The Narayanpura experience

The project was a lot of fun, and people loved putting the face of someone they admired next to or on their own. For the two hours that we interacted with them, they all seemed thoroughly entertained. Many even made suggestions, like, we should have gone there in the evening, as there would have been more people. We managed to get pictures of 57 people, with another 10 or so who were too shy and said no. After taking their pictures, each person was shown how it came out, and all of them were satisfied with the result!



The women were shy and mostly shied away from attention, but the men were much more interactive and encouraged the women to interact with us. It was amazing to see the respect the men had for the women. We didn't see any woman who was suppressed. The men teased them and joked around with them if they chose a man mask. They all laughed seeing the other's picture. It was amazing to see their interactions with each other. One encouraged the other and they all had a great time.

The kids were the most fun of all. They were bold and enthusiastic. They loved being a part of the activity, and made us a part of them immediately. They even ran home to home, and called others to come join them. It was partly due to their enthusiasm that our activity gathered the attention that it did. The kids followed us around, and hounded us to see the photographs taken.

The people were very interactive, friendly, and fun-loving. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and made sure we enjoyed ourselves too. We collected a band of little admirers as we went along. About 6 little children followed us wherever we went and helped us explain our task to others.
Oh and I met all the people we had met the previous time again. The shopkeeper, the jovial man on crutches, the cute little boy in the auto, and the shy woman who painted pots. It was amazing. They made me feel completely at home. The jovial man even invited us into his house for food. Again, I made a mental comparison to cities and how the people are so suspicious and cold.

Anisha who was in my group also commented on how she would love to live in a close-knit place like this. They were all like one big happy family, and for some time, we were part of that family.

Whose face is it anyway?

We were to use a tool as a method of learning something about the people of a particular region; extracting information effectively, through indirect means, especially when language is a barrier.

This was our idea:

We took 8 iconic figures from the following fields:
-religion (hanuman)
-film (upendra, shahrukh, brad pitt, pooja ghandhi, parvathamma)
-politics (yedyurappa, manmohan sigh)

We made face cutouts of these and attached a long handle below.
Then we went to Narayanpura, and asked people to pick their favourite character and we clicked pictures of them. They could stand with the mask however they wanted- either with the mask beside their face, or on top of theirs. It would also show us their relations or connection with that personality.

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF IDOLS CHOSEN BY THE VILLAGERS OF NARAYANPURA

TOTAL NUMBER OF PEOPLE SURVEYED = 57

The clear favourite was Upendra, the local film hero. More people chose to have a picture taken with his mask on than anyone else. However, a large number of people also chose their God, Hanumanji.













Under politics, we were surprised to see that there was almost an equal number of people choosing Manmohan Singh and Yedyurappa. We had expected them to pick Yedyurappa and not Manmohan Singh. This showed that they felt connected to the central government as well as the state government. They showed high regard and respect for both.




PEOPLE’S CHOICES BASED ON DIFFERENT SECTORS OF SOCIETYQuite surprisingly, People chose film stars much more than God! We had expected a large number of people to chose religion over film.

PEOPLE’S CHOICES WITHIN THE GIVEN FILM STARS

The people of Narayanpur we quite besotted with their local hero itself.
They did not have too much exposure to the outside world and even S khan, the countries biggest film star got chosen only 5 times!
Brad Pitt, of course, was not even heard of and was chosen only once, that too because they found it funny.
In fact, many People picked up his mask, and then put it back down realizing that he is a foreigner.

Form fill

We went to Narayanpura, the pottery village in Yelahanka.
We were given kannada and english forms, which were the basic research forms used by the government for handicrafts.
The people were very helpful and took out their time to fill in the forms.
I wonder how many people in the city would have done that.

While the forms were being filled, we were sitting and chatting with a few of them, and drinking tea at their chai kade. It was like their meeting place, where they all sat together, chatting and drinking tea. It was cosy, comfortable and friendly. A small village with simple people. I loved it instantly.

There was also this adorable little child who I quickly became obsessed with. I took way too many pictures and videos of him! He was trying to drive an auto.. cutie!!

In your head

Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!! Wake up Kabir, Its time for you to go to work!!
Don’t forget to brush your teeth, comb your hair, and wear clean clothes.
You dont want the customers to run away because of your body odour, do you?
Okay, so today is buying day. This calls for a visit to the city market,
where you need to haggle to get cheap prices. Don’t forget to carry all
the money you have!
What? You don’t have any? Well then, you’ll just have to buy on credit.
Remember to be nice to the wholesale shopkeepers. And hurry!
They cannot be kept waiting. You need to run fast, till your head spins
and everything is a blur.

Be quick, you need to reach Struggler’s street in the next 20 minutes. You need at least half an hour then to setup your stall. Make sure you arrange the products in the most attractive way possible, or you may not have any customers coming to your shop.
After all, that narrow little dingy corner where you sit is barely noticeable.
Be sure to stay alert and keep your helper on guard.
In case the police see you, you have to run as fast as possible.
And if they catch you, your family will go without food, and
you will be thrashed mercilessly.
You wouldn’t want that now, would you?



Your little shop was set up hours ago. Not even one customer.
What will your family eat? What will you take home to them?
You can’t go home empty handed again.
There! A customer’s finally come. Go, go now!
Make sure she buys something.
Its already 3 pm. No sales yet? Why weren’t you engaging enough to sell something to that customer? Your family will go hungry and its all your fault.
Your little shop was set up hours ago. Not even one customer.
What will your family eat? What will you take home to them?
You can’t go home empty handed again.
There! A customer’s finally come. Go, go now!
Make sure she buys something.

Its already 3 pm. No sales yet?
Why weren’t you engaging enough to sell something?
You know how important it was for you.
Your family will go hungry and its all your fault.

Oh! Another customer. Now pay attention and make sure he BUYS something.
You don’t want to lose another opportunity. Be polite to him! He will appreciate it.
Okay, so he was a bit rude, but at least he bought that ring. I know you didn’t like him,
but what does it matter. The first sale of the day, at least
you made some money.
You needed him more than he needed you anyway.
Deal with it.
Motherfucker? That’s what he called you?
Never mind.
You need to swallow all your pride, and listen to
everything he says to you without a single retort.
You have the responsibility to feed a family remember?


Now, now, I know you didn’t want things to turn out this way.
What was it you wanted to be? Ah yes! An actor, right?
In the village as a young boy you entertained everybody by
mimicking Shahrukh khan.
King Khan, your idol, the man who shares your surname, but
not your fate.
Forget about these things.
They are only dreams.








Only Rs. 100 so far. Come on! You have to do better than that. Think of your children’s expectant faces when they meet your dismal one.
What will they think? Oh, they will not think. They will become just like you.
Strugglers on Struggler’s street, selling cheap goods to make money.
Insignificant.
Just tiny dots in the struggling crowd.

You need to pay for your children’s education too.
You know the importance of education don’t you?
But definitely not in some small village school.
You want them to become whatever they desire.
Your daughter needs to be married to a good man too.
So work! Work hard and long, and give them a comfortable life.





Its 6pm now. There! That girl is glancing at your stall. She looks like a potential customer.
That boy! With the multiple chains and piercings.
He might be interested in one of your goods.
Search, search, find a customer!

That girl likes that necklace.
It cost you 10 rupees buying it. Sell it for 100.
How else will you make easy money?
She looks like she would bargain. Start at 150.
You made a sale! It sold for 100. good work.








Its 10 pm now. You should start packing up your stall. The crowds are gone and you need to go home. Pack up your stall and store it away for tomorrow. You dont even need to go to the market tomorrow. You need the rest.
Did you see the look on your children’s faces when they were given food? Radiant.
They look up to you. They are completely dependent on you.
And you are content with this strugglers’ life because in the end it’s all worth it.
That little smile is all you need to feel satisfied.
You have learned to deal with this life, and be satisfied.
But make sure that they do not do the same,
I know you don’t want that.
So work hard again tomorrow.
And as for me, I am always there.
Inside you.

The name is Khan, Kabir Khan

Name: Kabir Khan

Age: 28 yrs
Languages: English (broken) , Hindi , Kannada
Education: 10th grade
Home: Shivajinagar
Occupation: Junk jewelry peddler
Marital Status: Married; 3 kids- 1 daughter, 2 sons
Income: 150-250 per day

The early years

He was born in a village in Karnataka, where his father was a farmer. He has 2 brothers and 4 sisters. He came to the city (Bangalore) to earn money at the age of 19. He began by working with his uncle in his silver shop on commercial street.

A young man

Having worked there for about 2 years he learned a lot about the basics of trade, and also observed several other s, who sold various products. He decided to start something of his own, and having noticed the popularity of clothes and jewelry, decided to sell artificial (junk) jewelry.

He began by getting himself a tiny little stall and decided to start selling on brigade road, because of lesser competition (than commercial street), and potential customers. His business began well, and he became street smart. He faced both success and failure, and learnt how to improvise effectively.

A family man

At 22 he was married off to a girl of his caste in his home village. His wife bore him three children, over a period of 6 years, increasing his expenses tremendously. He now has the pressure of feeding a family, and works even harder to fulfill their needs and demands. He was not doing as well as before due to increasing competition, thus after the birth of his second child, he decided to involve his younger brother in his business. His brother helps him set up the shop every morning, and dismantle it every night. He helps him sell his products, and convince customers to buy their products.

At present

He struggles, but he just about manages to make ends meet. Yet, he is happy. He loves his family, and though he would not mind making some extra money, is happy that his business provides for them.

Name on rice for a price

We were asked to design an enhancement for any one of the businesses we had observed.
We chose the 'Name on rice' guy.

The main problems that we identified were:
-obscure location
-no advertising
-small sign (cannot be seen from distance)
-tiny products (cannot be seen from distance)



The problems made him easy to miss- a fly on the wall.
Thus, we designed two enhancement for him.

1)Large model grain of rice
2)Paper bags with name and number

The large model grain of rice would be visible from a distance, and give potential customers an idea of what he is selling. This way, more people would be interested to visit his stall and ask about his products.

The paper bags are multipurpose
-They look attractive
-They look professional
-They are useful for carrying the product
-They advertise his business
-They are convenient
The bags make the product good as a gift, so it would be convenient for people to buy it as a gift. The bags spread the word, so other people can get to know about him and his talent.
People can easily contact him for particular personalized products they may want.

He was very happy with the enhancement, and began using it immediately. He felt that it would help his business. We will get back to him later, to ask how it actually helped.

Data Visualisation: the Cool way to show data :P

This was my way of representing data about Aslam, the junk jewellery seller just off Brigade Road.

I used an ecology with connections and flows to represent the information.

first assignment continued..

So WE (Ishita Kanchi Ishaan Shibani Rudransh and me) decided to try a hand at crafts. We use things we have at home, so the investment is nearly nil. Using jute rope, beads, wire, scrap cloth, etc. we made earrings, necklaces, anklets and also printed post cards with an environmental message. The only cost was Rs. 40 for glossy paper to print the postcards.

We chose brigade road to sell our products because it is a popular and crowded location. People of all kinds are found here, from the young to the old. It is generally a very popular location for our 'competition' (other peddlers) and so we began selling our products.

We faced rejection, acceptance, failure, and success. Finally, we earned a profit of rs. 320. The products were priced from rs. 15 to 30.

I-SHIT, I shat, I Kandeeled (Why? Wii V)

I am a peddler for today. I am afraid of policemen, i run from them because what i do for a living, the very thing on which my existence depends, is illegal. I sell goods to people on the road, or actually any public area. For today, i am a peddler, and i am all this.

This is our assignment. We have to earn a profit of rs. 100 each by using some skill of ours. We need to pick a strategic location keeping customers in mind and cannot disclose our purpose.

Second assignment first

When we were assigned this task we came up with a set of 11 basic questions that could define a business-
1. How long has this business been running?
2. What is your daily routine?
3. What are the tools required?
4. What are the skills required?
5. How do you sell your product?
6. What is your income?
7. Do you have a family?
8. Why do you sell from this particular location?
9. What kind of buyers do you get?
10. What is the investment?
11. How much do you sell each day?

We did not get precise answers from all the people. We mostly targeted the peddlers on Brigade and MG road

1. Name: Riyaz
He sells sunglasses and watches at the MG- Brigade Cauvery crossing. He has never tried selling his products from another area as he says that maximum potential customers are found on Brigade road.
He has been doing this for the past 10 years. Before this he used to drive an auto. Decided to do this when he discovered it was more lucrative. He gets his products from city market and works 10 hours a day. He has a wife and two daughters and lives on mysore road. He likes to display his products hanging on his arm like a shelf in a shop. He waits for the customer to come to him and believes that anyone interested will definitely stop and look. He is very particular about never forcing anyone to buy anything from him. His customers range from locals to foreigners looking for a cheap gift to give people. He sells his watches for around Rs 120 minimum and makes a 20% profit on each. He earn about Rs 250 – 300 per day but its never fixed. He starts by quoting a price of Rs 225 and then depending on the customer, lowers the price. He expects bargaining.

2. Name: Aslam
He sells Junk jewelry and does body piercing. He has been doing this for the past 4-5 years and has been selling his products in the Springfield lane just off Brigade road. He gets his products from the city market about once a week.
He buys whatever he finds aesthetically pleasing and tries to keep up with the latest trends and makes sure he has a wide variety of things. He buys 3-6 versions of each design. He has a family consisting of 4 sisters and two school going brothers and lives in shivajinagar. He provides for all of them. He has studied till the 12th grade and can speak in English and communicate with any kind of customer. He believes that his education and knowledge of English has been a big boon in running his business. As a school boy, he worked part time at his uncles silver shop on commercial street where he learnt body piercing. His shop is a portable one made of wood and metal. He displays all his products very well and has various stands for each type of product. At night he packs up his stall and stores it in a go-down. He has a good reputation in the wholesale market and often buys on credit. The products come from Bombay to the market to him as a result of which his cost price is slightly high. He makes a profit of about 30% on each product.

3. Name: Nehru
He has been writing on a small grain of rice for 3-4 years on church street. He sits on church street because it is an offshoot from brigade road where policemen don’t bother him, if they do, he runs. He comes from maharshtra. He takes about 2 mins and can write upto 40 names on 1 grain of rice. He took 2 months to learn this art from his brother in Bombay who does the same there. He uses fevicryl paints and extra thin customized brushes to write. The rice grain is then suspended in colored oil and put in a transparent glass container with a plastic stopper at the top which he seals with feviquick. It costs about rs 10 for him to make one of these which he sells for a minimum of Rs 30. He converts this glass container into either a keychain or a pendant. One can even pick a design for him to make and choose the color of the oil. He makes Rs 400 – 500 a day and sells more on weekends. The main customers are couples. He is willing to teach others to do this also.

4. Name: Ratna
She has been selling fruits on the MG road pavement for the past 7 years. She sticks to this location out of habit. She lives with her husband in kormangala and has kids who are married. She sells seasonal fruits like black jamuns and mangoes. She makes not more than Rs 100 a day. Customers are sparse and only locals buy from her. There is a lot of bargaining involved and she does not attempt to advertise her fruits in anyway. She sits everyday from 12 noon to 11pm and has many days when she doesn’t earn at all. The fruits come from Kerala to the city market where she buys them from. She sells the jamuns for about Rs 30 /kg and buys a big basket for about 1200. She never sells out all her fruits in one day and thus does not visit the market very often.




5. Name: Jairam
He is a self taught cobbler and mends and polishes all kinds of shoes on the MG road pavement. He has been doing this for the past 35 years, and has only changed his spot from UCO bank by about 10 meters, 25 years ago. He earns atleast 100 Rs a day and works daily from 10 am – 7pm. He has a variety of tools like 4-5 brushes, different kinds of polish, an awl, needle, glue and threads. He need to replace his brushes every 3-4 months which costs him about 40 – 50 Rs and a tin of polish costs Rs 10. He sells a variety of shoelaces and soles as well. His main customers are the office going men.