Urban Villager : Life in an Indian Satellite Town

**Urban Villager** is a superbly etched and finely detailed representation of the life of an ‘urban villager’ in a modern satellite town of India. It describes how Delhi, as a city, is growing radially, stretching its way into the rural fringes of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that border the city to form the National Capital Region. Through the microcosm of Greater Noida, a suburb of New Delhi, the author draws a portrait of life in a semi-urban town, where billion dollar homes and villages with no sewage system share the same pin code. Some farmers sell their land and try to cope with a new found prosperity; others refuse and break into agitations that make newspaper headlines. A builder destroys a wetland to make a township while the middle class in high rises frets about power and security. A few kilometres away, the Formula One event hosts international celebrities amidst bewildered villagers. Living here is being witness to the contradictions and ironies that occur when India is forced to co-exist with Bharat. The author frequently draws parallels with similar kinds of urbanisation on the outskirts of other Indian metros. Across the country, the city gobbles up more and more of what was once the countryside―whether it is Sriperumbudur in Chennai, Belapur in Mumbai, Yelahanka on the outskirts of Bengaluru or Rajarhat New Town in Kolkata. No matter where you live in India, the story of this book could be the story you see in your city. Cover 1 Contents 8 Preface 10 Part 1 - Whose Land Is It Anyway? 12 1 - A New Town Is Born 14 2 - A Mutiny, a Martyr and Some Myths 32 3 - Farmer, Farmer, Give Me Your Land 53 4 - The Murky Tales of Noida Extension 73 5 - Formula 1: Zipping through the Fields 87 Part 2 - The Impact of Acquisition 100 6 - Poof! The Cash Is Gone. Where’s My Gun? 102 7 - The Cost of Building 121 8 - No Home for the Bristled Grassbird 132 Part 3 - New Owners of an Old Land 152 9 - Isles of Urbania 154 10 - The Creation of an Education Bazaar 170 Part 4 - The Schizophrenia of the Peri-urban Town 192 11 - The Big, Fat Gujjar Wedding 194 12 - Urban Villager 205 13 - Art and the City 221 14 - Greater Noida Heavens 233 Part 5 - Growth Pangs of Young Towns 248 15 - The Complexities of Adolescence 250 16 - Our Cities, Our Future 260 Acknowledgements 276 Annexures 277 Glossary 288 Bibliography 290 About the Author 291 Presents a representation of the life of an 'urban villager' in a modern satellite town of India. This book describes how Delhi, as a city, is growing radially, stretching its way into the rural fringes of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh that border the city to form the National Capital Region.