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The Last Coach
ETHNOGRAPHY · SPACIAL-BEHAVIOURIAL RESEARCH
INTRODUCTION
In 2016, Indian Railways was planning to introduce the 'Deen Dayalu' Coaches aimed at improving the quality of travelling in general class. As these coaches are the lifeblood for the economically challenged, the highlight of the project was to the pilot attempt to redesign the interiors of the 'unreserved coaches' which are known for sub-human, often fatal travelling conditions.
MY ROLE
Ethnography, Space Research, Qualitative User Research, Interior Design
THE TEAM
7 designers, 2 film makers, 1 book keeper from RDC
TIME LINE
April 2016 — June 2016
My Role as an ethnographer was to study the user patterns & nuances around travelling in a general class in the region & do qualitative documentation of the opportunity areas
BACKGROUND
Carrying 23 million passengers daily, Indian Railways is one of the denser networks in second most populated zone of the world.
We were divided into two groups of ethnographers. The first group was assigned the north-west of India & the second was assigned
STUDY
Living in 'third' class for a month
The third class, 'General Compartment' are usually the last 2-4 coaches of a train. Since they are the unreserved coaches, they see a lot of demand among the economically challenged, the emergency stricken & the unlettered. In a country of over 1.38 billion people, the results of such a system have never been on the top of any systemic priority. On our research we spent 24 hours a day for a month on these compartments to gauge the ecosystem better.
As a part of the Group I which was assigned to the north-west zone, where we started our month long journey from Ahmedabad-Delhi-Bhopal-Mumbai and back.
The North + West was challenging as a region because it spanned over 4 different kind of topographical zones & gave us an opportunity to zoom in on many cultures.
Deccan Plateau
Desert
River Plains
Himalayas
Jalandar
Amritsar
Pathankot
Ludhiyana
Delhi
Muradabad
Jaipur
Lucknow
Abu Road
Ahmedabad
Bhopal
Mumbai
BACKGROUND
Inspirations from other ethnographers
One of the largest source of inspiration for us was Samarth Mahajan who's award winning film unreserved gave us the some of the basics of what to anticipate on the field.
THE SOUTH-EAST TEAM
Our colleagues from the other team
Our colleagues from the other team faced very different circumstances from us. They had a longer journey and were required to be on the road for longer.
REFLECTIONS
Deen-Dayalu Coaches
The Deen Dayalu Coaches were debuted in the 2nd financial quarter of 2018, to acclaim and generally positive feedback
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Life is a train and not the station
PAULO COHELO
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