Life.It's full of ups and downs.It affects us so much to an extent that we are unable to bear it any further and that moment is the most sorrowful moment of our life called death.Some people suffer so much that its their destiny,their fate to commit suicide.Imagine the amount of depression that the families of the victim face....That's just what I saw when I went to Mumbai this year.I felt as though it was such a privilege for me to even stay in a HDB flat in such a cosmopolitan city,Singapore.
This thought came up to as I travelled along the streets of Mumbai from Bandra towards Mahim. I stopped the car,just to take a look at the world's largest slum,'Dharavi'.The situation was just so horrible that there were not even thatched roof.They had to stay with advertisement boards of jewelry stores that had been removed after its contract date.That day i read the newspapers and a small article wrote that the increasing amount of people residing in slums.The current standing of people living in slums was a extremely high 62%.We were lucky enough to observe the entrance.Upon asking the rent of a house, they replied an amount of meagre $4 a month.This answered the cause of such poor health conditions.How was this possible???Imagine ourselves with narrow,unsanitised living conditions.Upon every sight we could see the worst sights of our lives.I simply felt pitiful for them.I was unable to think of myself in such a situation.I wouldn't even have been provided the chance to study and eat at McDonalds or even wear such expensive clothing.I would have been helpless.Who knew by now,I may have just died of cholera or even dengue.There are so many slums in Mumbai despite it being the commercial city of India.Right behind the Chatrappati Shivaji Domestic Airport in SantaCruz there is a slum.When I landed I saw many blue topped house of different designs.At first, I thought it was a river with boats but slums was the last thing I ever expected it to be...Most of you may loathe or grin at this blog entry but if you go in and experience their trouble you may just come out in the verge of tears feeling sympathetic for those.
The next day,I took a train journey from Andheri to Mahalakshmi to visit the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple.En route,I faced the troubles of every native who took the train daily.It was such a pain for them to travel for a long distance.Unlike Singapore,Mumbai had no air-conditioned trains.The condition was so pathetic that 5-6 people shared a space meant for 3.Even men stood hanging to the plastic railing.Newspaper reports mentions some died doing this.So, with all this happening within our very own world.What are we doing to save our very own people,our own species.Think about it......India is worsening day by day,no proper toilets that all resort to doing their business on the railway track.....
I just want to make it clear that if everyone chips in their part we can truly make the world a better place.If Singapore can be such a well-groomed cosmopolitan city,Why cant India???It's only a matter of lack of awareness.No one bothers.It's god's good grace that the movie Slumdog Millionaire is released at the peak of such happenings....This would at least help us survive in a decent world rather than choosing the mode of suicide....
With a compassionate mind,
Signing off,
Sanjeev Menon
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