MIRROR SHOWS A MYRIAD FACES AND TIME TANTALIZES: SLUMS, MARGINALIZATION, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS AND RESILIENCE

This paper is about slum life, lived experiences, tsunami and post‐tsunami, and how two slum communities, marginalized with myriad faces and tantalizing times, have emerged more resilient than ever through selforganizing and social movements helping them along the path of social developments. It is indeed a retelling of the two separate, good and different stories, about the two slums – Anjukudisai and Pallavan Nagar – Kargil Vetri Nagar ‐ Tsunami Nagar ‐ which have seen different and tantalizing events. The focus is in fact on the positive side of the negatively impacted communities where rebuilding resilience has not been easy, for various reasons, but has indeed been accomplished by their own strengths to withstand, bear, and flourish from, the brunt. In both, the social changes have been brought about by (a) initiatives from international research collaboration (between Madras (India) and York (Canada) universities) (b) but primarily from their own self organizing abilities and (c) social activism of good, different and effective variety. This paper does not so much describe the methodology of the study but mostly the processes that have occurred in the two slums, changing and transforming lives, providing different, even horrendous, lived experiences for the people of the two slums. In short, the paper sketches the mirror that shows a myriad faces (or facets) and the times that tantalized the communities. The context is thus slum life, lived experiences and building resilience in the face of adversity through assistance from various sources: international NGOs (XNORA International, Karunalaya, Soroptimist International and others), universities (York‐Madras team), colleges (several city colleges and institutes), local government, city government and private health organizations over the five years. Anjukudisai is an inner urban slum, at a hazardous site on the bank of the much polluted Cooum river. It is objectionable and demonstrates the impact of long term neglect of environment and health issues. The slum’s 256 households and nearly 1400 people live in concrete cells and thatched huts. The slum lacks proper drainage, latrines and sewage and soild waste collection. The York‐Madras team along with their collaborators initiated settlement‐wide processes of collaboration and partnerships around environmental and health issues. The team work has demonstrated the potential here for creating capacity to self‐organize for community development. Before the arrival of the team, there was no history of integrated capacity building for self governance and now progress has been made through the formation of the self‐help groups and linkages with external agencies.