Representing Delhi: A Study of ‘Gaze’
Construction in Select Chapters of Mayank Austen Soofi’s the delhi walla (2010) series (hangouts,
portraits, monuments and food +drink)
Saurabh Sarmadhikari
Saurabh
Sarmadhikari is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English in
Gangarampur College in Dakshin Dinajpur district of West Bengal. He is pursuing
his Ph.D degree from Tripura University, Agartala.
Abstract
Delhi
is a multicultural potpourri, as for ages the city has been the kingdom of
several dynasties right up to the present times. The city has been home to
myriad peoples with diverse cultures. To represent this multicultural ethos,
numerous attempts, both in fiction and non-fiction, have been made. The non-fictional
guide book series, the delhi walla
(2010) is one such attempt. This paper intends to focus on one particular
feature of Mayank Austen Soofi’s representation—how he constructs and regulates
the ‘gaze’ of his readers as he ‘foregrounds’ various aspects of the city of
Delhi. The methodology of the present study is based on John Urry’s
re-interpretation of the Foucauldian notion of ‘gaze’, in support of the view
that the gaze of tourists is skillfully re-organised/redirected by a host of
professionals to construct ‘attractions’ in a tourist destination. This paper
shall attempt to apply Urry’s theorizing of the construction of the tourist
‘gaze’ to some select chapters in Soofi’s the
delhi walla (2010) series (hangouts,
portraits, monuments and food +drink).
Just as the ‘gaze’ of a tourist is re-organized by the designing and/or
restoring a tourist destination (thereby making it ‘attractive’), similarly
Soofi ‘constructs/regulates’ the ‘gaze’ of his readers in his narratives. This is
achieved primarily by his selection as individual chapters the ‘mundane’ and
‘grand’ spaces/objects/ personalities of the Delhi cityscape. But more
importantly, the captions that accompany the chapter-headings and the
narratives that follow produce a unique representation/construction of the
city. A semiotic and discursive analysis of select chapters of the delhi walla (2010) series would be
undertaken in this paper to understand how this ‘gaze’ for the readers is
constructed and a unique representation of Delhi is brought about.
Keywords: representation, Delhi, gaze, construction, travel guide.
In
contemporary culture ‘representation’ is the basis of meaning production. Its
position at the core of meaning production process has been established in the
social sciences since the ‘cultural turn’ of the 1970s and the subsequent
‘social constructionist approach’. As
Stuart Hall in his ‘Introduction’ to his edited volume Representation:
Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (1997) observes:
…since the ‘cultural turn’ in the human and
the social sciences, meaning is thought to be produced—constructed—rather than
simply ‘found’. Consequently, in what has come to be called a ‘social
constructionist approach’, representation is conceived of [as] entering into
the very constitution of things; and thus culture is conceptualized as a primary
or ‘constitutive’ process…(5-6)
The same idea is echoed by Paul Cobley in his Narrative (2001), “The ‘constructionist’
approach sees meaning neither in the control of the producer nor the thing
being represented; instead, it identifies the thoroughly social nature of the construction of meaning.”(3)
This
paper is concerned with how the cityscape of Delhi is represented by Mayank
Austen Soofi in his the delhi walla
(2010) series. Basically collection of narrative chapters that highlight the
multicultural facets of the city, in the delhi
walla, Soofi subscribes to the basic tenets of narrative representation. In
social constructionist theoretical framework, whatever be the form of a
narrative, be it oral, written or pictorial, language plays a central role in
meaning formation. But again, language is nothing but a conglomeration of
signs/codes that stand for things or ideas an individual wants to express and
transmit to other people. Thus, it is language that acts as a means through
which representation is made, as Stuart Hall in his ‘Introduction’ to his edited volume Representation: Cultural
Representations and Signifying Practices (1997) says, “Language is
one of the ‘media’ through which thoughts, ideas and feelings are represented
in a culture. Representation through language is therefore central to the
processes by which meaning is produced” (1). Elsewhere in the same essay, Hall
elaborates on this relation between language and representation further:
It is by our use of things, and what we say,
think and feel about them - how we represent them - that we give them a meaning...In part, we give things meaning by how we represent
them—the words we use about them, the stories we tell about them, the images of
them we produce, the emotions we associate with them, the ways we classify and
conceptualize them, the values we place on them. (3)
This observation of Hall has direct bearing on how narratives are
constructed—through language with the further implication that at a more
fundamental level it is the signs/codes constituting the language that
ultimately determine the representation. As Paul Cobley in his Narrative
(2001) says about narratives, “…narrative is a particular form of representation
implementing signs…” (3).
This definition of narrative by Cobley brings us to
the core concern of this paper—how Soofi represents Delhi in his narratives by
‘implementing signs’. This implementation of signs is closely related to the
process of ‘gaze’ construction that finds particular currency in tourism
industry and tourism practices. The Concise
Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines the noun ‘gaze’ as “a fixed or
intent look” (“gaze,” def.). As far as this paper is concerned, it will follow
the Foucauldian concept of ‘gaze’ that has been applied
by John Urry and Jonas Larsen in their proposition of the ‘tourist gaze’. Foucault in his The Birth of the Clinic:
An Archaeology of Medical Perception (1976) introduces the concept of the
‘medical gaze’ where he says:
The clinic was probably the first attempt to
order a science on the exercise and decisions of the gaze...the medical gaze
was also organised in a new way. First, it was no longer the gaze of any
observer, but that of a doctor supported and justified by an
institution...Moreover, it was a gaze that was not bound by the narrow grid of
structure...but that could and should grasp colours, variations, tiny
anomalies...(quoted in Urry and Larsen
1).
This Foucauldian
notion of ‘gaze’ has been taken up by John Urry and Jonas Larsen who in their
study The Tourist Gaze 3.0 (2011)
provide a new paradigm to the ‘gaze’ of tourists and how this ‘gaze’ is
constructed. They observe:
Just like language, one’s eyes are
socio-culturally framed and there are various ‘ways of seeing’…People gaze upon
the world through a particular filter of ideas, skills, desires, and
expectations, framed by social class, gender, nationality, age and education.
(2)
But, the
relationship between the signifier and the signified is a rather complex
process. Urry and Larsen further note that, “We do not literally ‘see’ things.
Particularly as tourists, we see objects and especially buildings in part
constituted as signs. They stand for something else. When we gaze as tourists
what we see are various signs...” (17).
Given
this framework, travel involves ‘gazing’ and to be more precise ‘gazing at the
other’ in the places visited. It has been further established by the theories
of Urry and Larsen that tourists encounter this ‘other’ as signs/codes, and
that production of meaning in tourism entails a studied
manipulation/construction of these signs/codes to create touristic experiences.
Soofi’sthe delhi wallaalso [Soofi’s the delhi walla also] follows this basic
principle of meaning construction for its readers. Being a guide book for
tourists, Soofi’s narratives too reveal clear patterns of signs/codes that are
carefully constructed and embedded in them, their principal aim being to
enhance the ‘tourist’ experience of his readers. A semiotic and discursive
analysis of four of his narratives (one entry from each of the four books of the delhi walla series) would be
undertaken in this paper to examine this process of ‘gaze construction’ of the
reader towards the city of Delhi. Focus would also be on how the city is
represented in the narratives along with this construction of ‘gaze’.
Café Turtle (‘hangouts’, the delhi walla)
In
‘hangouts’ of the delhi walla series
under the category ‘Eat’, there is an entry on Café Turtle (56-57). The process
of ‘gaze’ creation for the readers is evident from the very beginning of this
entry. The sub-heading/caption for the chapter is ‘Tasteful tranquility’. The
use of the words ‘tasteful tranquility’ is a perfect example of Barthesian myth.
Myth, as Barthes conceptualizes it in his Mythologies
(2009/1957), is related to the semiotic process of signification and is for him
“a second-order semiological system. That which is a sign (namely the
associative total of a concept and an image) in the first system, becomes a
signifier of the second.” (137). Barthes calls the first system/level the level
of ‘denotation’ while the second, that of ‘connotation’ or ‘myth’. Stuart Hall,
in his essay ‘The Work of Representation’ (included in Representation:
Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices (1997)), elaborates on this distinction between ‘denotation’ and
‘connotation’ as:
Denotation is the simple,
basic, descriptive level, where consensus is wide and most people would agree
on the meaning…At the second level—connotation—these signifiers which we
have been able to ‘decode’ at a simple level by using our conventional
conceptual classifications…enter a wider, second kind of code…which connects
them to broader themes and meanings, linking them with what, we may call the
wider semantic fields of our culture…the general beliefs, conceptual
frameworks and value systems of society. (38-39)
At
the level of denotation then, the words ‘tasteful tranquility’ refer to the
tasteful décor and the tranquil ambience of the restaurant, but at the level of
connotation the same words point towards a hierarchical assumption of clientele
in that only ‘refined’ connoisseurs can truly appreciate the ‘tasteful
tranquility’ of the place. Soofi’s use of these words – ‘tasteful tranquility’
– in his narrative/description ‘constructs’ Café Turtle as a niche place for
his readers, who are also potential tourists, but who might venture to visit
depending on their own concept of ‘cultural capital’. John Urry and Jonas Larsen
have summarized this critical concept of ‘cultural capital’ (originally coined by
Pierre Bourdieu in 1973) as: “Cultural capital is not just a matter of abstract
theoretical knowledge but of the symbolic competence necessary to appreciate
works of ‘art’ or ‘anti-art’ or ‘place’” (102).
The
narrative begins with three signifiers that verily point towards this ‘refined
clientele’ with adequate ‘cultural capital’: “Soft jazz, hand-painted thangkas,
and hushed conversations” (56). ‘Jazz’ and ‘thangka’ act as Barthesian myths, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current
English defining ‘jazz’ as “music of African-American origin characterized
by improvisation, syncopation, and usu. a regular or forceful rhythm” (“jazz,”
def.) and the Collins English Dictionary
defining ‘thangka’ as “(in Tibetan Buddhism) a religious painting on a scroll” (“thangka”). All this at the level of denotation but
these very signifiers along with the third signifier in the opening sentence
‘hushed conversations’ connote an ambience of refinement because jazz, thangkas
and hushed conversations are accoutrements not usually associated with the hoi
polloi and these signifiers even act as a deterrent to the ‘mass’ that would
try to desecrate the sanctity of the place. The second sentence of the narration
too points towards the niche character of this place: “Every city needs a
bubble where you can be who you want to be” (56). The place is clearly
constructed as the ideal place for the individualistic tourist with high
‘cultural capital’ in search of ‘tasteful tranquility’ in the bustling
multicultural metropolis of Delhi. It is the place where “The book lovers read.
The writers write. The fashionable display their Cartiers and Armanis.”(56) The
signifiers are enough to mark out this place for the elite tourists.
Apart
from using these signifiers (that also act as ‘myths’ in Barthesian terms),
Soofi’s narrative clearly delineates Café Turtle’s position in the
‘intellectual tourist circuit’ of Delhi, “Home to Delhi’s ‘refined’ crowd, Café
Turtle is the coffee shop above the iconic bookstore, Full Circle, at Khan
Market.”(56) Here, we find a fine example of how discourse works within this narrative.
Discourses in order to retain their position of dominance must necessarily
exclude other discourses. As Marianne Jorgensen and Louise J. Phillips say in their Discourse Analysis as Theory
and Method, “A discourse is always constituted in relation to what
it excludes, that is, in relation to the field of discursivity” (27).The moment
Soofi’s narrative posits Café Turtle as ‘Home to Delhi’s ‘refined’ crowd’ and
its location ‘above the ‘iconic’ bookstore, Full Circle, at Khan Market’, the
exclusiveness of the coffee shop becomes ‘established’, as it becomes the place to visit for any potential tourist
with refined sensibilities.
That
the narrative is bent on ‘constructing’ Café Turtle as a place of refined
tastes in the otherwise brash Delhi is further accentuated by the mention that
“…the point of this café is not its cakes and coffees. It is something to do
with its character, which is intensely addictive” (56-57). The items that
construct this ‘intensely addictive’ character are then carefully outlined
thereby indulging in a ‘secondary construction’: “The lightning is soft. The
décor is not loud. The stewards are not intrusive. There are shelves stacked
with spiritual books. Black and white photographs of Jazz artistes adorn the
walls” (57). This place, physically constructed primarily for its clients, in
Soofi’s narrative becomes reconstructed
for his readers who might be potential tourists. But] the narrative, apart from
constructing the reader’s ‘gaze’ towards this coffee shop, simultaneously
represents/constructs the city of Delhi also for the readers obliquely
commenting on the social habits of the city. As Soofi says, “Each table has a
bottle in the centre, with tender green stems of money plant sending roots out
into the water. The entire effect is so soothing that the most noisy Delhiites
lose their natural brashness and start speaking in hushed undertones as soon as
they settle down” (57).
The
narrative ends with another ‘construct’ emphasizing the niche character of Café
Turtle: “But the Café Turtle experience is incomplete without exploring its
sister concern, the bookstore below. To browse the shelves for an hour, to buy
a novel and then walk up the wooden stairs and settle down to read—with
something as simple as pita bread and hummus—is an experience almost bordering
Proustian tranquility” (57). The name of Proust again connotes an elegance and
exclusiveness beyond the ken of the average reader/tourist. In fact, this last
signifier ‘Proust’ acts both at the semiotic and the discursive level. As a
semiotic signifier it operates as a Barthesian myth and as discourse it acts as
an excluding agent—only the ‘truly’ refined would supposedly find the place
entertaining thereby getting the others discursively excluded.
Nicholson Cemetery (‘monuments’, the delhi walla)
The
next narrative that this paper seeks to analyze is the entry on Nicholson
Cemetery (24-25) included in the section ‘Old Delhi’. This narrative is also a
fine specimen of ‘gaze’ construction for the readers/tourists. What attracts
the attention of the readers at the foremost is the layout in the page where
the title of the entry, ‘Nicholson Cemetery’; the caption accompanying the title,
‘Weep not’; and the basic tourist info of the place (like the location of the
place, metro stop, which days it is open and an one-liner significance of
Nicholson Cemetery) are provided. This information is provided as if on an
entry ticket to the Cemetery in which the phrase ‘ADMIT ONE’ is written. This
layout constructs the place as a tourist destination at the very outset. The
chief reason of the place’s claim to prominence is also printed in the layout
ticket: “Discover graves of the British killed in 1857” (24). The caption
accompanying the title heading “Weep not” (24) goes hand in hand with the
mournful associations of the place.
The
first sentence of the accompanying narrative creates an alternative gaze for
the readers. That this particular place is not on the regular itinerary of the
general tourists and that the delhi walla
series is a guide book with an exception is evident from this observation of
the narrator: “It is a mystery why guidebooks have been indifferent to the
(deathly) charms of one of Delhi’s oldest British cemeteries” (25). The tone is
set from the outset that the gazes the narrative will create for the readers
will be a unique one, a clear example of discursive practice where to establish
the primacy of a particular discourse all other discourses are excluded from
the field of contention.
The ambience of the cemetery is presented as a
landscape whereby the reader’s gaze is directed towards the traditional ideas
of landscaped gardens, “Guarded by a cross-shaped gateway, Nicholson Cemetery
has a sloping, grassy landscape dotted with tombstones, some intricately
carved, some stark and simple” (25). The usual tropes of constructing a
cemetery for the readers ‘gaze’ then follows, “Neem, date and tamarind trees
watch over like sentinels, while thick bougainvilleas, weighed down with
flowers, shed pink petals over the graves of ‘dearly loved’ children and
‘beloved’ spouses” (25). Reference is made of the Biblical verses on the tombs,
the images of stone angels that dot the place. The USP of the cemetery, that it
houses many graves dating from the 1857 uprising, is mentioned.
But,
alongside the construction of the particular space of ‘Nicholson Cemetery’, the
city of Delhi, where the cemetery is situated, is also constructed
simultaneously. The effect is like this: in Delhi you can find Nicholson
Cemetery, and it is in Nicholson Cemetery you would find the graves of soldiers
killed in the 1857 uprising. This tone of exclusiveness in the narrative is
again discursive in essence because it isolates the narrative from the other
run of the mill travel guides. The narrative, being faithful to the genre of
travel guides however, points to the most prominent grave in the cemetery—that
of “Brigadier General John Nicholson, who was nicknamed ‘the Lion of Punjab’”
(25). The narrative ends with the information that “On the far side, towards
the Ring Road, marigolds adorn the new graves of Indian Christians” (25)
thereby presenting/constructing Nicholson Cemetery as a destination where the
past cohabits with the present.
Sumanta Roy (‘portraits’, the delhi walla)
Sumanta
Roy, who the caption says is a ‘Consumer’ (24), is the subject of the next
narrative this paper seeks to analyze. Even before the narrative proper starts,
a few words of Sumanta Roy are quoted as a teaser that sets off the process of
‘gaze’ creation at the individual level as well as the level of the city of
Delhi: “Brands can boost your confidence and make you feel 10 feet taller”
(24). In fact, the entire the delhi walla
series might be read as a ‘discursive structure’ as it seems to emphasize that
to represent/construct the city of Delhi comprehensively, a study of its
‘individuals’ has been undertaken which the other
travel guides usually gloss over. As such, these other travel guides and their constructions are effectively
excluded from being considered as authentic. Indeed, for the readers of the delhi walla series, the city is
constructed as being inhabited by a myriad horde of individuals, some as famous
as Khuswant Singh, the author and some as insignificant as Ram Swaroop Sharma,
who is a homeless man.
The
narrative on Sumanta Roy, the ‘consumer’, begins with the name of a Chinese
restaurant in Khan Market, the ‘Sidewok’. The typical Delhi consumer is
presented/ constructed for the readers by his refusal to enter the restaurant
until the doorman opens the door. As the narrative says, “A man of style, he
[Sumanta Roy] is a brand-sensitive consumer who expects good service when he
pays for it” (25). What follows in the narrative is a catalogue of brand names
each of which stands as a signifier for ultimate consumerism: “Dressed in a red
Jeffrey Rogers sweatshirt and Seven jeans, this 29-year -old IT professional
walks up the stairs carrying a brown Juicy couture bag and a Louis Vuitton
wallet. His left arm bears a Chinese tattoo and his right a Guess gold watch studded
with Swarovski crystals” (25). The information that he [Roy] is wearing
“white-and-green-striped Topshop panties” (25), the designer brand that
celebrities like Kate Moss loves, in effect constructs not only a fairly
clear-cut picture of an out and out individual consumer but also of the city of
Delhi that houses these consumers.
The
narrative contains several quotations from Sumanta Roy that form part of the
narrative strategy to represent/construct the gaze of the readers regarding the
individual. The narrative also offers other details about the consumer apart
from his designer clothes: “He buys his groceries in Khan Market, holidays in
Bali, and attends parties in fashionable south Delhi restaurants. He also hangs
out in PVR Saket shopping complex for its pavement bookstalls, beer bars and
clubs” (25). As with the names of the designer brands, these activities of
Sumanta Roy too act as signifiers that construct a lifestyle of Delhi’s
affluent class as well as the city of Delhi that provides these facilities for
this class to engage with. In this construction of the portrait of Sumanta Roy
who “misses his hometown of Kolkata terribly” (25), Soofi also brings
up/constructs/ represents the multicultural facet of the metropolis of Delhi.
Roy stays in Delhi but he rues, “In Kolkata you can party till 7 a.m.; not
possible in Delhi. It also has a rich Anglo-Indian culture and people there
grow up on books and music” (25). The narrative then delves deeper in
constructing the portrait of Sumanta Roy, with his individual traits, for the
readers: “Sumanta inherited his passion for reading from his father, who died
of cardiac arrest four years ago. He often advised his son to have a dictionary
as his best friend. After Sumanta’s father was cremated, he followed the Hindu
ritual of shaving his head, despite his relatives saying that there was no need
to do so” (25).
The
narrative ends with the mention of his father’s coming to terms with Sumanta’s
‘alternative lifestyle’. This mention of ‘alternative lifestyle’ (25) again
constructs a particular ‘gaze’ for the readers: at the individual level it is
Sumanta’s adjustment with his father regarding his ‘alternative lifestyle’ and at
the general level of representation of the city of Delhi where people with
‘alternative lifestyles’ are accommodated unlike many smaller cities where they
are stigmatized. The final sentences of this narration/entry from a quotation of
Sumanta Roy points to this conglomeration of gaze construction at the
individual level and at the level of the city of Delhi: “People dream of my
kind of life. Tell me how many people in Delhi own a Louis Vuitton?” (25).In
Soofi’s narrative, the person Sumanta Roy becomes an example of synecdoche,
where as an individual consumer represents a class of consumers, who in turn
makes up/constructs the multicultural avatar of the city of Delhi.
Butter Chicken (‘food+drink’, the delhi walla)
The
next analysis is on the narrative of ‘Butter Chicken’ (14-15) included in the
‘Mains’ section of ‘food+drink’. Soofi’s narrative introduces this particular
food item as one of the signifiers of the city of Delhi itself: “If Delhiites
are sometimes called fat, aggressive and lascivious, then butter chicken must
share part of the blame” (15).What happens here is interesting because
narrative construction of the food item as well as the city happens
simultaneously. Butter chicken is introduced/constructed as “King of gravies” (14)
and the narrative foregrounds the origin of the dish: “It originated in the
1950s at Moti Mahal restaurant in Daryaganj. Famed for their tandoori chicken,
the cooks recycled the leftover juices in the marinade trays by adding butter and
tomato. Tandoor-cooked chicken pieces were then tossed in this sauce, and
butter chicken was born.” (15). That this dish soon became part of Delhi’s culture
which subsequently got exported elsewhere is part of the narrative design of
constructing the ‘gaze’ of the readers towards a definite cultural symbol of
the city, representing the city nationally and internationally.
“Today,
eating butter chicken in Moti Mahal is like reading Shakespeare’s Hamlet” (15). This particular
construction in the narrative again highlights the confluence of semiotic and
discursive elements as far as ‘gaze’ construction of the readers is concerned.
A classic example of Barthesian ‘myth’, here the name of Hamlet denotes a classic play of Shakespeare, but at the level of
connotation the dish of ‘butter chicken’, because of this comparison, is
elevated to the status of a classic. At the same time, this ‘classical
elevation’ works as a discursive structure. First, Hamlet is a classic, a niche item to be appreciated by connoisseurs
only. Second, comparison of ‘butter chicken’ with Hamlet, apart from making it a ‘classic’, points to the
exclusionary character of discursive structures. The narrative suggests that in
order to savour the real taste of ‘butter chicken’ one has to be as refined and
cultivated as one must be to appreciate Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Moti Mahal’s ‘butter chicken’ might be eaten by all and
sundry but can be appreciated only by the select few.
The
narrative then turns the reader’s gaze to the popularity and spread of the dish
outside Daryaganj, where it originated: “The dish has spread from Daryaganj to
every self-respecting non-vegetarian eatery in Delhi, over to the highway
dhabas of north India” (15). Another beautiful instance of ‘gaze’ construction
is evident in the way the narrative describes the texture of the dish and the
best way to have it: “Best had with tandoori roti or naan, butter chicken is
extremely creamy, with a thick, red tomato gravy. The sauce percolates so
deeply into the chicken pieces that they become juicy and soft, instantly
melting in your mouth” (15). As stated earlier, representation/construction of
the city of Delhi also goes hand in hand with the construction of ‘butter
chicken’ for the ‘gaze’ of the readers: “The dish is so extravagantly buttery,
that to a calorie-conscious diner, it may seem as gross as the showiness of
nouveau riche Delhiites” (15).
The
primary function of narratives is representation. But, representation involves
a manipulation of signs/codes as the narrator ‘constructs’ the narrative for
presentation to his/her readers. This ‘construction’ involves ‘foregrounding’
certain elements at the cost of the others. Herein comes the concept of ‘gaze
construction’ because through this process of ‘foregrounding’ and
‘highlighting’, the narrator regulates the gaze of his readers. The process is
similar to the practices of tourist guides in any place of tourist interest.
Just as the tourist guide points out and ‘constructs’ the tourist place/space
for the tourists through his verbal narrative, the writers of travel books and
guides does the same through written narratives (with pictures accompanying at
times). Mayank Austen Soofi, the author of the tourist guide the delhi walla, indulges in the same
practice of ‘gaze construction’ for his readers. The four books in the series
have the stated aim of introducing the city of Delhi at a micro level for
tourists, as the back cover of the books says: “Since 2007 he [Soofi] has written
a blog called The Delhi Walla, in which he documents the minutiae of the city
he loves.” Thus, this series the delhi
walla serves a dual function: first, of representing the city of Delhi for
its readers: second, of serving as an example of how ‘gaze’ is constructed for
the readers (who are virtual tourists) through the medium of the narrative.
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