How dreams stay alive
Sulagna Sengupta
KOLKATA, Feb. 22: Noorjahan Bibi (whose photograph appeared in The Statesman's edition dated 22 February, along with her younger son and daughter), a resident of Diamond Harbour, has been forced to live on the streets as she cannot afford to pay rent.
The 30-year-old woman had initially lived underneath Bijon Setu with her parents, but then moved to Moulali, 20 years back, where she got married to Sheikh Abdul Malik, a daily wage labourer. The couple have three kids, two sons, Noor Alam (11) and Noor Ali (15) and a daughter, Ruksana Khatun (4). (The names of the younger son and daughter were inadvertently mentioned as Deep and Anita in these columns yesterday.)
While Ali studies in class VIII, Alam is a class VI student of a nearby school (she was not confident about the name of the school). Ruksana studies in the nursery section of the same school, she said.
But how can the couple afford tuition fees for three children? “I work as a domestic help in three local houses. I earn Rs 1,400 per month, while my husband earns Rs 50 daily. Somehow we manage to make ends meet. But, I won't send out my kids to earn for the family. Our only dream is to raise our children so that they can establish themselves in society and look after us when we grow old,” said Noorjahan.
But it is not easy.
As they live on the footpath, police and local goons constantly hound them and they always live under a shadow of fear. Police often threaten to pick up the family and dump them elsewhere if they refuse to move.
Moreover, neither she nor her husband has any
kind of documentary
/////////////////////CBTARS FROM GNGTK
/////////////////////IND IN VK HV 8% JBLSS RATE CF 8% IN WHT
////////////////////Even in the case of individuals, there is no possibility to feel happiness
through anger. If in a difficult situation one becomes disturbed internally,
overwhelmed by mental discomfort, then external things will not help at all.
However, if despite external difficulties or problems, internally one's
attitude is of love, warmth, and kindheartedness, then problems can be faced
and accepted. (HH the Dalai Lama)
//////////////////According to Advayavada Buddhism it is through insight into the
non-substantiality of all phenomena that the oneness of existence is
revealed.
///////////////////
Dharavi is all about such resourcefulness. Over 60 years ago, it started off as a small village in the marshlands and grew, with no government support, to become a million-dollar economic miracle providing food to Mumbai and exporting crafts and manufactured goods to places as far away as Sweden.
No master plan, urban design, zoning ordinance, construction law or expert knowledge can claim any stake in the prosperity of Dharavi. It was built entirely by successive waves of immigrants fleeing rural poverty, political oppression and natural disasters. They have created a place that is far from perfect but has proved to be amazingly resilient and able to upgrade itself. In the words of Bhau Korde, a social worker who lives there, “Dharavi is an economic success story that the world must pay attention to during these times of global depression.”
//////////////////////In the movie, when the protagonists return to their childhood haunts, they find that multistoried apartments have replaced the old decrepit structures, giving the impression of urban mobility and transformation. What the camera doesn’t reveal are the enormous shantytowns hidden behind those glistening towers, waiting to be redeveloped all over again.
In many ways, Dharavi is the ultimate user-generated city. Each of its 80-plus neighborhoods has been incrementally developed by generations of residents updating their shelters and businesses according to needs and means. As Ramesh Misra, a lawyer and lifelong resident, puts it: “We have always improved Dharavi by ourselves. All we want is permission and support to keep doing it. Is that asking for too much?”
Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava are affiliated with the research collective Partners for Urban Knowledge Action and Research.
//////////////////Forgiveness is the economy of the heart.…forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits."
– Hannah More
//////////////////
No comments:
Post a Comment