WOMEN'S DAY

Of all the good things I see,

is your smile blooming for me.

The wantonness in the looks,

not to be found in the books.

The freshness of the rain at large,

makes me happy, enliven the urge.

Hair along the earlobes dangle,

touch my eyes - naughtily entangle.

Mischief - along your neck I swear,

lucky and gorgeous the gems you wear.

Eyes - like the depth of ocean measured,

Glance - like pearls for eternity treasured.

Prasenjit©1997-2011

Mumbai - Part 2

Contd...P/1

I have visited areas like kalachowki, Parel, Dadar, Lalbagh, Byculla, Thane, Chembur, Juhu, Girgaon chowpatti, Worli and many other places of religious significance like Haji Ali and the Siddhi Vinayak Mandir. I found not so admirable but true faces, grim faces of poverty. I am not financially capable enough to help everyone I meet all the time. But, I did my bit during my short stay in the month of Sept 2010 to Feb 25th 2011. I stayed there for 22/23 days in the first two trips and the last one starting 20th Jan 2011 extended more than a month. People throng the colaba area to see the Gateway of India, The Taj and beyond overlooking the territorial waters of the Indian Dominion. How many of us do look into the mode of existence of hawkers (woman mostly) alongwith their children who sell balloons and other toys/wares to visitors both national and international. I have seen a woman selling colourful balloons and plastic toys to tourists but her own child was wearing a dirty short pant and was bare bodied. The child was playing on the dirty plastic mat which is used to place her wares on display. The tourists like to see the setting sun from the "The Gateway of India", but how many of us do watch the sun set on the lives of many such helpless women everyday? Probably none.

After six decades of Independence our country has only added to the populace below the poverty level. Their broken down shanty and dark settlements along the outskirts of Mumbai shorelines are worth seeing and needs attention. It can not be said that they live, it is just that they are surviving one day after another. They wake up with the expectation that the "today" will be better than the "yesterday". But in reality it does never happen. They keep on the struggle for existence and betterment. They do not know when they will live atleast like proper human beings. Many NGOs exist in and around Mumbai but they have done little or less to benefit and uplift them. The ratio of persons in need to the ratio of helping hand is meagre. The proportion is going out of hand and the helping part is always infinitely small. In a fast rolling life as in this megapolis, 24 hours a day seems a much lesser time for this good work. Here people have no time to stand and stare. Mumbai is also home to lakhs and lakhs of labourers who come from villages from all corners of India in search of employment and better living. But they mostly find it hard to keep body and soul together. Land is costlier than gold and it originated as the land of fishermen and their settlements. It metamorphosed into the megapolitan of skyscrapers.

The metro has grown in height but not at heart. The people kiving here are after money to such an extent that they keep the city alive and kicking all the time. The city never sleeps. Sadly speaking, the one who never sleeps is not properly awake too. A true fact and tragic one ofcourse with the mass of this megapolis. They live to exist but never exist to live. Life is all about amassing wealth for one person and keeping body and soul together for another. Hope lives on and so does the people in the shanty shelters. Monsoon wrecks havoc for these people. I have seen them remaining drenched for hours without no other clothing to change. They have accepted this way of life. It is not saddening that they are poor but that they will never know what it is to be like a human; What it is to lead a normal human life and how it should be. Even a sunny day does not brighten their life, neither does darkness push them into oblivion. I recollect the lines of truth sung by vocal maestro Late Mohd. Rafi jee,

"Aae dil hain mushkil jeena yahan,
jara hatke jara bachhke,
yeh hain bombay meri jaan..."

Prasenjit©1997-2011

Mumbai - Part 1

Mumbai - The city of aspirations, the city of dreams where people aspire to be in limelight. They want to make it big in life. Some do while others find themselves shattered and finished. The city is awake 24x7. I have walked through the streets of Mumbai from 17th Sept 2010 innumerous times at different times of the day. I have found a colossal gap in the style of survival and existence. People live in shelters made of plastic sheets or plastic stitched together which once was part of a polypack sort of material. They eat stale and unhygienic food and somehow live on defying the medical/ethical standards of survival. A single enclosure measuring 8 feet by 8 feet packing box is their home - no ventilation at all. Their children are born, grow up and end up forever in the streets. 

They look up towards the towering structures and skyscrapers bordering their slums, imagining and yet not knowing what glimmer and comfort lies in those magnificent towers. Their toddlers fully or partially nude most of the time play with dirt on dusty roads. On the contrary, we have gigantic glittering malls where we show off our purchasing power and style statement. We spend thousands of bucks just for fun but find it hard to spend on those "living creatures" who atleast deserve to exist like humans. Trees on the foot-walk make a cool resting place for weary travellers and roadside dwellers. Life takes a stern look on them during the rainy season in mumbai for about four months in total. Their torn clothes and dismal looks during the monsoon is heart rending for any human. Yet, they live on with the expectation that tomorrow will be better than the present - an example of optimism in such a dismal state.

One other representation of Mumbai is its slums. Though slums are dwindling day by day with towers coming in its place, yet dharavi boasts of being the biggest slum in entire Asia. A fact we cannot shy away from. The foot-walk goers never ever care to take a look at their plight nor do people living in glass towers. The gap here is not one of economy alone but that of morality as well. Big cities and metros in its rush to survive and urge to thrive push aside this humane touch. They are a vote bank for the "political game" in our society. Their needs/wants are harnessed in improper directions in doing malicious activities which ultimately harm the society like a boomerang out of control. The society is a fabric which can remain intact only if all its ups and downs are properly taken care off. The children from the streets mostly take to crime or unlawful activities. Their daughters right from early teens are pushed towards the flesh trade or sold off to western countries to childless parents at exorbitant prices or even child-trafficking in the Middle-east countries.

Contd...Part/2

Prasenjit©1997-2011