‘…through 22kms…’
My attempt was to have people engage with the river of Delhi- the Yamuna, and also to come to terms and analyze through the visual my own relationship with the river and hence the city.
The residency started with a picnic to which people were invited at the river bank. As no one in Delhi actually picnics at the river,
it was a device to try and get people to engage with the river. People were expecting some kind of a performance but when told that this was only a picnic were at first disappointed but then enjoyed the refreshments and the river.
The residency also ended with a site visit where I was involved in a site specific work. This time as well we had arranged for refreshments and a boat ride which most people enjoyed.
The site chosen has been the site for my earlier perfomative works done over the past two years.
Between the two site visits which happened to be at one of the most picturesque spots on the river I attempted to further my engagement with the river by walking the length of the river i.e. 22kms that it passes through Delhi.
I walked from Palla village, the northern spot where the river enters Delhi for it sluggish run to Okhla Barrage, where it enters the neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh.
It took me four days of walking around six hours a day.
The attempt was to walk along the water, to engage with the river as it flows through Delhi. The pictures and the text document my attempts and where I was forced to take the road or a boat, and where the city totally forgets the river.
The open day at KHOJ involved setting up an installation of the documentation [pictures] of the walk, through the pictures taken by me with some text for each day.
The installations, simulating my walk, led the viewer through the four days of my journey walking next to the river starting from the gate, as you entered the Khoj building, taking you along the corridors to the last room on the floor above, ending at the door of the toilet on the first floor.
The toilet had a live feed video focusing on the overflowing toilet pot and on the door projected on the wall outside. People could see themselves reacting to the work as they came out of the toilet [ no water was wasted as number of pumps were used to recycle the water].
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“… through 22 kms …”
When did you last see the yamuna?
When did you last touch the yamuna ?
I walk
I walk
The Yamuna
The city
The city
I walk
I walk………………
23 January
11.30
palla
northern border
delhi
delhi?
sand
and sand
space
mine
space
flow
flow
the river
dunes
fields
young wheat
flowers
marigolds
mustard
saplings
fishermen
small boats
and little catch
large hearts and broad smiles
great hope
reflections
clear
air
water
clear
mining
sand
machines
across
the border
u.p.
sky
rested
the earth
the river
me?
Walk
Evening spread
Creeping water
Level
Abandoned
Fields
Hope
Shallow crossings
Deeper
I walk
Sun
Against
Water sucking
Eucalyptus
Evening
jagatpur
530pm
24 january
jagatpur
930am
labour
men women
fields
fog
birds
ferry across
touch
just
there
paths
across
through grass
marshes
wazirabad
breakfast lunch?
daal
on dung cakes
boat
across
sonia vihar
pipes
sucking
leaking
water
rest
tea
on the road
the barrage
no photo
no standing
no waiting
walk
sur ghat
wall
drain
gushes rushes
spills
the yamuna
stare
walk
to the road
down again
up again
millennium bridge?
peer baba
gurudwara
mandir
stink
madness
forgotten way
climb up
the road
down
the yamuna
access
denied.
again and again
every time
finish
the day’s walk
majnu ka tila
25 january 2007
1030am
tibetan market.
houses
their backs
to the yamuna
find a house
with its front
the yamuna
the poor farmers
the rag pickers
the forgotten
no further
a boat
slow pace
thick
water
black
still
birds
death
burning
dumping
wet
old railway bridge
noise
rickshaws
pontoon bridge
shanti van
flyover
construction
gulls
river
stopped
narrowed
access
denied
still
but birds
still slow
muck
and wash
fields
young wheat
still grows
mustard
flowers
some marigold
dumped
carrion
dogs fight
people sift
remains
distant
non worried
roads
traffic
noise
smoke
I.T.O.
security
identity
explanations
given
call it a day.
4.20pm
27 january
8.30am
no access
to the
yamuna
walk past
noise
power
station
the road
demolished basti
at the river
bank
jumping over
barbed wires
fog
surreal
paths
fly
ash
sinking
ground
inlets
sewage
two birds
black
water
the day
very foggy
somehow
reach
the river
through rubble
of homes
abandoned
walk
the day
low visibility.
no river
drain
mist
path
along
the river .
fly
fly- ash
fields
desolate
walk
abandoned
28 january
start again
the same place,
making our way
through fields
irrigated
sewage.u
nder
Nizamuddin
Bridge
Two beggars
sun
home
and up
to the road again
no way
to walk
to cross
the drain
up to
the road
dnd
tollway?
Ashram?
Slip
down again
plastic wages
scrap shops
river
not in sight
down again
winding path
flat
global village
under the DND
jamia
no access
navy training
area
up
the road again.
agra canal.
and the bird sanctuary
you
are not
allowed
inside[?]
jump over
wall
canal works
fencing
okhla barrage.
call it a day
330pm.
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