Metro Morphosis: A public transit system that became synonymous with Delhi
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While the metro has brought about development and growth to the city, it has done so, in some cases, at the cost of Delhi’s long history and legacy.
Upasika Singhal
Updated: October 2, 2023 08:00 IST
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The Delhi Metro connected parts of the city considered too remote, and also acted as a social leveler where people across class would use the same facilities and share the same space. (Express file photo by Abhinav Saha)
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Nitika Arora recalls how her relationship with Delhi has bloomed over the years. The way she looks at her career and even how she spends her leisure time in the city is closely correlated with the expansion of the metro system in the city.
“In 1998, when I was still a college student, I wanted to take up an evening course in Mandi House,” Arora recalls. “But I had to ultimately drop the plan. The classes would end late and it was too unsafe to travel,” she said. When the Metro began its operations in 2004, Arora recalls how it changed not just her relationship with the city, but also her perspective of it.
Special to the Express
Special to the Express: My 25 years with the Delhi Metro
Arora has co-founded Darwesh, a Delhi-based travel and culture studio, and conducts heritage walks around the city. Her latest walk was all about the Delhi Metro and how it has assimilated into and changed the culture of the city and the lives of its citizens.
Women commuting in the Delhi Metro. (Express file photo by Renuka Puri)
Public transport in India, for most, evokes images of dust, dirt, crowds and chaos. But here was the Metro – shiny, spotless, silent, cool, and orderly. In her paper ‘On the Delhi Metro: An Ethnographic View’, Rashmi Sadana recalls author VS Naipaul’s first journey on the metro. He, like many, was taken aback by the efficiency of everything – the lines, the officials, the trains. Even the project had finished on time. He would then speculate that the experience of riding the metro would make the people of Delhi more civil over time.
Yet, the metro did much more. It connected parts of the city considered too remote, and also acted as a social leveler where people across class would use the same facilities and share the same space. It even became a space where people could feel comfortable. Hundreds of videos of couples sharing moments of intimacy circulate on the internet today. Perhaps they resort to the metro for moments of privacy not with the express motive of making other commuters uncomfortable, but because it is the only place in the city that has afforded them a safe space without the looming shadow of cops or nosy, moral vigilantes.
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Women, too, feel safe to wear clothes otherwise considered too risque for other modes of public transport. Arora shows a small clip from the movie Delhi-6 where Abhishek Bacchan walks around freely in the city, juxtaposed with Sonam Kapoor ’s brisk walk to the metro in her demure salwar-kameez. But the moment she reaches the metro station, she dons a backless, sleeveless top, a bandana and a glittery belt showing off her torso.
However, what the metro giveth, the metro taketh away. While the metro has brought about development and growth to the city, it has done so, in some cases, at the cost of Delhi’s long history and legacy. The New Amar Talkies, a famous cinema hall near Ajmeri Gate was razed to build Chawri Bazaar metro station in its stead. New Amar was an essential part of Old Delhi’s history where sex workers frequented to see movies. According to Arora, the cinema would see record crowds on days it would screen movies with strong female leads such as Mother India .
Similarly, in 2010, when the Violet Line was being constructed it was met with raucous protests by RWAs in the area. Their concern was that with the line and the stations running so close to their housing complexes, it would lead to people being able to peek into their drawing rooms. It would also lead to the densification of traffic, with autos and e-rickshaws crowding near the metro gates. While the metro authorities would not be able to fix the densification, they did erect high barriers on all elevated Violet Line stations to prevent people from looking out into people’s homes.
The metro also purportedly almost obstructed the view of the Qutub Minar on the city’s skyline. According to Sadana, the Delhi Urban Art Commission had appealed to the Archaeological Survey of India to order the DMRC to reroute the elevated line. The DMRC first dug its heels in but when shown how the Kolkata Metro had destroyed the historic Chowringhee Lane, the metro body relented. And the result? A reroute costing the project an extra 300 crore rupees and giving the commuters a beautiful, unobstructed view of the Ghurid minaret.
02-10-2023 at 06:00 IST
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Delhi Metro Rail Corporation DMRC
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Upasika Singhal Upasika Singhal is a trainee journalist with The Indian Express. She h... read more
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English. தமிழ. বাংলা. മലയാളം. ગજરાતી. हिदी. मराठी. Business. बिजनस. Newsletters. ePaper. Today’s Paper. Home. Cities. India. Explained. Opinion. Business. Entertainment. Sports. Politics. Lifestyle. Tech. Education. Investigations. Research. Videos. Podcast. Subscribe. Sign In. Trending. 🎙 3 Things Podcast. Play Mini Crossword. Latest News. Premium Stories. UPSC Special. Health & Wellness. Live TV. News. Cities. Delhi. Premium. While the metro has brought about development and growth to the city, it has done so, in some cases, at the cost of Delhi’s long history and legacy. Upasika Singhal. Updated: October 2, 2023 08:00 IST. Follow Us. The Delhi Metro connected parts of the city considered too remote, and also acted as a social leveler where people across class would use the same facilities and share the same space. (Express file photo by Abhinav Saha) Listen to this article. x. 00:00. 1x. 1.5x. 1.8x. Nitika Arora recalls how her relationship with Delhi has bloomed over the years. The way she looks at her career and even how she spends her leisure time in the city is closely correlated with the expansion of the metro system in the city. “In 1998, when I was still a college student, I wanted to take up an evening course in Mandi House,” Arora recalls. “But I had to ultimately drop the plan. The classes would end late and it was too unsafe to travel,” she said. When the Metro began its operations in 2004, Arora recalls how it changed not just her relationship with the city, but also her perspective of it. Special to the Express. Special to the Express: My 25 years with the Delhi Metro. Arora has co-founded Darwesh, a Delhi-based travel and culture studio, and conducts heritage walks around the city. Her latest walk was all about the Delhi Metro and how it has assimilated into and changed the culture of the city and the lives of its citizens. Women commuting in the Delhi Metro. (Express file photo by Renuka Puri) Public transport in India, for most, evokes images of dust, dirt, crowds and chaos. But here was the Metro – shiny, spotless, silent, cool, and orderly. In her paper ‘On the Delhi Metro: An Ethnographic View’, Rashmi Sadana recalls author VS Naipaul’s first journey on the metro. He, like many, was taken aback by the efficiency of everything – the lines, the officials, the trains. Even the project had finished on time. He would then speculate that the experience of riding the metro would make the people of Delhi more civil over time. Yet, the metro did much more. It connected parts of the city considered too remote, and also acted as a social leveler where people across class would use the same facilities and share the same space. It even became a space where people could feel comfortable. Hundreds of videos of couples sharing moments of intimacy circulate on the internet today. Perhaps they resort to the metro for moments of privacy not with the express motive of making other commuters uncomfortable, but because it is the only place in the city that has afforded them a safe space without the looming shadow of cops or nosy, moral vigilantes. Opinion. 20 years of Delhi Metro: The train that arrived with the promise of liberating women. Women, too, feel safe to wear clothes otherwise considered too risque for other modes of public transport. Arora shows a small clip from the movie Delhi-6 where Abhishek Bacchan walks around freely in the city, juxtaposed with Sonam Kapoor ’s brisk walk to the metro in her demure salwar-kameez. But the moment she reaches the metro station, she dons a backless, sleeveless top, a bandana and a glittery belt showing off her torso. However, what the metro giveth, the metro taketh away. While the metro has brought about development and growth to the city, it has done so, in some cases, at the cost of Delhi’s long history and legacy. The New Amar Talkies, a famous cinema hall near Ajmeri Gate was razed to build Chawri Bazaar metro station in its stead. New Amar was an essential part of Old Delhi’s history where sex workers frequented to see movies. According to Arora, the cinema would see record crowds on days it would screen movies with strong female leads such as Mother India . Similarly, in 2010, when the Violet Line was being constructed it was met with raucous protests by RWAs in the area. Their concern was that with the line and the stations running so close to their housing complexes, it would lead to people being able to peek into their drawing rooms. It would also lead to the densification of traffic, with autos and e-rickshaws crowding near the metro gates. While the metro authorities would not be able to fix the densification, they did erect high barriers on all elevated Violet Line stations to prevent people from looking out into people’s homes. The metro also purportedly almost obstructed the view of the Qutub Minar on the city’s skyline. According to Sadana, the Delhi Urban Art Commission had appealed to the Archaeological Survey of India to order the DMRC to reroute the elevated line. The DMRC first dug its heels in but when shown how the Kolkata Metro had destroyed the historic Chowringhee Lane, the metro body relented. And the result? A reroute costing the project an extra 300 crore rupees and giving the commuters a beautiful, unobstructed view of the Ghurid minaret. 02-10-2023 at 06:00 IST. Tags: Delhi Metro Rail Corporation DMRC. Live. CLAT 2024 Result Live Updates: Result declared at consortiumofnlus.ac.in; counselling details on Dec 11 10 hours ago. Mumbai News Live Updates: Mumbai Coastal road phase 1 to be complete by end of Jan'24, says CM Shinde 15 hours ago. Delhi News Live Updates: MCD budget for next year includes AI-based parking and tax sops for schools 21 hours ago. Parliament Winter Session 2023 Live Updates: Sad day for democracy, says Mamata Banerjee as Mahua Moitra is expelled from Lok Sabha 3 days ago. Best of Express. Article 370: 4 years after J&K special status scrapped, Supreme Court verdict today. Sai’s turnaround: Replaced as state BJP chief pre-polls, named Chhattisgarh CM post-victory. Entertainment. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan trailer: Ananya Panday, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourav lead this coming of digital age Dil Chahta Hai. Entertainment. Ronit Roy sold his cars during Covid to pay salary to his security agency staff; reveals Big B, KJo, Akshay paid even without services. Trending. Cheese-infused Coke takes the beverage world by storm. Trending. Watch: Gol gappa stall's daily earnings exceed most corporate paychecks. Sports. India vs England: Shreyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque showcase what they can bring to table as Harmanpreet Kaur and Co end series on high. Sports. Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto enter Top 25 with third career women's doubles title at Guwahati Masters badminton. Opinion. Caution: Mind the Gap. Explained. Article 370 verdict soon: what happened in SC during hearings. Lifestyle. Nutrition alert: Here's what a 100-gram serving of black grapes contains. Technology. Under a thousand: Wired for speed…charging speed. Must Read. Sports. India vs England: Shreyanka Patil, Saika Ishaque showcase what they can bring to table as Harmanpreet Kaur and Co end series on high. Sports. Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto enter Top 25 with third career women's doubles title at Guwahati Masters badminton. Sports. How Unai Emery exacted sweet revenge on former employers Arsenal and took Aston Villa to a top-3 spot in Premier League. Technology. Under a thousand: Wired for speed…charging speed. Technology. Aditya L1, China’s methane rocket and Webb’s ghost. Technology. ‘India is a fast-growing market, we want to participate positively’: Acer CEO Jason Chen. Lifestyle. Nutrition alert: Here's what a 100-gram serving of black grapes contains. Buzzing Now. Trending. Cheese-infused Coke takes the beverage world by storm. Trending. Watch: Gol gappa stall's daily earnings exceed most corporate paychecks. Trending. Watch: Japanese influencer Koki Shishido’s viral video captures essence of Indian summer. Trending. The one where bride and groom ditched conventional wedding attire and wore denim. Trending. Leopard breaks into Udaipur girls' hostel during morning hours. Watch video. Dec 11: Latest News. 01 Fourth INDIA meeting on December 19; motto to show unity floated: ‘Main nahin, hum’ 02 ‘Will fight, stay put’: Mahua Moitra reaches out to voters, TMC workers from her seat after expulsion as MP. 03 Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto enter Top 25 with third career women’s doubles title at Guwahati Masters badminton. 04 Tripura tribal body firm on Christmas Day rally seeking Christian converts’ removal from ST list. 05 ‘Haven’t been eating or sleeping properly’: Kin of Bengal man missing after Chennai floods. Upasika Singhal Upasika Singhal is a trainee journalist with The Indian Express. She h... read more. Vandals target Zafar Mahal, knock down screen enclosing emperor’s ‘empty grave’ Fifth time’s the charm? Bids to be floated for New Delhi railway station revamp once again. ‘Forgotten’ on plane, help button out of reach, wheelchair cushion taken away: Disability rights’ activist narrates ordeal. Subscribe. Sign In. e-paper Premium India Elections 2023 Bollywood. Opinion Political Pulse Explained Science Cricket. Sports World Business Entertainment Jobs. Health Lifestyle Technology Education Movie Review. Eye Trending Cities Newsletters WebSeries. Photos Videos Audio Web Stories. Trending. 🎙 3 Things Podcast. Play Mini Crossword. Latest News. Premium Stories. UPSC Special. Health & Wellness. Live TV. Subscribe. Sign In. e-paper. Premium. India. Elections 2023. Bollywood. Opinion. Political Pulse. Explained. Science. Cricket. Sports. World. Business. Entertainment. Jobs. Health. Lifestyle. Technology. Education. Movie Review. Eye. Trending. Cities. Newsletters. WebSeries. Photos. Videos. Audio. Web Stories. Explained News. Political Pulse. Latest Opinion. Mumbai News. Delhi News. Pune News. Bangalore News. Bollywood News. Health News. India News. Sports News. Lifestyle News. Latest News. Cricket. Tech Reviews. Gadgets. Mobile & Tabs. Food & Wine. Elections 2023. Fitness. Latest News. Health and Wellness. Education News. Buy All-Access Plan. Stock Market Quotes. Entertainment News. Trending News. Why Subscribe To The Indian Express. Subscribe To The Indian Express. Buy Digital Premium. Madhya Pradesh Election. Rajasthan Election. Chhattisgarh Election. Telangana Election. Mizoram Election. Express View on COP28 declaration: Balance aspiration with climate action. December 11, Forty Year Ago: No pact with India. Express view: The cost of subsidies. IT executive, friends duped with promise of land near Jewar Airport. In Greater Noida, a Shah Jahan-era tomb with Red Fort link cries for attention. Vandals target Zafar Mahal, knock down screen enclosing emperor’s ‘empty grave’ MNRE plans long-term exemption for green hydrogen projects from its manufacturers shortlist for solar PV modules. “Cities function well with better public transport” Prof Shivanand Swamy, Clearing the mountain of garbage at Deonar. Subhash Chandra Garg at Idea Exchange: ‘On electoral bonds, SC must not overreact. If it calls them illegal, we go back to cash’ In Kutch extortion case, accused held while trying to flee to Dubai. Odisha I-T searches: Cash haul at firm linked to Congress MP Baldeo over Rs 350 crore as counting ends. Karni Sena chief shooters held, were promised life abroad like Brar: Police. Article 370: 4 years after J&K special status scrapped, Supreme Court verdict today. Country of 1.4 billion people can’t rely on service sector alone, need all growth engines to fire for jobs, says Harvard’s Ricardo Hausmann. Umesh Pal murder case: Meerut house of Atiq Ahmed’s sister attached. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. The Indian Express. ieTamil.com. The Financial Express. ieBangla.com. Loksatta. ieMalayalam.com. Jansatta. ieGujarati.com. inUth. The ExpressGroup. MyInsuranceClub. Newsletters. 26/11 Stories of Strength. Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards. Online Classes for Kids. Light House Journalism. Compare Term Insurance. T&C. Privacy Policy. Advertise with Us. Brand Solutions. Contact Us. Subscribe. Statutory provisions on reporting (sexual offenses) This website follows the DNPA’s code of conduct. CSR.