Pavement Dwellers In Mumbai

At the end of my lane in Bandra, a large family lives on the footpath. It’s a joint family that includes couples, senior members, children and even a dog. They also have a large mosquito net that is spread at night to protect the young ones from mosquito bite from the gutters below them. During the day, the clothes are washed (don’t know that from where they get water to wash the clothes and themselves) but the clothes are dried across cloth-line that connects lamppost and a tree. Some evenings, food is cooked in large vessels on open fire burning wood and twigs. There is no shelter though. They have been living like this since last few years but nobody is able to vacate them…not even police..

But if some drunk driver bangs into them, they will make sure that he is beaten to death. Whenever there are accidents, big group of people gather and try to take the law into their own hands. That is the reason why there are more hit-and-run cases. I am not sympathizing with drunk drivers but I think footpath dwellers should not be allowed and Police should take full responsibility of ousting them off streets…but some of the policemen are so corrupt that they will take bribes from street dwellers/hawkers to turn their attention elsewhere…Sometimes the action is taken when one complains, and they (footpath dwellers) disappear but after few days they are back.

The plight of pavement dwellers has highlighted after twelve years now that Mr. Salman Khan has been punished with prison term for 5years for drunk driving and driving over the sleeping people killing one and injuring four. During the last twelve years, the pavement dwellers have increased ten fold with police and BMC collecting their bribes for turning a blind eye. Citizens complain of dirt, disease, hooligans, drug peddling and discomfort but they are powerless.

People have no idea as to how they can help keep the city clean. There are many NGOs in Mumbai who have taken up the task of educating their children and teaching them some skills. They even provide them food and stationary but they cannot give them shelter nor are they able to relocate them.

But why should NGOs take the full responsibility? Government should be responsible for relocating them. I am sure they are paid well. The BMC is the richest civic body in India with annual budget of over Rs40000crores, most of which never spent but stored away in huge fixed deposits. When are they going to use those fixed deposits?

There is enough money to relocate the pavement dwellers to proper shelters. System has to be improved. It is often observed that when people are provided shelter, they rent out their house and are back on streets. There should be some law to prevent such thing from happening. Every ward has their responsibility therefore a cooperator should be aware of every citizen in his area and he should be held accountable for all the activities in his area.

Also the school and the colleges in the area should be given the responsibility of checking that the environment in their area is kept clean. Students can be held responsible for checking that street bins are kept clean, lamp posts have proper lighting, supervise the person in charge of cleanliness, check that footpaths are in good condition with no broken tiles, manholes are properly covered and they should plant and adopt more trees. There should be a civic project in their syllabus that gives them a brownie point for the social responsibility carried out effectively.

One person cannot bring the change. Unity can. Quality of life is our birthright but we have to put in effort too. A sense of responsibility has to be inculcated from early childhood. We can live comfortably in a clean society. Everybody can.

Slumber Party

I have never ever attended a slumber party in my life, although I have spent many sleepless nights during holiday with friends. It sounded exciting when my friends invited me to meet for a night at friend’s home.

Furniture is moved away from the living room, mattresses and cushions randomly placed across the room. The wall is decorated with fun on the mind, (Hungama scrolled in crazy manner).

The preparations were done,(excitement and planning began fifteen days prior to the event) although the girls (actually women) were to meet only after having their heavy dinner of roasted and spiced finger foods followed by proper dinner at Sasural restaurant.

But still, the home kitchen had to be stocked with late night snacks. There were biscuits, banana wafers, chocolates, sweets and unlimited supply of cold water. The women refused to eat, saying, they were full but still tasted tit bits from every packet that was passed around till they slowly stretched their legs, then their body and soon went under blanket when their eyes began to droop.

Group pictures are must- it is mainly for those who could not make it to the party.(100% attendance would be 50 close friends, many could not attend due to unavoidable circumstances)

At Sasural, women were anxious to finish dinner and go home. The dining table at the restaurant was too long, service was slow, and conversation was not easy, so while the food arrived, there was some time for photo sessions

The ladies were fashionably dressed for the party and all looked gorgeous.

The fun began as soon as the women slipped into their nightdress, saris folded and tucked away neatly into their bags, Some with bad knee quickly rushed to sit on comfortable sofas while other sat on cushions or cross legged on the floor, some rested on their elbows with hands on their chin while others leant lazily against the wall.

The show begins…..

It is Oscar award night, most of us have dreamt of Oscar awards or simple recognition in some field, after all we are the bunch of talented people who are often recognized on Watsapp for our witty messages throughout the day. True friends know our worth and we were to celebrate the grand event in our nightdress (oh, I wish we all could have worn our flowing night gowns instead of pyjamas)

Anyway..Jahnavi, Lata and Nalini entered the stage (on the mattress facing the audience) Nalini held the red Oscar ribbons and envelops, Lata swinging gracefully around her hips, with a smile and blinking eyelids, walked towards Jahnavi who most animatedly welcomed everybody in the room. She was really fabulous with her role as the compere, her voice loud and clear. Since they were meeting Bindu after many years, she was invited as chief guest to do the honor of giving away the prize of recognition.

Awards of different categories were called out one by one, each one for their distinct talent. The names were revealed after opening the envelopes and the recipient honored with the red ribbon with heart shape medal around their neck. They were encouraged to speak few words. The winners expressed their appreciation with raised eyebrows, some overwhelmed by the honor, burst into tears, wiping their eyes and nose with the hem of their dress and some too excited to say anything at all.

And the awards went to:

Vijaya got the HASI TO FASI Award for laughing and giggling all the time.

Lucy got the FAST AND FURIOUS Award.

Dilu got award for BANDIT QUEEN

Sandra for JUNGLE BEAUTY

SANGEETA for STYLE DIVA

Lata got an award for being NAUGHTY AT SIXTY.

Shipra got the IRON LADY Award

Madhu, Bindu and Annie(in absentia, she attended only the dinner)  got the award of THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Jahnavi got the CHETAN BHAGAT Award for her writing skills.

Sharbari got a STRAWBERRY PUDDING Award

Sita and Nalini got SADHU AUR SHAITAN Award.

Pushee got DANDAWALI BAWARCHI award

Many of them had ribbon round their neck, throughout the night (and I am told that some of them even took the medals home to decorate their living room shelf.)

The eatables and drinks made their rounds while we prepared for the next game of tambola.

We had many more games planned for the night, like playing antakshri and some naughty group games, but heavy dinner at Sasural and then additional snacks at home played tricks over the eyelids…with droopy eyes, some of them chose to stretch, just lie down for a while..

The voices became blurry, and suddenly lights went off with just few of us who sat alert on the couch in darkness....whispering away our anecdotes till the daylight began to sweep inside the room.

After the hot cup of tea, we, like zombies, headed home to catch up on sleep that we had lost during the night…….

Special Children's 3-days Camp to Wagoli in Pune

Last week I made a trip to Pune. My family owns a residential home for senior citizens at Wagoli, (near Jain College at Bakodi Phata) and there are many rooms still vacant, so this was a good opportunity to take the special children of Swami Brahmanand Prathisthan for a camp for three days. I went two days prior to their visit to make the arrangements.

35 children and 15 staff enrolled for this camp. I called up my cousins, who was very happy to help. They helped me arrange for a cook and helpers that would be required on hand, since it was not possible for us to take from Mumbai. Seven large rooms were prepared for their accommodations.

The main purpose was to make children's visit as comfortable as possible. “Give them the food that they don’t eat on regular basis.” Said my cousin excitedly. We spent many hours discussing menu and shopping for the things we would require. We tried different flavors of ice-creams. A dish with cottage cheese and chinese too was planned. The menu was planned, different meals each time that included snacks, vegetarian meals, ice creams, fruits and also desserts like Gulab Jamun( that my cousin popped into his mouth, (secretly) more than it was allowed  by his doctors)

The children just loved the food and came personally to my cousin to thank him for the delicious meals. 

There was much activity in the kitchen during those three days, many volunteered during preparation of food and making snack packets for outdoor trips. The gifts kept arriving as the news spread. I had to stop many people from distributing food items (cause there is limit to eating and couldn't risk stomach upset)

Children enjoyed their road trip from Mumbai to Pune, singing and dancing in the bus and yet when they arrived in Wagoli, they didn’t look tired. That same day they spend their evening at Chowki Dhani - a Rajasthani theme park that has various activities to keep people occupied such as pottery, drama, music, singing, dancing. There were different kinds of street food at regular interval and also proper Rajasthani food for dinner.

Children were most eager to take part in all activities

and prouldly posed with their tattooed arms

The staff enjoyed too, for camel rides and many other rides.

The next two days were spent visiting different temples. They visited all the gods during those two days, seeking blessing in every form.  It turned out to be spiritual camp. Because besides visiting different temples, they were also singing and dancing on spiritual hymns. 

They loved the temple activities and came back with beautiful designs done by the priest on their foreheads.

And of course..a group photo is a must

Next day evening was spent going to Sadhu Vaswani mission and then attending a bhajan session by group of visually handicapped children.

They played outdoor games in the ashram compound whenever they were free, they took part in the organized games during late evenings after dinner. I was amazed by their energy level.

The children showed great discipline and took part in all the activities. People who met them, showered much love on them and commented that they were well behaved, much more than normal children, cause none of them were shouting or quarrelling amongst each other. It was remarkable that each child help the weaker one and everybody was alert all times of the day…..

It was the most enjoyable camp.