Archives of Movement

Every morning, after working on his fields, Kartik grabs a bicycle and leaves Enayetpur, his natal village in Hoogly district, to reach the near station and catch the 7.30 train to Calcutta. Although his vocation, about which he loves to talk whenever given an occasion, is farming, he sustains his family through a salaried job as carpenter in a big state enterprise downtown – which makes him a daily commuter. Thanks to the daily interactions on the train and to a great curiosity, he’s learnt a lot about his and the neighbouring districts’ economies, landscapes and attractions. Nonetheless, he continues to think of himself as a villager and farmer: to him, the towns and especially the city, with its harsh hierarchies and indifference, are little more than transit spaces to look at, but not to make friends with.