July 15: St. Xavier's College, Mumbai

Warning: this is academic stuff. If that's not your cup of tea, don't feel obligated!

Yesterday the post office made a major change: it stopped telegraph service in India, after 160 years. That used to be the major mode of communication, employing hundreds of people. Yesterday's paper contained interviews with the last 5 ladies. Man, the stories they could tell, I'll bed.

As we drive to St. Xavier's College, Sucharita is pointing out several grand buildings such as the post office, main train station, Times of India building...the last two of these were sites of the terror attacks two years ago. Melinda and Lou talked to hotel staffers yesterday at the Taj Mahal hotel, getting their insights about what happened. Melinda says there's a plaque with the names of the staff members who died (why had I not even thought of this??) during the 3-day siege. She said the most moving part for her was the last name, just a single word: Lucy. Sucharita said there was a staff member (the head of the staff?) who lost his whole family that day, wife and children. It's interesting how when atrocities happen a world away, they're more about numbers than people. I think of that and I feel ashamed. However, the human heart--or at least this human heart--doesn't have space for all the hurt and wrongdoing in the world. 

Arrival at St. Xavier's College, will pick up on musings later.

Large gray and white neoGothic building structured in quadrangle. I say neoGothic, but not sure...this is Gothic Lite. This is a Jesuit institution, and Sucharita explained that they have broken away from the state-run model of education, with 750+ college affiliated with Univ. of Mumbai. There are about 800,000 students under this large umbrella and all must pass the UM exams. A few years ago, St. Xavier's opted for academic (not administrative) autonomy. They became autonomous in 2010. They run a 3-year undergraduate system, and now have more academic flexibility, don't have to follow the stringent curriculum set by UnivMumbai. The vice president here recently returned from a Fulbright program in the US. Principal Fr. Mascarenhas is the head of the school. He is a Jesuit father and believes education today cannot be nationalized (amen Father!) We must have interaction with other schools. St. Xavier's has hosted kids from Harvard these past few years, 8-10 days. Also a program with NYU and others across the globe. Why don't more schools have their acts together to do this?

Note on Catholic role in education: for 2 centuries primary and high school education was dominated by Catholics. Christians are a distinct minority in India but occupy a central place in Indian culture due to school system (private). 

Start assemblies in India with prayers. This one was sung, beginning with several Oms, ending with three Shantis (meaning peace, 3 for levels of mind, body and soul). This prayer comes from the Vedas. If the names were not so long, I might've captured it here, but Indian words (esp. referring to holy texts) go on for several syllables. They stymie me still.

First speaker is Dr. Shefali Shah, head of English Dept., has taught in various schools in Mumbai and at UPenn (has a degree from there)

She talked about religion as depicted in Hindi cinema, hard to separate culture from belief (as with wearing a bindhi/bhindi--still have not cleared up spelling question there). Religion depicted in socio-cultural sense, not in theological one. Islamicate film is good example. 

Cinema in West grew out of novel, while in India it grew out of cultural narratives including Mahabharata and other epics. These form pan-Indian cultural consciousness. Predominant pattern: some form of suffering (personal, e.g. illness, or social problem) until prayers of the wretched are heard and good prevails. 

This woman's talk has me rapt...she said she'll give us a copy of her paper, but I can hardly repost it (l-o-n-g). Main ideas are that religious difficulties are not seriously treated in Hindi film. Nor has Partition been deeply explored (the way WWII was in the West) by Indian cinema. Many films made for whole of India, including large numbers of illiterates (no media literacy, subtleties of depiction might be lost). These themes are echoed in the enormously popular songs of Hindi films, and the cultural reach of those songs is profound and enduring. Seems like the themes endorsed or pursued by the films are happy, hopeful, but not very critical (as in, critique, not criticize.)

The trope of family used as thinly disguised metaphor for nation. Pater familias = Hindu in charge and "good Muslim" should put patriotism over religion. Some of the more hard-hitting films are only seen by niche audiences, film festival groups. They do not often enter into the mainstream dialogue.

"There are no winners once we get into identity politics"--how true. Films much more about social, rather than religious, themes/emphases.

Second Speaker: How Different Religions Conduct Business in Mumbai--India's Commercial Capital, Agnelo Menezes ("Professor Aggie", to all students). His chief aim is to make economics accessible and relevant to students, especially the poor. Today's lecture focuses on religion.

A dialectical analysis of the relationship between religion and business in a globalizing urban setting. Presentation will have Marxian feel, post-1991 India marking era of macro-economic reform. 

Three propositions to structure talk: (all of these make sense, and I believe they also function in the US, just less overtly)

1. Religion and commerce are inherently disjointed human constructs. 

2. Commercial drive tends to take precedence over religion and if need be even manipulates religion.

3. Politicization of religion unleashes divisive forces and so disturbs the prevailing religion-commercial equilibrium. 

Professor suggests that riots in early 1980s were organized by Hindu nationalist party to oust Muslims from monopoly of yarn industry, because it was the nexus of control for textiles. WOW. 

timeframe: 1991 to present     

license, permits and quotas were key words for pre-1991 economy; then turned to liberalization, globalization, and privatization

1. India's engagement with neo-liberal policies

2. Mumbai's income increases manifold times, even amid turbulence

• Riots (1992 and 1993)
• Bomb blast (March 1993, July 2006)
• Terrorist attacks (26 Nov 2008)
• Natural disasters (26 July 2005)...Katrina scale floods in Maharashtra

He focuses on community dominated commercial spaces: can be attributed to the high residential density that a religious group uses to survive (business space first, then living quarters. This is about survival.) Spaces in Mumbai can be identified by religious groups, e.g. Muslim area, mixed area, Christian dominated, etc.

Example is Mohamedali Road, near St. Xavier's college, with dense population of Muslims. Nearly 90% of businesses are Muslim owned. Similarly, on the other side of the college lies Girguan, a Hindu-dominated are, with 90% Hindu controlled commerce. Interesting exception, this correlation falls apart in areas where neither Hindus nor Muslims dominate. So Bandra has a large Christian population, but the commercial space is shared by folks of all faiths.

Professor's inferences: challenges initial conclusion

1. Sheer numbers in not enough for commercial domination by one religious group.

2. Cardinal requirement is entrepreneurial endowment, not religion.

3. Thus, business-clustering is more about residential convenience and/or safety in numbers, not religion. 

So survival is the dominant factor in commercial spaces: a significant section of Mumbai's population (irrespective of religion) is compelled to be self-employed at the lower end of the tertiary sector (e.g. hawking wares and services). This is populated by people living at the lowest rungs of society, illiterate and lowly skilled. Religion is trumped by economics, drive to survive.

A 2011 study by Dr. Sharit Bhowmick from Institute of Social Science on street vendors, showed that 23% are Muslims, 75% are Hindus. 

Muslims operate with greater risk, far more and greater severity than those faced by Hindus, who tend to be a little freer from such risks (the local Hindu goon protects extralegal vendors from police, etc. on small footpath). Muslim vendors, by contrast, operate often on footbridges where there is little room for quick escape, high chance of eviction, confiscation, spillage, material loss. Retail space may be appropriated by competition (goon gives to "my people").  

However these differences have caused no riots between Hindu and Muslim vendors. Too much to lose in terms of vending opportunity.

75% of Mumbai's commercial space is informal. This is how huge numbers of people survive. They provide goods to people who cannot afford to shop in the formal spaces. 

Muslim vendors typically deal in goods that are either illegal (contraband) or dubious in quality. Question comes to mind, who is feeding these smuggled goods? Often the feeders are Muslims, adds to risks. Muslims are not risk-lovers per se, but must take on risks because there are no other options. Hindus are far more risk averse, deal with products that are routine: vegetables, utensils, etc. Character of smuggled goods has changed over time, used to be watches, Walkman; today sunglasses, electronics, etc. Saying in India, Made in USA (actually refers to area of Mumbai, running joke among Indians). 

Unraveling the dynamics of Mumbai's "strained peace": 

• Inter-religious differentials are universal and perennial, but due to economic compulsions business classes and people cannot afford commercial break-downs. You cannot use religion of your own to agitate or disrupt. Communal flare-ups are therefore immediately nipped in the bud. This was not the case pre-1991 where the army or police would come in and clamp down, but now the community leaders diffuse the tensions because unmitigated tensions disrupt the economic machinery. 
• Post 1992-93 communal riots and March 1993 bomb blasts, inter-religious tensions were palpable. There was a ghettoization residentially by religious communities. Business resilience due to awareness that assets sold off were not easy to repossess. Time would heal the wounds, and it did. Now those affected areas are again thriving. People have realized that conflagrations don't solve problems. It is not that people have forgotten or forgiven, but they've moved on for the sake of their personal commerce. 

Changing business profiles: 

1. The Bori-Muslims and Marwadis (Jains) have moved from tools and related hardware to cyber hardware and software, mostly because of education and qualification enhancement. 
2. Traditional fish-mongering community (Kolis) now has competitors from N. Indian migrants (now coming to your door to sell, rather than selling from traditional waterside spaces). These transits and forays have created tensions and unrest, but commercial prudence prevails and peace is restored. Some individuals have been assaulted in these competitions for space/access to markets, but no widescale violence.
3. Vote-banks induced political heckling of vendors based on REGION NOT RELIGION. Politics of region is increasingly important (for better and for ill). Influx of capital, incomes have grown but not labor employment. This has caused the footpaths and other hawking spaces to become contestable zones. This does not apply to the corporate zones, just the survival spaces. Education still a barrier.

In Dharavi, till about a decade ago, nearly 90% of manufacturing units owned/controlled by Muslims. With Dharavi being re-developed, non-Muslim business (rats! lost slide!)  What professor says does not match what we saw yesterday...granted we only saw a portion. To Read: The Rediscovery of Dharavi, talks about how these spaces have become more and more contestable. 

Winding up:: relationship between religious groups is covertly edgy but pragmatism ensures that commercial relationship is overtly calm. This gives Mumbai the resilience to welcome foreign and domestic capital as well as migrant laborers. 

Religion and commerce are here to stay, While some groups pray and then prey, and others prey and then pray, Mumbai pays and so stays.

Third Speaker: Dr. Rao (?), Academic Vice Principal, director of chem lab (was director of international program). PhD from BC, 3 masters degrees (chem, philosophy & religion. Seriously??) 

Notes on relgious composition here: faculty is 20% Christian, 80% other faiths; Students are 50% Christian (bc of mission of college), 50% other faiths

Topic: Ways in which religions intersect in Mumbai. Economics drives a lot of what happens in Mumbai, but there are ways in which religions intersect. Some examples from actual religious spaces: 

1. church in Mahim that has novenas every Wednesday, about 50% of people who attend are not Christian, likewise with feast days. Devotion to "our lady" (name of church) parallels devotion to mother goddess. 
2. Divine retreat center in Kerala and in other locales, famous for healings, attracts non-Christians. 
3. Non-Muslims go to Haji Ali too. 
4. Also saints' days starting to come into public sphere. (even St. Valentine's Day and Christmas...ha! who knew?)
5. religious festivals: Diwali, Holi, etc. Firecrackers and lights for Divali, even for non-Hindus. 

In the public sphere of work, you acknowledge religious celebrations in a shared way, religious pluralism happens there. 

Secularism in Indian context incorporates religion, as long as you don't use religion in unethical way (even in workspace). Religion can come out in the public sphere. This is distinct from the American understanding where religion should remain in the private sphere. 

Philosophy behind the acceptance of religious pluralism: there are many paths to God (hence millions on Hindu gods and goddesses); and philosophy of live and let live; previous speaker pointed out different model: I have to live (survive), and other considerations are secondary. Idea from the book of John: there are many rooms in my Father's house.