SLUM
DEVELOPMENT[1]
-Adv.A.C.PHILIP
“I
don’t feel to travel this way. What a dirty slum is this!” The feeling of hate
was visible on the face of Preethi.
“Yea,- why don’t they live in some more civilized
manner?” Anoop also joined her along the whistling sound of the suburban train.
“Government shall bull douse all these” Devika
also supported.
“Howzzat possible? They only want votes. Within
the vote-bank politics where is time for development?”
New and fresh sounds were joining the discussion,
even though they all knew that this is only a part of useless time pass.
“My daughter – did you vote this time?” a simple
old face asked to Preethi.
“No”
“What happened?”
“Getting a holiday, I went for a movie.”
“Among those sitting here how many have voted
this time?” Old man’s voice was becoming
some more strong and bold.
Only one middle aged lady raised her hand.
“We all are the reasons for these slums” The old
man proclaimed while fixing his spectacles with the left hand and struggling to
balance himself with the right hand on the moving train.
The annoyance was visible on the faces of all
those were sitting there. Somebody looked outside with frustration. After a
minute’s silence Anoop came up with a counter question: “ For that none of us
are residing onthis slum?”
“None of them have ever been brought here by us
also!”
“We all are living in a very decent way”
The justifications started pouring in.
“As we all are living under the so called veil of
decency does this slum exist here? That force them to live under this utter
penury.” The old man continued.
“Howzat?”
“You are wearing a nice sari?”
“What is the relation of this with this slum? I
purchased it with my money.”
“Who washed and pressed it?”
“One laundry.”
“How much did you pay him?”
“Ten
Rupees.”
“tomorrow onwards you shall give him hundred
rupees and tell all your neighbours also to do the same.”
“For what?”
“With that money he will purchase a flat and move
out of the place where he live now in the slum.”
“I cant give that much.”
“If that’s
not possible you shall do it for yourself.”
“I couldn’t get you.”
“You don’t have the capacity to maintain your own
so called decency and it’s manifestations.
But is not ready to pay those who support you to maintain the same and
uplift their lifestyles also. The slums
are built upon those two contradictions.”
The old man continued while moving his fingers on the grey beard.
“Will the slums will be eradicated by uplifting
one washer man?” Devaki also started thinking now loudly.
“It won’t be, even if we uplift all the slum
dwellers with posh flats and plum accommodations. As long as the aforesaid
contradictions exist in our lifestyles and attitudes, a new one will emerge. No
Governments, however mighty or dedicated it be, can eradicate the slums from
our sub-urbs,until unless our mind set is changed.”
“You only push, some weak among you to newly
created slums for serving you! May be
your friend, neighbour or even brother or sisters! That is the social order
built up by you and me and supported by institutions, banks, and Governments.
If at all that is also stopped the migrations from rural to the urban slums
will be encouraged and protected. Then how can those slums disappear?”
“Where did you have today’s lunch?”
“I had a packed one from home.”
“By the time you reach back to home all those
plates and utensils will be cleaned, won’t be?
“Yea, by the servant”
“Have you ever enquired from where is she coming,
where does she goes, how does she live or where does she take rest?”
“Just know that she is from the nearby slum.”
“Either you shall send her back and start doing
all the domestic work of yourself. Otherwise give her decent salary so that she
can live at the same living standard with you.”
“How come a servant lives at the same standards
of me, that also being paid by me?”
“That means the life standard which you have
designated for her is that of a slum dweller only.Then why do you blame the
Government for slums?”
“If I start doing all the domestic works of
myself, she will lose the job and that will be a cruelty to her.”
“Not at all.
Trying to keep her like that and inviting others also to join the same
life is the cruelty. If she loses the job here she will go back and settle at
the village and live with decency. None of the villagers do have a slum. It is
the by-product of our urban life. The village people know to do their works
without the help of outsiders.“
“I had my lunch from a hotel.” A teasing tone was
imbibed in the voice of Anoop.
“Who mopped the floor there? Who washed the
plates there? Who cleaned the tables for you? Who all worked on the meat and
fish you ate before it reached to the cook? Have anybody ever checked?”
“All these are staying at the public places.”
Dinesh quipped. “Within a night all these shall be destructed by putting on
fire and evacuate them.” The words were becoming furious with the fire of
development desires.
“The tea shop from where you had tea today, the
vegetable shop, cloth shop and why not, the dwelling houses of many of the so
called decent people are not within the development plan. All such constructions are hence illegal. But
with the might of power and the created loopholes of law all of us protect our
interest over there. Then demands to
kick out the poor who used a square for their dwelling. This can’t be called as
development but as exploitation.”
“They are all doing illegal works.”
“Madam, Where from did you purchase those
mangoes?”
“That’s from the footpath, while coming from the
office.” She said casually.
“Why not from the shop?”
“It must be costly there. It is a matter of
convenience.”
“Then you are only promoting the illegal sales at
the footpath?”
“That’s when everybody doing the same….”
“Like that, everybody together only brought out
the matters to this end. The ultimate
beneficiaries of all the illegal works done by the slum dwellers are the so
called decent people of urban life. Let
it be prostitution, smuggling, gundaism, drug abuse or kidnapping and killing.
When you doth e illegality, it is your convenience or adjustments with life and
when the poor does, it is criminal activity.”
“None of them know how to save money and that’s
the problem. Whatever they get is
squandered by consuming alcohol overnight.”
“Do you mean that the decent people do not
consume alcohol? They are put to the
lowest ebb of the social hierarchy and they find the happiness in spending
their life in that way. If life has no much promise to make, any human is
likely to become like that until unless he is a saint or having strong will
power.”
“If any foreigner comes here what a shame is this
slum for us? I have seen the photos of their beautiful cities. Here this dirty
smelling slums.” The contest was continuing.
“We call our thoughts developed, which do not
give the value to the lives of our commons equivalent even to the opinions of
the whites!!! Still every year we celebrate the Independence Day with fanfare.
Even though the nation got independence our minds are yet to come out of that
slavery to the white. This opinion is
the proof of that. That photo doesn’t have the smell of that city, neither has
the depth of background truths. They have built it up and maintain it by
exploiting how many nations is not written on that photo. That’s not the purpose for which we attained
freedom from bondage. We shall be careful not to yield to the same yoke of
bondage again with our slavery mind set.
Do you know, how much they pay for their laundry service? They are paid
better than our first class jobs here! Betraying the life of our own people for
the sake of white man’s one opinion in not at all a decoration for a living
Indian having any pride left with.”
“These all are vote bank politics.”
“It is true that they cast their votes. In the
nation building they know what their contribution is. And they commit it by
building it physically and emotionally. But those who criticize them do not
commit that and not even bothered to know what is their contribution. The main
reason why democracy is still vibrant in India is because of the contributions
by these commons. Even when these decent people are given the paid leave by the
government and the institutions, they are reluctant to cast their votes. They take that payment and enjoy their life
in the air-conditioned leisure of their homes. Or else enjoy in the public
places meant for them. Still reduce the
payment to the servant for being one hour late due to casting her vote!!! Because of being holiday declared there is no
requirement of pressing the dress, but still got the payment for the day. Will
he give the money to the laundry? Is he
also not entitled for a day’s paid holiday for casting his vote? The millions who sustains on the daily wages
leave their daily wage for casting their vote, walks miles to the booth in the
hot sun, tired worn out, exhausted and drained out. The so called decent people
after getting the paid leave consume by sitting in their homely comforts.
“Do you mean that there is no requirement of
development here?”
“I didn’t mean that at all. What I mean is that there shall not be
exploitation in the name of so called development. In your view the development means the
sustenance of your comforts and enhancements of its amenities. But for the
millions the development means their own sustenance and liberation from their
daily hunger. The development shall not
be executed by kicking them out, but by taking them ahead along with others.
That’s what I meant.”
Train was entering on to the next platform. The
old man slowly moved out. Somebody remarked from behind: “How the development
can go forward when such types of useless aged men are alive?”
Still the old man was chanting: “Development is
not the lavishness of squanderers; but the livelihood of commons.”
Who cares!!!!!!!!!!!??
[1]An outcome of many conversations
overheard over a period of time during my journeys across the length and
breadth of the nation.
