Dr. Ekta Chauhan

Dr. Ekta Chauhan, whose roots are firmly entrenched in the bylanes of Delhi, is an eclectic scholar with an expansive range of interests, from history to public policy, heritage, anthropology, and beyond. A Ph.D. holder in World Heritage Studies from the Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus (Germany), her thesis spotlights the role of communities in managing cultural heritage tourism in Delhi. Her research approach, which she describes as the perfect “khichdi” of her various academic pursuits, integrates aspects of critical heritage studies, public policy, law, anthropology, and economics. Over the years, she has delved deep into interdisciplinary themes, spanning oral history, heritage, communities, tourism development, urban development, anthropology and comparative cultural analysis. Dr. Chauhan believes in the power of accessible knowledge and is an avid writer for digital media and research platforms, reaching out to the widest possible audience with her research. She is particularly interested in understanding everyday heritage and culture through community practices, vernacular residential architecture and shared lingo.

She runs the project “Dilli ki Khirki,” an oral history archival initiative focusing on the communities and culture of Delhi’s urban villages. Growing up in Khirki village, she witnessed firsthand the transformation of her quiet haven dotted with buffaloes, chaupals, and a 14th-century monument, into a bustling concrete jungle ((this is the late 90s, she is not that old) This metamorphosis has spurred her to turn her everyday life and interactions into subjects of social science research. She hopes to write a history of the city (Delhi) through its villages. Her students and colleagues can expect endless stories of life in the urban villages of Delhi and Sonepat from her. When not reading books, she can be found watching Bollywood movies, experimenting with coffee and baking, roaming at heritage sites or (trying to) lift weights. Her pet peeve is people who scribble on borrowed books.

Academic Publications (selected):

(2022). Decoding Collective Action Dilemmas in Historical Precincts of Delhi. Sustainability

(2022). Re sidents’ Motivations to Participate in Decision-Making for Cultural Heritage Tourism: Case Study of New Delhi. Sustainability

(2021). Guided heritage walks as a tool for inclusive heritage education: Case study of New Delhi. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development

Media and Digital Publications (selected)

Living in the peripheries: The ignored industrial housing of Delhi, The Indian Express (2023)

How DDA built the middle-class dream and shaped modern Delhi, The Indian Express (2023)

The age of ‘builder floors’: Why Delhi’s modern housing is the architecture of every city and yet no city. The Indian Express (2023)

The rise and decline of the havelis, The Indian Express (2023)

Mehrauli: Delhi’s first ‘city’, and its old and new mandis, The Indian Express (2022)

Said-ul-Ajaib: Home to a 14th century Tughlaq chamberlain is now a cafe hub, The Indian Express (2022)

Chirag Dilli and its bygone days of colourful weddings, The Indian Express (2022)

Celebrating the land Gods of rural Delhi in Khirki village, The Indian Express (2022)

Eid in Hauz Rani: One roof, many cultures and customs, The Indian Express (2022)

Urban Villages of India Are Being Erased by Development. How Can We Preserve Their Histories? ,The Swaddle (2022)

Delhi’s Khirki Masjid – Once a Shared Space of Everyday Life, Now a Contested Site, TheWire (2020)