Fayaz 24 years, City Market
Born to a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, Fayaz, who is addressed by his mum as Murugan, witnessed his first communal riot when he was nine. He recalls sodalists of all persuasions indulging in violent acts. His most vivid memory of the onslaught is that of his father and uncles being brutally assaulted. Fayaz now makes a living running errands and doing odd jobs in the City Market area.

Rachana 12 years, Judicial Layout
Rachana studies in Class 7 at the Seshadripuram School in Yelahanka. She moved to the city from Coorg in 2004. She finds the city to be completely removed from her former tranquil home. At night, when the streets of Judicial Layout are deserted, she is overcome by the “strange feeling that something else existed here”.

Byrappa 73 years, Kamakshi Palya
Byrappa’s parents died in a plague epidemic in the late ’40s. He was in Class 3 at the time. The young boy fled his village near Bangalore and ended up in the city. He began by working as a cleaner at a hotel and then switched to selling groceries in Basavanagudi Market. He now plies his trade at Malleswaram Market.

Dilip 13 years, Dr Rajkumar Road
Dilip studies in Class 6 and sells newspapers after school. Sometimes, he sneaks into movie halls to catch a show, but prefers playing with his friends. He often prays for traffic jams because that’ll mean he gets to sell a lot more newspapers than usual.

Renuka 26 years, Old Airport Road
Renuka is a marketing analyst with a multi-national firm. She moved to the city from Tumkur when she was 15. Though she lives in a section of the city that is largely home to expatriates and wealthy immigrants, given the chance, Renuka would spend time in south Bangalore. She often speaks wistfully of the kadlekai parshe (peanut festival) in Basavanagudi.

Muniyamma 68 years, Mahalaxmi Layout
Muniyamma sells bananas for a living. The city’s traffic has made it increasingly difficult for her to sell the fruits and she has stopped going to the market altogether. Two decades ago, Muniyamma’s family would buy a goat for Rs 30 and cook it. Now, with the price of the same animal reaching Rs 3,000, she can no longer afford to buy one.

Laxminarayan 41 years, Mahalaxmi Layout
When he was around ten, Laxminarayan says the area he used to live in contained cultivable land. What was once a remote part of the city, with barely 25 houses sitting on it, Mahalaxmi Layout, to Laxminarayan, is entirely unrecognisable. He makes his living selling vegetables and fruits.

Radha Bai 87 years, Mariyappanapalya
Married at the age of 8, Radha Bai returned to her parents’ home in Gowribidnur when she was 10. She hasn’t gone back to her husband since. Radha Bai moved to the city in 2000 and lives with relatives. She stays at home, preoccupied with her thoughts all day long.

Nagraj 48 years, Malleswaram
Nagraj is a lab attendant in the electronics department at Adarsha College. He is also a priest at a shrine on Sampige Road. He maintains that he holds his second job as a man who propitiates the gods so that he can continue to be gainfully employed as a lab attendant.