Walk and Talk... and explore as well, What an !dea...:-)

Thought of posting something, right after the creation of my Sociology Space dot com.

On Sunday evening (22nd Jan) last week, my friend Deepak Kumar and myself planned to take a evening walk. We walked through the tiny path amongst the bushes behind the boys' hostel and reached metalled road, which connects Hosa Road Junction to Electronic City Phase II. the road is double lane, but very few vehicles love to walk this way. Before reaching the metalled road, we gazed on White Cranes and the lovely bio-diversity. We talked as if we are some environmentalist investigating a bio-diversity (still I feel, I have some innate environmentalsit in me). Reaching the road, we took left and again right...there is another large lake. We went nearby and started investigation and this time we demonstrated some real skillls. Here I jot down some interaction between us:

Deepak: Perhaps, the sewage is drained in this lake.

Me: Hmm, I feel sewage isn't here. the water looks quite cleaner.

(I checked the water using some plant's leaf and water was clean, It looked dark because of the dark and swampy soil underneath)

After the brief environmentalist kind of interaction, we loved to move. The evening was beautiful, cool breeze blowing. After around 300 meters, we saw a fortified property, had a beautiful garden setting with no concrete building, had a small house. There was a display board which said, "This property belongs to Abhijeet Banerjee(name changed), tresspassers will be prosecuted", after reading this we were literally warned not to go inside the campus. As we arrived at the gate, we saw the brown color painted iron gate had a big lock. Far in the corner, an old man was sitting near a fire, he was alone.

As we went near the gate, and took the hold of gate. He resposibly responsed and came towards us. I thought he will open the gate for us. He came very near. Deepak spoke in adopted Kannada language. Old man could not get, what deepak said. He started speaking in Hindi. Instantly both of us smiled and there was a conversation of around 40 mins (didn't take the exact stok of time)

In the course of conversation the old man narrated his story. we patiently listened. He lived in Santa Cruz, Mumbai since his childhood. Worked for big drycleaning enterprises. Started his own, but was unsuccessful. All his life he had washed clothes and ironed it for livlihood.

He said "Now I am unable to iron clothes. I was at my house in Amethi (U.P). I can't do work at village also. But my neighbours,(they are thakurs) who have been working here asked me to come to this place. They pay me Rs 1000 per month and also the food and place to stay. this is better than staying at village without any work. Here I don not have any work, just stay here."

He said the neighbours, who brought him for work ,are "Thakurs" and he is "Dhobi". According to me he was very conscious about the casteism and lived with its norms and conventions. I thought of asking him questions but grew sympathetic, thought he must have been tired talking to us standing on the other side of the gate.

When asked about his age he said "I might be 60 or 70, but can't be less"

When Deepak asked "for how many years you have been at Mumbai". He replied "50".

Finally, I asked him do you have son. He instantly said "Yes, I have a son and granchildrens also". I further asked him "what does your son do?", He sadly replied "He also irons cloths. He stays in Delhi and work there".

It was a lot of time chatting with him, standing near the gate, however he had so much to say. While we were leaving Deepak handed him some money. He thanked and blessed us many times. we told him that we will come again, he replied"yes, you can come and visit and have some food also sometimes."

We were deeply moved by his story. We had worked hard all the years in Mumbai and still today he is guarding property of a high class family and earning a meagre amount of Rs.1000. Some part Which he might be sending home for his family.

As we started again, we began discussion on the same property again.

I hope to talk more with him and document his real life story...till then take care!!!