Cybermohalla
Encyclopedia
CyberMohalla is a collaborative initiative of The Sarai Programme at CSDS
and Ankur
, a Delhi
based NGO
for the creation of nodes of popular
digital culture in Delhi.
The word Cybermohalla, suggests a hybrid location, which has the open-endedness of cyberspace, qualified by the local specifics and intimacy of a mohalla or a dense urban neighbourhood.
Cybermohalla (CM) is a network of five labs across the city of Delhi – locality labs in LNJP (an informal settlement in Central Delhi), Dakshinpuri (a Resettlement Colony in South Delhi) and Nangla Maachhi (an informal settlement, in which surveys which mark the beginning of the State's process to displaced it to the outskirts of the city have begun); a CM Research and Development Lab in the Ankur office and the Sarai Media Lab. The languages spoken in these labs are diverse – Hindustani
, Khariboli
, Hindi
, English
; and the realm of the audio and visual too is unique and specific to each location. The locality lab practitioners meet each other at each others' labs, do joint projects at the RnD Lab, keep connected with each others' labs through keeping materials in circulation on Electronic mailing lists and Blogs.
Does this 'diversity' constitute a network?
A network can be defined through the terms that are set up in it, so that nodes can keep reworking the accretion of densities within them, by keeping them in circulation. What are these 'terms' for Cybermohalla? Each locality lab is a room with three computers, portable audio recorders (dictaphones) and cameras (digital and bromide print); and fifteen to twenty practitioners from the locality, between 15 and 24 years of age. The labs are self-regulated spaces., That is, the daily routine of the lab is decided upon by them, they are in charge of the maintenance of the lab and the responsibility to imagine and realise the future of the lab is theirs.
Each practitioner spends five days a week at the lab, and many are at the lab for close to eight hours every day. The day begins with listening to what their peers have written the day before, and brought to the lab to share. The challenge here is not only to be able to write a text, but to be able to read it out in front of fifteen people, and to be able to listen with them, and among them.
While Mondays are reserved exclusively for listening to each others' texts (reflections, descriptions, conversations
, logs of a street, anecdotes from daily encounters, etc.), afternoons and evenings on the other days are devoted to creating projects from these texts, their narration and the discussions that follow every narration. These projects could be animations, HTML
, typed texts and formatted text
s, sound scape, photo stories, written word, audio
and visual juxtapositions or narratives, storyboards, etc. That is, every day is a day fro practice and creation from associational thinking with each others' experiences, thoughts and energies.
Repetition and duration are central to building the density of each node, and therefore, of the network; and every practitioner coming to the lab knows there will be new encounters and engagements every day.
For a practitioner who is new to the lab, the threshold of entry is this challenge – not only to share, but to listen. Perhaps one of the questions asked to a new entrant by his older peers is, “Aap ka sunne ka samay kitna hai? (What is your listening time?) ”
What are the protocols of interaction of this network?
As in any network, practitioners come to a locality lab with different priorities and desires, seeking pleasures differently, and with their own unique imaginations. A context of listening is therefore crucial to the practices at the labs. As one practitioner puts it, “Fearless speech requires that there be fearless listening”. Many people have joined this network, but many have left as well, because of marriage, when they find a job, or to pursue other searches in life. The CM, however, is continuing, building up a legacy of stories, images and expressions from people who are usually not allowed to speak in the media.
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Sarai is a programme of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies , Delhi. CSDS is an independent social science and humanities research centre, with traditions of dissent and a commitment to public intellectual commitment going back four decades....
and Ankur
Ankur
Ankur may refer to:* Ankur , a 1974 Hindustani film* Ankur , edible sprouts* Ankur Group, a community working toward supporting Bengali language on GNU/Linux operating system...
, a Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
based NGO
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
for the creation of nodes of popular
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
digital culture in Delhi.
The word Cybermohalla, suggests a hybrid location, which has the open-endedness of cyberspace, qualified by the local specifics and intimacy of a mohalla or a dense urban neighbourhood.
Cybermohalla (CM) is a network of five labs across the city of Delhi – locality labs in LNJP (an informal settlement in Central Delhi), Dakshinpuri (a Resettlement Colony in South Delhi) and Nangla Maachhi (an informal settlement, in which surveys which mark the beginning of the State's process to displaced it to the outskirts of the city have begun); a CM Research and Development Lab in the Ankur office and the Sarai Media Lab. The languages spoken in these labs are diverse – Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language and the lingua franca of North India and Pakistan. It is also known as Hindustani , and historically, as Hindavi or Rekhta...
, Khariboli
Khariboli
Khariboli , also Khari Boli, Khadiboli, Khadi Boli or simply Khari, is a Western Hindi dialect spoken mainly in the rural surroundings of Delhi, the northern areas of Western Uttar Pradesh and the southern areas of Uttarakhand in India...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
; and the realm of the audio and visual too is unique and specific to each location. The locality lab practitioners meet each other at each others' labs, do joint projects at the RnD Lab, keep connected with each others' labs through keeping materials in circulation on Electronic mailing lists and Blogs.
Does this 'diversity' constitute a network?
A network can be defined through the terms that are set up in it, so that nodes can keep reworking the accretion of densities within them, by keeping them in circulation. What are these 'terms' for Cybermohalla? Each locality lab is a room with three computers, portable audio recorders (dictaphones) and cameras (digital and bromide print); and fifteen to twenty practitioners from the locality, between 15 and 24 years of age. The labs are self-regulated spaces., That is, the daily routine of the lab is decided upon by them, they are in charge of the maintenance of the lab and the responsibility to imagine and realise the future of the lab is theirs.
Each practitioner spends five days a week at the lab, and many are at the lab for close to eight hours every day. The day begins with listening to what their peers have written the day before, and brought to the lab to share. The challenge here is not only to be able to write a text, but to be able to read it out in front of fifteen people, and to be able to listen with them, and among them.
While Mondays are reserved exclusively for listening to each others' texts (reflections, descriptions, conversations
Conversations
Conversations is the second album from alternative rock band Roses Are Red.-Track listing:# "White and Gold" # "I Felt I Knew Her" # "Time Signals Progress" # "Oceans" # "I Apologize" # "12:34"...
, logs of a street, anecdotes from daily encounters, etc.), afternoons and evenings on the other days are devoted to creating projects from these texts, their narration and the discussions that follow every narration. These projects could be animations, HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
, typed texts and formatted text
Formatted text
Formatted text, styled text or rich text, as opposed to plain text, has styling information beyond the minimum of semantic elements: colours, styles , sizes and special features .-Terminology:...
s, sound scape, photo stories, written word, audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
and visual juxtapositions or narratives, storyboards, etc. That is, every day is a day fro practice and creation from associational thinking with each others' experiences, thoughts and energies.
Repetition and duration are central to building the density of each node, and therefore, of the network; and every practitioner coming to the lab knows there will be new encounters and engagements every day.
For a practitioner who is new to the lab, the threshold of entry is this challenge – not only to share, but to listen. Perhaps one of the questions asked to a new entrant by his older peers is, “Aap ka sunne ka samay kitna hai? (What is your listening time?) ”
What are the protocols of interaction of this network?
As in any network, practitioners come to a locality lab with different priorities and desires, seeking pleasures differently, and with their own unique imaginations. A context of listening is therefore crucial to the practices at the labs. As one practitioner puts it, “Fearless speech requires that there be fearless listening”. Many people have joined this network, but many have left as well, because of marriage, when they find a job, or to pursue other searches in life. The CM, however, is continuing, building up a legacy of stories, images and expressions from people who are usually not allowed to speak in the media.