Yes, you read that right.
Transformations are nothing but changes at larger or smaller scales to certain events, places or people. Last night I was going through the article on "Intersectionality as a Method" (2015) by Helma Lutz, where I got a real take on how there are certain parts of our identity which we would like to focus on while we are engaging with varied questions related to our day to day happenings and incidents. It fascinated me to really think about it and I put that instance on myself, to really dissociate from the egoic core of "I" to honestly get a determined, unbiased perspective over my narratives - where I use different aspects or scopes of my identity to explain or establish my arguments. Sure I use the gender trope a lot, that perspective rules my way of thinking and defending or even arguing when it comes to certain level of questions. But necessarily so I have found myself guilty of using my class status as a trope and even my body image as a trope to put my arguments into perspective.
Here's the thing, let me not divulge too much. Let's just be clear with what I want to talk about. It is about understanding differences in transit experiences. Me being an occasional self proclaimed flaneuse, I can guarantee you with the seldom visits that I've made on the streets of South Kolkata that there are several aimless travellers or bystanders who really have no job throughout the day and who tend to indulge in activities which could be sometimes doubtful and rhetorically mischievous. They tend to spend their day gazing on travellers and busy commuters, either with a blank intent or you know the kind of gaze which is inherently malicious, not so innocent and directed at just one specific sex, yeah that kind too. I do have the time to look at details which perhaps people with a particular target in their mind or a particular destination in their mind cannot fathom to waste their time at. It is not that I am demeaning the purpose of purposeless ventures, we need that for a better mental health and generation of creativity. But it is just that to loose yourself of any expectations and identities makes you narrow down to a scale of a human body with zero intersectional crosscut. It makes you use a part of your performavity with ease and sufficient manipulation. This sort of ease might not be accessible or affordable for people who are venturing out daily in order to reach their offices, schools, construction sites, centers, etc. They have their prescribed identities latched to themselves which forces them to work in a way that makes them fall under such intersectional crossroads both literally ( on the streets) and metaphorically ( identity wise).
In order to understand this, let us follow the experience of two random individuals who have the liberty and accessibility of infrastructures in order to travel and commute to places. An observer might have the skillset and mindset like that of a tourist who has just entered a place and is trying to grapple with the entirety of the city. He/she/they might have a unique perception of a place and it's people which is undisturbed or uninfluenced by the regular rush of adjusting and negotiating with the time and behavior of several unruly individuals. These problems would rather be faced by the people who "belong" everyday in the world of commuting and traveling, the "real" workers who have to deal with a lot of struggles in order to adjust their identities for their commute benefit.
Changing your lens to adjust according to their problems and issues would not be an easy realization - yet again it depends on circumstances. What might be good or fascinating for you, may look rather mundane and disturbing for them. The struggle has its own intersectional significance which takes a lot of time to grapple with. Daily transiting with harsh humid circumstances might affect you differently than just going for an outing once a week or month even. To negotiate your identity everyday is a matter of intense scuffle which isn't really a feeling that could be accepted easily by those who are undisturbed by the struggles of your life. Having an intersectional understanding of daily transit and commute is also a matter of intense analysis, to break through the daily hardships of identity negotiations - whether that be your gender/ sexuality/ class or even most importantly your race/caste. A woman who travels everyday cannot be fooled to be charged extra on a route which costs half the money demanded by taxi drivers or auto drivers. People with Disabilities also find different mechanisms of their heightened and trained senses to avoid unjust and inhuman fellow passengers/drivers who would rather wish to take advantage of them. Or a person of colour being treated differently, a fish seller being treated differently on a train, a Trans woman treated with disregard on buses - all these are but renegotiation of spaces to be able to access the streets according to their intersectional identities.
The way you navigate also has various differing experiences and differing circumstances according to which you have to adjust and keep on navigating. To understand this, a simple walk of your neighborhood would be fair enough, especially during the busy hours of the day. Identities during and within the process of traveling is crucial to follow and understand under what circumstances they are readjusted and negotiated to realize how thorough the theory of belonging and the practice of reclaiming has to be reshaped in a city.
Thank you for reading till this end and again these are my opinions from what I have learnt through my personal and internet based encounters. Involves analysis of primary and secondary source data or experiences.
Inspiration of information taken from this video from comments by
Miss Nidhi Goyal and Miss Meghana Sahoo. Video topic : Enhancing Safety in Public Transportation System to Foster Inclusive Cities by NIUA TV. Video link : https://www.youtube.com/live/M7nti1CrVfY?feature=share
Hope this sparks a thought in your thoughts.
Here are some small snaps of several places of my visit.
The word intersectionality is difficult for people coming from technical background or non-social science background. I found the first two paragraphs a little bit daunting but the remaining were easy to grasp. The remaining half gives the proper idea of intersectionality.