Delhi Art Residency – Sanskriti Foundation

Shekar took me to the girls hostel at the Salaam Baalak Trust today, was about an hour north of Delhi.

The hostel houses around 60 young girls ranging from 6 years old up until the age of 18. Most of the girls have been rescued or referred to the centre because they are from vulnerable situations.

Shekar told me that girls who end up in the big cities alone are particularly at risk; most get taken very quickly by either street gangs or pimps to work in the sex trade.

I arrived at lunchtime, so it was pretty chaotic!

The children here are the lucky ones, they now get to go to school and live in a safe environment.

The statistics are heavy reminder of the prejudice that still exists in Indian society towards women. They are often seen as a financial burden to their families and current statistics reflect a stark outlook for women in India today.

Left early this morning for Old Delhi. It is really hotting up here, everyone is slowing down as the temperature rises.

Its about 42 degrees here at the moment so you have to start earlier to escape the midday sun.

Old Delhi was originally the walled city of Shahjahanabad and was built by the Mogul emperor Shan Jahan in 1648, most of the old city walls have now gone but there are some of the gates still left.

Delhi originally was made up of seven cities, each with its own identity, however the main divide of the city is between Old and New Delhi.

I wanted to go and see some of the famous local markets in Old Delhi as well as see some of the famous crumbling Havelis (nobleman’s ancestral homes).

My guide took me to the spice wholesale market and the silver market in Chandni Chowk. The smells, sights and sounds left a lasting impression.

Goods here are sold in specific areas so you have streets full of the same types of items, wedding streets, spice streets, jewellery streets etc.

Navigating yourself around is quite an art as every type and mode of transport is weaving chaotically around you, and of course you constantly have to watch where you step!

Taking photo’s proved pretty tricky too amongst the throng of people.

We took a cycle rickshaw to Jama Masjid, it is India’s largest mosque and has a capacity for 25,000 people in its courtyard, also climbed one of the minarets to take in the view of Old Delhi.

The view was breathtaking, apparently not so many women climb the steps as this bit of the mosque is a bit of a hangout for the young men, the walls were filled with graffiti messages from young men to their loved ones!

I also visited the National Museum here in Delhi, in fact it was a bit of a disappointment.

A number of the galleries were not open as they were being refurbished and I found that a lot of the displays in the museum and information were pretty uninspiring and in need of work and restoration.

However, some of the rooms were air conditioned so at least I got a chance to cool down a bit and escape the midday sun!

Visited some markets today with the help of my friend Minhazz.

I am looking at everyday objects related to women, such as combs, mirrors, hair ornaments etc.

I was intrigued by some of the objects I found in the Museum of Everyday Art here at Sanskriti Kendra and particularly the objects in the glass cases relating to women’s beauty.

Minhazz took me to a street that just sells wedding related objects. Hundreds of stalls selling everything for the Indian bride, lots of gold and ornate jewellery and beautiful saris.

We watched young women as their hands were being painted with intricate patterns of henna.

In contrast to this wedding street, I have spent some time researching charities that work for the improvement of womens lives here. Their is a charity called Asha, it works in the slums here in Delhi and provides support for the poorest and most disadvantaged.

I was reading some of the statistics on their website.

It states that a quarter of all Indian girls do not live past the age of 15, a third of these deaths occur before a girl reaches her first birthday.

It also stated that nearly 2 in every 3 women in India are illiterate and that a girl between the ages of 1 and 5 years old is 50% more likely to die than boys here in India.

It also has the highest incidence of under 5 deaths in the world.

I have been to visit the Salaam Baalak Trust today here in Delhi.

The trust works with street children who live and work in and around New Delhi Station.

They provide children with support through the provision of shelter, food, medical assistance and education. Where possible they also work to try and get children back to their families.

Our guide was 21 year old man called Shekar, formally a street child he guided us around New Delhi Station as well as the back allies of Delhi explaining some of the problems and challenges facing kids here.

Shekar also took us to visit two hostels for boys to see for ourselves the impact of the work.

I am planning to meet up with Shekar again later in the week to see a girls hostel on the outskirts of Delhi.

I am also currently trying to set up a visit to a charity working within the slums of Delhi.

Well the internet and telephone service has been down for over a week now, apparently it is due to the construction of the new metro train service being built for the Commonwealth games in 2010.

It is making communication here quite difficult the nearest internet shop is at least 40 minutes away from here by taxi so I am posting this when and where I can!

To update, I have spent the past week visiting various sites in Delhi, went to Humayuns Tomb. Humayuns Tomb, was a forerunner to the Taj Mahal, according to the guidebook it is one of the best Moghul Monuments in India, it features much of the same layout and elegance of the Taj but doesn’t quite have the same impact or scale. It was originally built in 1570 and is home to the tombs of many members of the royal family.