ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on neighbourhoods, in particular on Girvi and Patripar. With the exception of the two Satnami Paras, none of these neighbourhoods is numerically dominated by a single caste, though in Patripar there is a small block of contiguous alleys that are exclusively inhabited by rickshaw-vale from two drought-prone districts in Odisha. Some neighbourhood people – mainly women – belong to rotating credit societies, but economically these are of little significance. They are largely superseded and their existence tends to be ephemeral as they rapidly implode when members default on contributions. The disjunction between a tranquil town and its violent neighbourhoods is thus overlaid by another between a harmonious past and present discord. ‘Biharis’ aside, the slide is attributed to a breakdown in social control and respect for authority. Moreover, the sons of Bhilai Steel Plant workers who have continued to live there are likely to be less well credentialised, and to have less social and cultural capital.
