A suburb of the Indian city Gwalior, Birlanagar came into existence in the post independence industrial development that took place in the country. The township became home to one of the leading industrial groups-The Birla group’s textile business. The mills at their peak employed over 12000 people who inhabited the residential quarters surrounding the compound.
After a glorious run lasting half a century, various reasons and discords drove the business house away leaving behind empty mill compounds with families bereft of any livelihood.
To this day, the inhabitants continue to live in the relinquished township, their past glory dilapidated with the fallen structures, and their next generation, born of ruin, attempts to build a future under the shadow of a town abandoned.
I often crossed Birlanagar on my visits to Gwalior, my birth place, and it had always piqued my interest. This work is an outcome of my longing to understand and explore this city. It is difficult to bring a conclusion to this work and I consider it as an exploration of the place and its people emerging from the legacy of despair but looking unto the future with new hope.
