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I often wonder how we managed without online maps, particularly in big cities. We stopped a lot and asked for directions, I think – asked other rickshaw drivers or shopkeepers or strangers en route. I remember trying to memorise a few landmarks and checkpoints before setting off on any journey, so that I could make it through the broad strokes of the route and then, once I was in the vicinity of my destination, rely on others. 

Maybe finding our way was, in a way, always a collaborative process – except, now we rely on our shiny devices, the various GPS detection apps built into Google Maps, Uber, Amazon and Blinkit.

And yet, these technologies – their attempts at tracking, making our streets and spaces organised and legible to governments and corporations, fail so frequently. My home in Bangalore, for one, has three different postal codes – one corresponds to my nearest post office in Jayanagar, one is associated with everything to do with my bank, according to which I live in Banashankari, and one is associated with several delivery apps, which have located my building in J.P. Nagar. 

It’s often frustrating, but also somewhat........

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