By the turn of the century, Edwin Lutyen's vision of colonial grandeur had metamorphosed into a New Delhi of global aspirations. The city has begun to love its new robes. But the hands that created the transformation have been forgotten: the metropolis has no space for the poor and their slums. Delhi has been witness to a spate of slum demolitions but 2000-2001 was the worst ever. More than 15,000 shanties, home to about 100,000 people, were destroyed. Thousands left the city and countless others lost their livelihoods, so that the city could 'reclaim' 1.5% of the total urban area of New Delhi. A short work propelled by an acapella chorus, the film welcomes you to the capital city of India.
One-time advertising writer, Vani Subramanian, has been a documentary filmmaker, Communications consultant and woman’s rights activist over the last two decades. Her work as a filmmaker spans a range of issues and concerns from the political economy of food to primary education to culture, urban development and communalism and the politics of sex selective abortions. Her films have been screened both nationally and internationally, at the film festival, through telecasts as well as private screenings and been used at a wide variety of discussion platforms. As a communication consultant, she has been involved in writing, design and conceptualization for mainstream and alternate civil society groups hence spanning the world of corporate communications, political and travel writing.