Tag: Gurgaon

NH10 : Gurgaon as Urban Cinematic Narrative

‪Gurgaon is a classic case study in unplanned urbanization from the the shady, character laden  Chakkarpur’s of the World to the  global DLF Cyber City’s which inhabit a parallel universe. Take an auto out of DLF Cyber City and the realities of the crime rid city confront you in the face. Law and Order depends on your good fortune rather than the local cop. Last year, Aurangzeb was a film to watch out for dealing in the murky real estate mafia of Gurgaon, where ‘Katta’ or the country made pistol and Koffee co-exist at ease. The film starts off with a punchline line : ” Mere Baap ka Gaon, Gurgaon” or my fathers village is Gurgaon. This year, it is Anushka Sharma’s NH10 taking the cinematic discourse forward with the dualities of life in Gurgaon. 

NH10‬ is a gritty film with nuanced contrasts between the medieval and the modern of my former work town the corporate DLF Cybercity, Gurgaon and its Jat hinterland with Khap Panchayats with gotra linked gruesome honor killings. Realistic lingo of a modern corporate couple is refreshing with panoramic shots of MG Road Shopping Malls with my work DLF building number 5 shown in one flickering sequence with the infamous Sahara Mall. These shots made me nostalgic. The on screen couple Meera (Anushka Sharma) and her Tamilian Husband chatting on their laptops while sitting on the same bed, is something that a Gen Y Couple can only understand. Love and attraction in the office space is discussed at ease and sex is portrayed for pleasure rather than procreation. This is where the director tries to establish the polar opposites right away, early on in the film. This a powerful contribution to the conversation on relationships in Urban India.

Raw violence has been utilized effectively as a cinematic device. The punch lines of Gurgaon being a youngster throwing tantrums and that the constitution ends at the shopping malls of Gurgaon being very symbolic of the urban mess with a rustic soul called Gurgaon wa! Certainly Anushka’s breakthrough act with a realistic ensemble cast, with a razor sharp edit, a must watch film of the year!

Its all about location Stupid: Gurgaon and its Sociology of Space

I have been a Gurgaon resident for half a year now, which is quite stunning in itself as I thought I would not survive here at all. It is a decent decent place, as I would like to contradict its detractors.  Gurgaon like Navi Mumbai, my quasi hometown is a satellite city originally planned to create space for the working classes to commute to the Central Business District in the morning and drain out the city later in the evening. But these cities have evolved to carve a unique urban footprint of their own with being Corporate Hubs with the signature DLF Cyber City or a Vatika Business Park in Gurgaon. These are all inclusive lifestyle hubs with their customised entertainment focal points as DLF Cyber City has its Cyber Hub with 600 meters of the best eateries lined up from the world over, a Hard Rock Café rubs shoulders with a Thai fine dining restaurant Soi 7 and the Singapore based Wine Company. Eclectic area, pretty women too. Amen.

A similar illustration for Navi Mumbai would be the IT Park Ecosystem around the swanky Vashi Railway Station with eateries, In Orbit Mall and nightlife hotspots  aka Rude Lounge. The Palm beach road resembles Sheik Zayed Road in Dubai more than the spatial landscape of a Nariman Point. The gentrification of Gurgaon and Navi Mumbai is the story of urbanization in India. The upmarket corporate locus Cyber City in Gurgaon is 30 minutes from the International Airport in Delhi and near the south Delhi hotspots of Saket, Vasant Vihar and Greater Kailash. Although the so called Millennium City of Gurgaon has a bad water and electricity issue; the Kohinoor of Haryana grows insatiately in to Rajasthan along the Jaipur Highway (may be because of the lower crime rates in Rajasthan).  Skyscrapers share the boundary wall with a society next door of low height buildings all over Gurgaon. DLF Phase 3 with U Block and Sahara Mall with Chakkarpur in Phase II which gives you a feel of a tier 3 town in India than Downtown Mumbai.  Gurgaon is much for the folks in Chakkarpur and U Block as it is for the Golf Course Road Residents. Local Politician Tayyib Hussein competes with a Yogendra Yadav and Rao Inderjit Singh here for the Parliamentary seat.

The spatial geography of Gurgaon follows the norms associated with Sociology of Space eschewed by Marxist Theorists such as David Harvey and Henri Lefebvre. The capital is concentrated round regions with access to markets and consumers. The money circulating in the global circuit of free market gung ho capitalism is embedded symbolically in the office towers of Gurgaon. Top Dollar Attracts Top Dollar, as simple as that crude maxim. The gated communities of DLF Phase 5 and Golf Course Road exude elitist values of exclusivity and privilege with American Style Suburban Homes. Exit a gated community and you are back to the harsh reality of pot holes which depict the crater of the moon than an urban centre. A light shower and the roads of Gurgaon are a muddy puddle. There seems to be governance disconnect somewhere.

The ordinary chap in Gurgaon drinks at Machan- a term burrowed from Punjabi for an open Attic at a countrywide home. The Machan in Gurgaon is a social institution (positioned next to an office complex at a traffic intersection like the Sector-29 Machan) as one (a lower to middle income working class chap) purchases the booze at the adjoining alcohol shop and get in to sit at an open air eatery where they have a rather mediocre band chugging out even more average fare which I guess suits the musical tastes of the intoxicated patron who wishes to forget the petty office politics. It is an embodiment of all the male stereotypes ringing in popular culture. It is an all-boys club.  The saving grace is the absence of a pole dance platform. The food is palatable, I must admit.

As the Indian Urbanization Story blazes its tracks, the spatial dynamics speaks a lot for the terms of reference regarding social justice.

 

 

Urban Infrastructure- Its about Politics Stupid!

Indian Cities are expanding, by leaps and bounds. The National Capital Region and The Greater Mumbai Region are urban agglomerations which are power centers of our economy. Every second tier Indian City is growing to accommodate the aspirations of the Indian with access to Google and hence the window to the world on their Nokia Asha’s and Micromax’s. Folks from the lower socioeconomic strata take selfie’s on their Chinese made Xylo phones in the Delhi Metro. The Smart Phone is a symbolic totem of an aspiring India and a powerful force multiplier. The Naya Raipurs and Greater Raigad’s are the future of urbanization in the country. The ten odd nodes of the Multi-Billion Dollar Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DIMC) driven new smart cities off a fresh template mirroring the Pudong-Pearl River Delta model of the early 1980’s made China the factory of the world. The DIMC Development Corporation is led by Amitabh Kant, a dynamo of a civil servant which shatters the stereotype of a sarakari babu. Aggressive Visionary Leaders make a world of a difference. Narendra Modi has put the Dholera node of DIMC in Gujarat near Amdavad on steroids with the work progressing on a firm footing.

A BJP led administration from May 2014 would be an enabler for creating urban infrastructure as its voter base is the urban middle class, while in contrast the Congress was welfare scheme oriented as its target consumer oops voter was different.  The Urban Voter is being taken seriously finally with Modi and Kejriwal vying for their vote.  Kejriwal and the Aam Admi Party have been paradigm shifters for bringing the focus back on the urban voter. Prof. Yogendra Yadav from Gurgaon and an Ashutosh from Chandani Chowk would be a welcome add to  debates in the Lok Sabha. The Candidature of IT Visionary Nandan Nilekani from Bengaluru South is a sign that Indian Politics is finally accepting the urban professional.

The Urban voterscape is a myriad canvas of actors.   Gurgaon is about a Chakkarpur and Cyber City equally. The Aam Admi Party has a strong appeal for the urban poor in the National Capital Region and Kejriwal’s antics have delivered them the message that we can have a voice in the Vidhan Sabha too.  Urban Governance is ultimately about equitable access to public services. The Quality of Life has to improve. The Urban ecosystem is complex with multiple stakeholders with different stakes in the game.  Urban India can win only if they vote in the forthcoming polls.

Press the Button, gently.