SHIVANI SINGH

Kotla Mubarakpur resident Khairati Lal Kohli is not thinking medals or a career in sports for his grandchildren when he brings them and their friends to the park behind Defence Colony market. He is just happy to see them run around endlessly during a game of pakdam-pakdai. “All I know is that children must play... so I get them here,” he says.

The lack of open space is an emotive issue for Kohli, his grandchildren and their friends who live in tightlypacked, unplanned homes of Kotla, one of Delhi’s 135 urban villages. “At home, we can only play Ludo (a board game) indoors,” says Diwakar (9).

Many of them attend private schools operating from similarly chock-full premises. “My school has a very small ground where we can’t play cricket or football. So we play carrom,” says Gaurav (11). “Our school playground has shrunk in size. Not many children play there now,” adds Pawan (11).

There is a moment of silence when they are told that a portion of their park might be taken away to build an automated multi-level parking.

An attendant at a surface parking lot next to the park claims Kotla residents will gain the most out the project. “Kotla is not what it used to be. Residents and shopkeepers own cars and many of them have more than one. They come to park in Defence Colony. In fact, they bring more cars than those coming to restaurants here,” he says.

Grandfather Kohli knows the parking requirement of his community too well and sug-