LIVING ON OUR TRANSIT CAMPS








A young and qualified friend of mine has been the Secretary of his housing society for over a decade. He is one of the most sensible, practical and intelligent persons I have met in my life. Theirs is a very old – nearly fifty-year old – society, which is now in a dilapidated condition. BMC has warned them either to go for major repairs immediately, or to go for redevelopment. The members, who had originally bought the flats in this society, are either dead-and-gone or are alive in a dilapidated state of health themselves. My friend along with the Managing Committees of his society and the vast majority of the members want a redevelopment of the buildings. The frantic efforts have been going on for over a decade… Countless meetings, endless discussion, the best persuasion, trust and distrust, hope and despair… the greed, the groupism, the conspiracies… They had almost succeeded in their efforts, with nine out of ten things done regarding redevelopment… 

But, alas, the human greed!


It’s stuck there, where it was!


Some days ago, when my friend met me after one of their Committee meetings, he looked very disappointed. “I am making my best efforts,” my friend said, “I repeatedly tell them, that while we all are here on this land with these ‘temporary transit camps’, this land is the only permanent thing. I remind them, that whatever benefit we wish to derive from this ‘temporary stay’ on this land, we should derive when we all are hale and healthy… If we succumb to our greed, we won’t be there on this land.”


They say, in a city like Mumbai, the success rate of redevelopment of old-and-dilapidated buildings is hardly five percent. This explains how flawed our perceptions are… We still think, we ‘own’ this land… and, we are here to live on it, forever!



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic. Chetna Shetty

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MUTHU KODI KAWARI HADA

Image
Pic.; Ashwin Mohta M y Hindi was always bad. It still is. One reason for this was, that they introduced Hindi for us only in 6 th standard. Or, was it in 8 th ? I don’t remember… I only remember struggling to write and read… leave alone speak! But, I loved Hindi movies, and, strangely, I could understand the dialogues and the lyrics of the songs… I used to sing those songs (of course when no one was around me!) as if I was the lyricist… One of the songs was a very funny one. ‘Muthu Kodi Kawari Hada’. It was from Mehmood’s super-hit comedy – ‘Do Phool’. I was a 15-year-old high-school boy when I had heard that song (not watched the movie). I could grasp the meaning of two words – ‘Muthu Kodi’… which meant ‘Give kiss’… But, what ‘Kawari Hada’ meant, I have no clue till date! It was just like ‘Why this kolaveri di’... Yes, why ask? Simply enjoy the beats… And, the beats are great… The rest... Who cares? Really! So, whatever bit of Hi...
Read more

SELLING MIRRORS IN THE CITY OF THE BLIND

Image
“I laugh when I hear that the fish in the water is thirsty. I laugh when I hear that people go on pilgrimage to find God.” - Kabir T here is a universal human weakness – and it dates back to the days of fallen civilizations – and it is: to place people on pedestal and trying to be smothered by them, feel loved and protected in their company… worship them as mentors, heroes,  gurus, Mahagurus and Satgurus… Make these mortals larger-than-life cut-outs, worship them as flawless, pure and give one’s all… And, then, ‘take’ everything from them blindly as divine… Give everything to them blindly… Eventually, what happens is:  one more dangerous bondage… What was supposed to free you now becomes a new prison… It’s sad to see this happen! T his room, where I am writing this Post, has no image of any deity. I have no image of any Guru or Master around me… My question is: “Am I not able to feel close to Almighty God?  How ...
Read more

"HAPPILY EVER AFTER IS NOT A FAIRY-TALE... IT IS A CHOICE"

Image
“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone… It has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.” – Ursula K. Le Guin,  The Lathe of Heaven T welve years ago, when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie got married, the world began to hail the couple as ‘Brangelina’. It became a fashion for couples around us to call themselves so… Norbert and Teresa renamed them as ‘Noresa’…  Amol and Vishaka baptized their relationship as ‘Amoshka’… and, Salman and Nargis became ‘Salgis’! I and my wife, too, got tempted to re-christian our matrimonial relationship as ‘Germa’... That is, Gerald and Anima, to be precise! B efore I proceed any further, let me make it very clear, here… that, I have no business to judge on the break-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina’ Jolie’s marriage. I have no inclination to go into why, how, what when etc behind it… The couple ‘chose’ to split. And, it’s their choice… Only they know how good or bad… how joyful or pain...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...