कभी इस नगर में, कभी उस नगर में
कभी बस गया सिर्फ दीवार-ओ -दर में
वो इक शख़्स तन्हा कि जिस का अभी तक
सफर है मुसलसल, ना घर मुस्तक़िल है
Sometime in this city or the other
He settles in between his doors and walls
He is the man who is lonely & for whom
the travel is continuous, & home is not permanent
/ Chandrabhan Khayal in Gumshuda Aadmi ki Talaash /
Both of us relate with the person above in Khayal's nazm. In the last 10 years, we made our home (separately and together) in the walls of multiple cities. However, both of us kept our permanent addresses in the small towns of Panchgani and Rishikesh as we moved around with our temporary pin codes. We grew up in these small towns where space and time seemed to be in harmony with each other. The spaces where one had to go (for work, shop or leisure) seemed to fit neatly into the time one had in a day. As we travel to many of the nagars in India, we wish to understand more deeply that despite the charm and attraction of our small towns, why we invested in staying away from them.
Yutika is interested in understanding the socio-economic fabric that underlies our society. Over the last few years she has been working in the domains of social policy, public administration and governance mostly in India. She has a Masters in Public Policy and Masters in Public Administration from National University of Singapore and Columbia University. She completed her Bachelor of Arts in International Political Economy from University of California, Berkeley.
Tarun is interested in urban institutions, mobility, heritage and cultures. He has been working in the domain of urban policy and has been involved in projects both with the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation. He holds a Masters in Public Policy from National University of Singapore. He completed his Bachelor of Arts, Economic (Honours) from Delhi University.