I’m delighted to have joined LUMS as a postdoctoral fellow earlier this month. I’ll be writing up some research as … More
Category: Uncategorized
Five old maps of Delhi and an illustration
दिल्ली के कुछ पुराने नक्शे और एक चित्रण / dilli ke kuch purane nakshe aur ek chitran घड़ी की सूई … More
Delhi smog – consequence of groundwater regulation?
Arvind Kumar writing in the Sunday Guardian links increased air pollution in Delhi to a shift in the timings of … More
Origins of the Sicilian Mafia: The Market for Lemons?
Great paper by Arcangelo Dimico, Alessia Isopi and Ola Olsson in Journal of Economic History, 77(4), 1083-115, Dec 2017. “In … More
IDS WATSAN Seminar Series talk
Looking forward to my upcoming talk at IDS, Brighton as part of their Water and Sanitation series next Friday (20th). … More
Penn State Asian Studies Institute: Infrastructure
Very useful week (representing Europe!) discussing all things infrastructure at the Penn State Asian Studies Summer Institute earlier in the … More
Water collection and storage: the last 100 metres
I’ve been working at Lancaster Environment Centre on a project looking at water quality in informal settlements and working with … More
‘Informal infrastructures’?
I’ll be at Ethnographic perspectives on South Asian politics in Manchester this Friday thinking about ‘water mafias’ and informal infrastructures… … More
Shahr Dilhi Shahjahanabad
in which Muslim and Hindu religious buildings are marked… based on 1873 government map Wells can also be seen (double … More
the affairs of the Company flowed through a new and unnatural channel
24 March 1766 To the Honble the Court of Directors for Affairs of the Honble United Company of Merchants of … More
New work on history of Delhi water -British Library, April23rd
Delhi Waters from Mughal to British Rule Mon 23 Apr 2018, 17:30 – 19:00 Waters of Delhi: Continuity and Change … More
Chiragh Dilli – Writing a city
Just seen this great blog by anthropologists of Delhi! Check it out… https://chiraghdilli.wordpress.com/
Vinod Kumar Shukla – ‘Like a city on a dry lake…’ and other poems
दोस्त से मैंने कहा कि सूखी झील पर बसे हुए शहर की तरह था । पालतू बतख का झुंड सड़क … More
Vinod Kumar Shukla: शहर से सोचता हूँ – From the city, I think
शहर से सोचता हूँ From the city, I think कि जंगल क्या मेरी सोच से भी कट रहा है is … More
Tankers and Urban Water Supply in South Asia
Metameta very kindly asked me to join a webinar on TheWaterChannel about tankers and urban water supply in South Asia. … More
Urbanisation-Migration-Construction Nexus
Construction of infrastructure and the urban built environment is one of the fastest growing areas of the Indian economy. Yet … More
हौज़ ई शमशी
I’ve been writing on the history of Delhi’s water infrastructures recently and a friend passed me this great article by … More
‘vicious lobbying and unscrupulous wire pulling’
Some lovely writing in this 1939 account of the challenges of late colonial planning enforcement. Still feels quite relevant… _ … More
‘organisation of office’
This comment on the Municipal administration by an incoming Secretary of the Municipal Corporation in 1938 seems to prefigure contemporary … More
Rain Gambling and Opium Gambling
I found this rather strange folder in the Delhi archives: 1899/14 Rain Gambling – regarding gambling and opium. A notice … More
Uday Prakash – Broken women, Nehru-ji and Astaachal
My translation of Uday Prakash’s story खंडित स्त्रियों, नेहरूजी और अस्ताचल. Udayji writes about this story as his first, ‘written … More
On Delhi’s pre-colonial water systems
‘The canal, shortly after entering on and skirting the base of the range of hills west of Delhi (the drainage … More
देवता और किसान – क्रश्न चन्दर
I’ve had a shot at translating Krishan Chander’s Devta Aur Kisaan, a short story from 1983. Chander (1914-1977) … More
केदारनाथ सिंह – बाज़ार
बाज़ार – केदारनाथ सिंह ‘आओ बाज़ार चलें’ उसने कहा ‘बाज़ार में क्या है’? मैंने पूछा ‘बाज़ार में धूल है’ उसने हंसते … More
Kashmir
रजास्थान के दरवाजे…
बाओली और बंदर के लिए नीचे कर दें…
‘Impressed by the possibility of comparison’…
/ We predicate of the thing what lies in the method of representing it. Impressed by the possibility of … More
Word Clouds
“The conception of thought as a gaseous medium.” (Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, 47e) If, like me, you are thinking … More
Artistic Water Tanks of Punjab / पुंजब के कलाकारों के टैंकों
Last weeks (?) of thesis but just saw this piece on crazy water tanks in Punjab. Contemporary stepwells? Maybe a … More
Old maps!
(above) A Topographical Survey of a Portion of Dihlee District Showing the Principle Basins of Drainage and the Positions of … More
Political geography of development
I’m preparing for teaching a new course, Economy Society and Space, and I found these old materials from Political Geography of … More
तितली, गांधीजी, दुआ – तीन उदय प्रकाश से
उदय प्रकाश, अबूतर कबूतर, २००५, स्वर्ण जयंती, दिल्ली तितली सरकार एक तितली पकड़ना चाहती है, उसे चाहिए एक फूल बैजयन्ती … More
Delhi waters: Unequal, unreliable, and running out
Although Delhi has more water per person, on average, than London or New York, many still endure a daily … More
महाजनो येन गतः – उदय प्रकाश
महाजनो येन गतः – उदय प्रकाश The way of great ones* – Uday Prakash इसी पथ से गये हैं महाजन … More
Water: New Short Fiction From Africa
Water: New Short Fiction From Africa, edited by Nick Mulgrew and Karina Szczurek, Short Story Day Africa / New … More
Water Regimes Questioned from the South
Oooh – exciting!!! Water Regimes Conference Proceedings featuring the lovely: Remi de Bercegol, Jochen Monstadt, Marie-Hélène Zérah, Philippie Cullet, Karen … More
Things going on…
Few bits of writing in progress while I’m here in Cape Town… and couple of new books I’m getting into: … More
तू नही आया – Amrita Pritam
Sad one 😦 (english below as usual) चैत ने करवट ली, रंगों के मेले के लिए फूलों ने रेशम … More
US tour dates confirmed! #AAG2016
Like the Beatles and Skepta, I’ll be making the trip to the States. I’m speaking in San Francisco on the … More
South African City Studies Conference
Exhilarating few days last week at the SACC hosted by Durban University of Technology. Here are some links to learn … More
پاکستان کی تصاویر – Pictures of Pakistan
Politics, informal infra and urban governance
Delighted to see this in EPW’s Review of Urban Affairs! Politics, information technology and informal infrastructures in urban governance (pdf) … More
कुछ बन जाते हैं – उदय प्रकाश / become something – Uday Prakash
कुछ बन जाते हैं – उदय प्रकाश (scroll down for translation) तुम मिसरी की डली बन जाअो मैं दूध बन … More
CGWB Groundwater Consultation Ends 16 Dec
The Central Ground Water Board has issued new guidelines on ground water extraction. The guidelines are open for public consultation … More
Water Regimes Workshop
Excited to be taking part in this upcoming workshop… WATER REGIMES QUESTIONED FROM THE “GLOBAL SOUTH”: AGENTS, PRACTICES AND KNOWLEDGE Centre … More
Urbanisation-construction-migration
Early output from a research project I’ve been involved with. 5 country study of the links between urbanisation, construction and … More
Infrastructure as divination tool
Today’s infra / water reading… Infrastructure as a divination tool: Whispers from the grids in a Nigerian city – U … More
Publics@IIHS Bangalore
PUBLIC TALK Underground Water: Techno-Political Ecology in ‘Unauthorised’ Delhi Thursday | 5 November 2015 | 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Abstract: India … More
Glass half-full? Readings on Public Private Partnerships…
Many interesting references to follow-up in this recent Bretton Woods Project editorial on Public Private Partnerships… Big infrastructure projects are seen as an … More
कुफ्र – अमृता प्रीतम
कुफ्र आज हमने एक दुनिया बेची और एक दीन ख़रीद लिया हमने कुफ्र की बात की सपनों का एक थान … More
cfp AAG2016: Infrastructural engagements and urban re-imaginations in the global South
Call for papers for American Association of Geographers 2016 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California March 29 – April 2, 2016 … More
Free Download! ‘Underground water’ PPT
You lucky lucky people! I’ve uploaded the slides from my presentation at the RGS. For full effect you need me … More
UK Tour 2015! One Date Only – September 2nd Exeter University
Catch me for one date only in an exclusive appearance for RGS-IBG at Exeter University. September 2nd, 14.40 Forum Seminar … More
Politics of Fire – Kerry Chance
“Where there is fire, there is politics”: Ungovernability and Material Life in Urban South Africa. Great new article by Kerry … More
“Water Mafias” of Delhi?
Two recent pieces on Delhi’s ‘water mafias’. A very nice piece by Aman Sethi, who I met a couple of … More
Cutting, Altaf Tyrewala
Cutting, they call it That far-from-tea bubbling away on footpaths all day and night The over cooked narcotic of a … More
Muddy waters in Delhi’s Dusty South
I was asked to write something on water for a series at SouthAsia@LSE. This is mainly about discretion in urban … More
घर – उदय प्रकाश / Home – Udhay Prakash
घर वह बहुत देर से नकशे को देख रहा था | फिर उसने वह नदी खोज निकाली जो उसके घर … More
PDFs
Too busy to write here recently – sorry about that! Here are some nice books you could read instead though… … More
Tilak Bridge
Tilak Bridge, near Pragati Maiden – one of Delhi’s many modernist masterpieces.
AAP campaigns
AAP 2015 election campaign materials from south Delhi; banners, posters, auto-rickshaw quiz. Really only of interest to people studying … More
Subalternity and crisis
New from Sharad Chari: Not this freedom, insists Lindela Figlan, security guard and office-holder of Abahlali baseMjondolo (ABM), the shack-dweller’s … More
Israil Camp demolitions
400 houses recently demolished at Israil Camp in Vasant Kunj leaving around 2000 people homeless. Detailed and disturbing article below. … More
Right to the City India
Right to the City Campaign Promoting just and inclusive cities Invitation for Launch Event of Right To The City Campaign … More
Water supply innovations from Delhi
Nearly a quarter of India’s capital city still depend on the city’s water tankers – being unserved by the cities … More
Water and Sanitation Roundtable
“The broad and ongoing critique of India’s urban infrastructure tends to focus on problems of governance, regulation and finance. These … More
है या है नही? (Haider 2014)
Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider, released last week, is the third in his series of Shakespeare adaptations. Building on his earlier films, … More
Hawk vs Mongoose
Mongoose, ferret, ‘land squirrel’ – probably not. I don’t know what they are but they look like a squirrel that … More
असली हिसाब
कबीर तम्बुओं में लगे एक स्कूल के पास से ग़ुजर रहा था| एक ख़स्ता हाल तम्बु के नीचे बैठे बच्चें … More
Delhi, the fields beneath… Narayani Gupta
How exactly does ‘urbanisation’ happen? What happens to what was there before? If planning is haphazard and infrastructure lags how … More
Some thoughts about ants…
Strengths: numbers, stealthy, inquisitive, biting. Weaknesses: limited intelligence, small, slow moving, sugar. .
Foucault, Governmentality and Critique
It’s only been out a couple of years, but the copy of Thomas Lemke’s 2012 book in the JNU library … More
JNU! (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
Some pics of the murals at JNU… You can see more images and learn about the university’s mural tradition here.
E-Sub Registrar Office, Mehrauli
I’d seen Mehrauli on the map so many times I … More
Gyms in parks! (लोधी बाग़)
Sure you can go jogging in a park – but what if you want to broaden your exercise routine? Well, … More
ताज महल और सिखरी घूम रहे थे
Information and informality
The concept of an information society[1] has broad appeal for policy-makers as a powerful way of imagining the future direction … More
लू Haze
The Loo (Hindi: लू, Urdu: لو, Punjabi: ਲੂ) is a strong, hot and dry summer afternoonwind from the west which blows over the western Indo-Gangetic Plain region … More
India’s Urban Direction…
Venkaiah Naidu announced on taking office that there would be a new approach to urban policy learning from and replacing … More
Individualism
This is Foucault in Society Must Be Defended: “The discourse of race struggle—which, when it first appeared and began to … More
Bidesia in Bambai
Bidesia is Bhojpuri for ‘the one who leaves home’. Bambai is their name for Bombay, where 1/4 immigrants are from the northern states. Bidesia … More
Three pictures
Two poems by Uday Prakash
वसंत रेल गाड़ी आती है और बिना रुके चली जाती है जंगल में पलाश का एक गार्ड लाल झाड़िया दिखाता … More
Water in India’s 2014 elections?
Something I wrote for Guardian’s Comment is Free. Ok, so water’s maybe not _the_ key issue – but I thought … More
Partnerships and accountability in development aid
How do funders know their money is being well spent? Or spent at all? Monitoring Movements in Development Aid, … More
JNNURM Conditionalities
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission is India’s consolidated urban policy programme in a ‘Mission mode’. It aims to boost infrastructure (and … More
Rise of the Regulatory State of the South
Navroz Dubash and Bronwen Morgan have a great new edited collection “Rise of the Regulatory State of the South: Infrastructure … More
Infra reading – work in progress…
There are a bundle of exciting new books on infrastructure that I’m looking forward to reading, starting with Navroz Dubash … More
Dear Mandela: Film and discussion with S’bu Zikode
Screening of the award-winning film Dear Mandela (short version) followed by a discussion led by S’bu Zikode, founder of the … More
Notes from the Struggle in the Narmada Valley
Some writing and images from the ongoing mass movement for social and environmental justice by people whose lives, lands and … More
Just what is JNNURM?!
The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (“JnNURM” / “the Mission”) is described as the UPA Government’s ‘flagship urban policy’ … More
Hacking policy in Bangalore
IIM Bangalore hosts a public policy redesign competition that gives teams 24 hours to mash-up datasets and existing frameworks for … More
the State binds itself to space through a complex and changing relation
Lefebvre’s De L’Etat suggests that “the State binds itself to space through a complex and changing relation that has passed through … More
Corruption, Anti-Corruption and Governance
To celebrate Transparency International’s latest report I made a book review of this recently published ambitious cross-country study of corruption … More
Fluid Uncertainty
Lots of brilliant ideas at the LSE Cities Fluid Uncertainty workshop last month. These brief notes are mainly designed to … More
Great Indian Mobile Phone Book
Great dual author study combining history and ethnography to take a broad view of the influence of mobile phones across … More
The battle for Golibar: urban splintering in Mumbai
Wrote this quickly for OpenDemocracy to try and raise profile of struggle. * Best thing about this version is full … More
Visible Cities
I’m reading Latour and Hermant’s Paris: Invisible City (2006) & De Boeck and Plissart’s Kinshasa: Tales of the Invisible City (2004) in parallel … More
People, plants, performance…
Great paper responding to criticisms of ANT within geography. Beautifully explored through work on the relations between plants and … More
