5 - Anthropocene: ‘Modern’ Chandigarh, Nek Chand, Rock Garden, and Dalitbahujan Anthropocenes

Summary

The term ‘Dalitbahujan Anthropocenes’ refers to the untouchable and low-caste population in the country whose bodies, labour, lives, and work have been shaped through their close proximity to industrial development and modernity for several centuries. This proximity is a consequence of historical colonialism and capitalism, systems of hierarchy and discrimination, polluted local environments, and persistent environmental casteism. It is rooted in the belief that Dalit and low-caste bodies possess a ‘natural’ capacity to endure and engage with the dirty and hazardous processes and substances of industrialization, with their labour being seen as essential to the nation's progress. In contrast to the dominant temporality of the Anthropocene, which focuses on a unified human society, the concept of Dalitbahujan Anthropocene disrupts teleological time and challenges singular narratives. It does so by recounting the experiences of Dalit and low-caste individuals within the caste–colonial–capitalist systems, expanding across various contexts such as agricultural fields, coal mining, bonded labour, displacement, migration, famines, and droughts – all in the name of civilization and modernization. Beyond the scope of caste and capitalism, Dalitbahujan Anthropocenes offer a creative alternative perspective on addressing issues related to extraction, waste, urbanism, and development. Nek Chand and his Rock Garden serve as counter-narratives, challenging the caste and Dalit blind spots within the Anthropocene discourse.

Nek Chand Saini (December 1924–June 2015) is widely known for his creation of the Rock Garden in Chandigarh city. Born in Berian Kalan village, 90 kilometres to the north of Lahore, and now in Pakistan, Nek Chand migrated with his family to the Indian side of the Punjab region after Partition in 1947. Until the age of 23, he, his parents, four brothers, and two sisters lived in an agricultural village of Pakistan. As a Partition refugee, Nek Chand moved in several Indian cities – Jammu, Gurdaspur, Karnal, Panipat, and Faridabad, and finally settled down in Chandigarh.

Nek Chand Saini belonged to the Mali caste, which has been characterized in various accounts, and in various regions of India as an occupational ‘Shudra’ caste, traditionally and intimately connected with the occupation of gardening and cultivation-selling of flowers, fruits, and vegetables.