Struggle for Survival
A traffic signal in New Delhi
The car in which I was travelling with my family braked and stopped as the signal turned red just as we were about to cross. We looked askance at the signal and resigned ourselves to some more minutes of impatient waiting. Suddenly, as we sat looking at nothing in particular, a pair of small hands appeared at the windscreen and began wiping it with a piece of cloth. After finishing, the owner of the small hands - a boy about ten years old - gave a shy smile and without a word extended his right palm forward. We placed a couple of coins in his outstretched hand and he moved on to another car. As the signal changed he quickly ran and crossed over just as the sea of traffic surged forward.
The car in which I was travelling with my family braked and stopped as the signal turned red just as we were about to cross. We looked askance at the signal and resigned ourselves to some more minutes of impatient waiting. Suddenly, as we sat looking at nothing in particular, a pair of small hands appeared at the windscreen and began wiping it with a piece of cloth. After finishing, the owner of the small hands - a boy about ten years old - gave a shy smile and without a word extended his right palm forward. We placed a couple of coins in his outstretched hand and he moved on to another car. As the signal changed he quickly ran and crossed over just as the sea of traffic surged forward.
A residential locality in Dubai
The past three days have been rather windy, and the dust quotient of the perennially dusty Dubai gets a few notches higher during the high winds. There’s sand everywhere - on the balcony and windowsills, blowing about in patterns on the roads, driving in sheets to envelope pedestrians and riders alike, and lying with wild abandon on the tops of parked vehicles. In the latter case, dust lying plastered to the top of parked cars presents a sorry sight. Apart from rendering their bright and shiny exteriors rather dull and shabby, it also points to the unfortunate neglect that they have been subjected to by their owners. Indeed, to wash and clean one’s car on a daily basis speaks volumes about one’s attachment to the automobile as well as to a nature opposite to that of lazy. For those disinclined towards this daily chore, a car washer is a necessity. In fact, the day that car washer is late or absent from work, means a less than sunny start to the morning for the car owner in question.
Overlooking the main road and parking lots beside it, there's lots to be seen from the windows of our two-bedroom apartment. Most sightings revolve around vehicles of various shapes and sizes with varying degrees of dustiness and thereby (un)revealed colors and hues and the people moving in and out of them and around them. Also, to be seen are the various car washers who contribute to the brightness of the vehicle in question by removing the dust cover from over it, mostly during the early morning hours and often into the late hours till midnight.
These car washers are mostly people who work a full time job and then moonlight afterwards to earn some extra income by doing odd jobs like washing cars, delivering supermarket goods, taking food deliveries from eateries to their customers and so on. In addition to a full days's work, they toil during the night too only to try and increase their earnings and thereby, send a little extra to their families back home. Hailing from small villages and towns and without much of an education to help them with a higher-paid job, they are faced with little choice when it comes to surviving in a land far away from home.
The situation is similar in the cities in India. Deprived of basic sustenance opportunities, whether due to unemployment, natural disasters like floods, famines, droughts or plain apathy of the governing authorities, people from villages and small towns are forced to migrate to the larger towns and cities in search of livelihood opportunities. And unfortunately, most fare much worse for the shift. What they had imagined proves to be very different than the stark reality that meets them of a daily and unrelenting struggle for survival. Stuck in alien surroundings with no money left to back home, they discover that work is hard to come by and that they were probably better off in their villages. Without enough food, clothing or shelter, these unfortunates can be seen in clusters near railway tracks and beside roadways, eking out a living by selling flowers, toys, trinkets, books and publications inside buses, trains and at traffic signals. A few of the worst hit get caught in the vice-like grip of beggary and further degradation.
The struggle for survival it seems is a never-ending one, especially for those at the lowest rung the of economy. While NGOs and few non-profit organizations try to alleviate some of the misery, their numbers make up for a woefully small percentage. What of the elected representatives of the people? When there are millions who can be fed, clothed, given shelter and right to clean drinking water and basic education, how is it that government granaries are storing rotting grains, the political top brass is always trying to increase an already fat paycheck, go on expensive foreign trips and misuse government transport and accommodation at the cost of millions to the exchequer? Who else can help? We - the people. There are innumerable ways in which we, the common man, the citizens, can do our small bit to make the situation a tad better. Charity, philanthropy, social work, volunteer work, donations of food, unneeded clothes, toys and other articles that we would otherwise tend to store for 'never-to-come' occasions - these are some small ways in which we can make a difference to improve the lives of those who we see around us on a daily basis. There are organizations which can help you help those in need. The ability to change a person's life - even a tiny part of their existence - for the better would come only if we think about it, feel the need for it and act upon those thoughts with single-mindedness. However small, a change that will make someone's life a little better - give some respite from the harsh struggle for survival - is definitely worth spending our time and effort upon!
The past three days have been rather windy, and the dust quotient of the perennially dusty Dubai gets a few notches higher during the high winds. There’s sand everywhere - on the balcony and windowsills, blowing about in patterns on the roads, driving in sheets to envelope pedestrians and riders alike, and lying with wild abandon on the tops of parked vehicles. In the latter case, dust lying plastered to the top of parked cars presents a sorry sight. Apart from rendering their bright and shiny exteriors rather dull and shabby, it also points to the unfortunate neglect that they have been subjected to by their owners. Indeed, to wash and clean one’s car on a daily basis speaks volumes about one’s attachment to the automobile as well as to a nature opposite to that of lazy. For those disinclined towards this daily chore, a car washer is a necessity. In fact, the day that car washer is late or absent from work, means a less than sunny start to the morning for the car owner in question.
Overlooking the main road and parking lots beside it, there's lots to be seen from the windows of our two-bedroom apartment. Most sightings revolve around vehicles of various shapes and sizes with varying degrees of dustiness and thereby (un)revealed colors and hues and the people moving in and out of them and around them. Also, to be seen are the various car washers who contribute to the brightness of the vehicle in question by removing the dust cover from over it, mostly during the early morning hours and often into the late hours till midnight.
These car washers are mostly people who work a full time job and then moonlight afterwards to earn some extra income by doing odd jobs like washing cars, delivering supermarket goods, taking food deliveries from eateries to their customers and so on. In addition to a full days's work, they toil during the night too only to try and increase their earnings and thereby, send a little extra to their families back home. Hailing from small villages and towns and without much of an education to help them with a higher-paid job, they are faced with little choice when it comes to surviving in a land far away from home.
The situation is similar in the cities in India. Deprived of basic sustenance opportunities, whether due to unemployment, natural disasters like floods, famines, droughts or plain apathy of the governing authorities, people from villages and small towns are forced to migrate to the larger towns and cities in search of livelihood opportunities. And unfortunately, most fare much worse for the shift. What they had imagined proves to be very different than the stark reality that meets them of a daily and unrelenting struggle for survival. Stuck in alien surroundings with no money left to back home, they discover that work is hard to come by and that they were probably better off in their villages. Without enough food, clothing or shelter, these unfortunates can be seen in clusters near railway tracks and beside roadways, eking out a living by selling flowers, toys, trinkets, books and publications inside buses, trains and at traffic signals. A few of the worst hit get caught in the vice-like grip of beggary and further degradation.
The struggle for survival it seems is a never-ending one, especially for those at the lowest rung the of economy. While NGOs and few non-profit organizations try to alleviate some of the misery, their numbers make up for a woefully small percentage. What of the elected representatives of the people? When there are millions who can be fed, clothed, given shelter and right to clean drinking water and basic education, how is it that government granaries are storing rotting grains, the political top brass is always trying to increase an already fat paycheck, go on expensive foreign trips and misuse government transport and accommodation at the cost of millions to the exchequer? Who else can help? We - the people. There are innumerable ways in which we, the common man, the citizens, can do our small bit to make the situation a tad better. Charity, philanthropy, social work, volunteer work, donations of food, unneeded clothes, toys and other articles that we would otherwise tend to store for 'never-to-come' occasions - these are some small ways in which we can make a difference to improve the lives of those who we see around us on a daily basis. There are organizations which can help you help those in need. The ability to change a person's life - even a tiny part of their existence - for the better would come only if we think about it, feel the need for it and act upon those thoughts with single-mindedness. However small, a change that will make someone's life a little better - give some respite from the harsh struggle for survival - is definitely worth spending our time and effort upon!
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