mrityunjay Chatterjee’s community art project, ‘Networks & Neighbourhoods’ at Khoj in 2015 that these young women began to clamour for a space in which they could continue to express themselves creatively. In response to their initiative, Khoj began regular art and dance workshops led by Naina Bhan and Juee Deogankar respectively, providing the girls with a regular forum in which they could voice themselves freely. The group is diverse — most of the girls hail from Afghanistan, however, in recent weeks, girls from a nearby jhuggi have also begun participating in Juee Deogankar’s Bharatnatyam dance classes. The class’s main attendees primarily consist of two groups —
a group of Afghan girls who attend these classes in the hours between school and tuition classes, and the second, a group of young girls who have only recently started going to school after begging for years by the Sai Baba Mandir in Khirki Extension.
ply An opportunity to sim me co be play and dance has fferent di om fr a tool for girls rhood sides of the neighbou d to come together an r he understand one anot At first, creating dialogue and interaction between them seemed like a challenge due to the marked differences in manner, dress and language between the two. Nonetheless, conversations between the two groups revealed that both share the common burden of having to try and balance their schoolwork with active domestic responsibilities. Both lead extraordinarily busy lives with little time to spare for themselves and their interests — having fun is a treat, not a part of ordinary, everyday life. An opportunity to simply play and dance has become a tool for girls from different sides of the
While I have made friends with some people with whom I can really discuss any aspect of my life with, I have made casual acquaintances with others. The kinds of topics I can discuss with someone from another country and place in life is immense and constantly amazes me. So it really doesnt matter where you are from, but common human bonds can really bring people together. Working in Khirki has really taught me this, and this is one of the experiences I treasure most. Sometimes, guests at the cafe tell me what a shady location the cafe is at. One person once told me that he has come to check if the cafe’s location is “safe” for his sister. Others complain of being stared at. I always tell them my experience with a smile, and assure them of the safety here, probably more than other spaces, considering the population density. Perhaps my favourite experiences have been when people tell me what a good job I’m doing, and how welcome they feel at the cafe. So next time youre in KHOJ, please do drop by and say hello! I promise to make your cafe experience worthwhile.
neighbourhood to come together and understand one another — for an hour everyday, avenues of communication open between the two and the neighbourhood of Khirki becomes an inclusive place where differences are accepted as understanding is extended between two seemingly dissimilar groups. It is often said that Khirki is a diverse neighbourhood, consisting of individuals from different parts of the world, cacophonously residing in close quarters with one another. Nonetheless, racial and cultural tensions abide between its inhabitants everyday — arguments often becoming fights in which both sides refuse to understand or recognise the other. However, when girls from different sides of Khirki’s socio-economic spectrum come together for to enjoy themselves and dance every evening, rhythmically alternating feet in unison with one other, they unwittingly bridge gaps in a neighbourhood whose diversity sometimes more often than not reveals and heightens, but does not lessen, the differences between its people. In a high-stress environment that sees migrants and refugees trying to build a semblance of an ordered life amidst the chaos of their past and present, spaces for play, especially for young people in the neighbourhood, can become rooms for open dialogue, fostering the development of future relationships between communities as diverse as the kinds found in Khirki Village.
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KHIRKEE VOICE • February 1, 2017
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February 1, 2017 • KHIRKEE VOICE
Afghan Street Art Group wins Anti-Graft Award integrity through street art. The group has produced a series of paintings of eyes on the walls, which are mostly accompanied by the slogan “I See You” and are designed as a warning to corrupt officials. The ‘I See You’ campaign consisted of seventy 30- square meter painted murals all over Kabul, including the Presidential Palace. The campaign catchphrase signifies corruption is not hidden from God and peoples gaze. To encourage innovative approaches to expose and combat
corruption, the Anti-Corruption Innovation Award is granted in recognition and appreciation of alternative anti-corruption efforts that have shown effectiveness in fighting corruption, with the help of modern and distinctive techniques. ROLACC created the Anti-Corruption Innovation Award, which is given in spirit of innovation, and the use of modern and unconventional methods of fighting corruption. Sourced from http://www.sada-e-azadi.net/
omaid sharifi/artlords
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three artists in Kabul. With the help of passersby they have painted dozens of murals on blast walls across the Afghan capital, raising awareness against corruption, promoting zero tolerance and
artlords.club
I Am A Somali Woman Poetry by Sahro Ahmed Koshin
omaid sharifi/artlords
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I see you Man with pencil and gun Heart in a wheelbarrow
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar. Afghanistan’s Anti-Corruption Innovation winners ArtLords is a grassroots movement started by
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n December 9th in Vienna, Austria at the Hofburg Palace, organizations, individuals and groups from Europe, Asia, North and South America and Africa were recognized at the AntiCorruption Excellence Awards. To coincide with International AntiCorruption Day, the winners were presented their awards by United
FIND OUT WHAT’S YOUR COUNTRY BEST AT?
I am the sister of the martyr. I am the aunt of the potato seller at the local market. I am the daughter of the local sheikh. I am the injured of the revolution. The protester. The jailed. The detained. I am the tortured. The exiled. The kidnapped. The raped. I am the veiled. The non-veiled. I am a beautiful soul. I am a Somali woman. My skin is of ebony and ivory. I am young by spirit. Old by experience. I am the pregnant. The wife. The single mother. The widow. The godobtiir and godobreeb tool forcing me into marriage as the compensation payment for another clan’s peace settlement. I am a Somali woman. Yet I am not a victim. I am a leader. Not a woman leader. But a leader who happens to be a woman. I clean up the streets of my nation. I rise up the past. The present and the future generations. I brought the Nobel Peace Prize to Somalia. I am a Somali woman. I speak out for my son at school. I speak up for my daughter in the madrasa. I pray for my ancestors and for my older son in jail. For my mother in the hospital. I speak out for our artists whom they keep bombing in theaters and on the streets. I am a Somali woman. I speak out for my mind. I am the pulse of the people. I live in the city. In the town. In the rural areas. In the suburbs. On the mountains. Along the borders. I am in Garowe. Mogadishu. Afgoye. Erigavo. Hargeisa. Galkayo. Bosaaso. Beletweyne. Badhan. Bocame. And every corner where there is life and sound. I am a Somali woman. I am synonymous with strength and victory. I celebrate sisterhood. I celebrate motherhood. I boost the economy. I advance the technology. I give life to the community. Do I deserve to be equal to you? Yes I do. Because I am a woman. A Somali woman. Sourced from http://allthingssomali.com/
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KHIRKEE VOICE • February 1, 2017
YOUNG
BIHARI MUSICIAN DREAMS OF BEING LIKE ARIJIT SINGH
Mahavir Singh Bisht
with his passion, the director gave him the freedom to learn whatever he wanted to. Gradually, Manoj started getting invited to perform at various events and functions. He would always be the guitarist at institute events, to great applause. He has even met some famous people at some of these events. He recalls with great pride of the time he got an opportunity to play the guitar with Jatin Pandit, when he gave one of
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Manoj Malik is as diligent about his Yoga as he is about practicing his singing and strumming everyday
Graphic: Sourav Bramhachari
anoj Malik is a short man bursting with energy, with a love for listening to and singing Bollywood songs. Its easy to be fooled by his innocent face, but Manoj’s desire to do something unique since he was a child led him to run away from his small village in Bihar in pursuit of his dreams. He was interested in school, but music was his passion, singing at the Ram Lila and any other event that would let him. Growing up in the 90s listening to a staple of Kumar Sanu, Udit Narayan and Babul Supriya songs, he has long harbored a wish to someday be in the music industry. Reality hit Manoj hard when he ran away from home, Delhi was not an easy city for him to be in. He did whatever work he found, life was tough in the beginning. He finally got a break when he got a job at the Tansen Music Institute in Dwarka, where he would pay close attention to any information related to music as he worked. He slowly learned to play instruments like the guitar, violin and others, all in his spare time. One day he mustered the courage to speak to the director of the institution about wanting to learn more. Impressed
his best performances. He spent the day with Jatin Ji, and remembers the event as his biggest break. Manoj is diligent about his daily Yoga and music Riyas. He also believes that teaching can be a great source of learning. These days, living in Khirkee, Manoj is a big fan of Arijit Singh. He spends his days listening to Arijit’s music, and teaching kids at his own little music Institute- Rock & Roll. His students love him.
Printed by Fortune Print Service, Okhla Industrial Area, New Delhi • Editorial design by DamageControl • Edited by Malini Kochupillai & Mahavir Singh Bisht [khirkeevoice@gmail.com] Published by KHOJ International Artists Association
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