(9 Aug ’09)
In my childhood, knee-deep water in
the monsoons meant you went home drenched to the skin, uniform heavy and
dripping, gumboots squelching, skin wrinkled and pink with the wetness. Schools
occasionally were shut because of the weather. Occasionally, without a fuss.
There were colds, coughs, measles. But the pharma companies didn’t rule the
roost. The media, limited though its reach was, didn’t get hysterical over any
of this.
Ever since Mumbai had a very bad
spell 3 years ago, in which many Mumbaikars died, everyone’s behaving like the
monsoons are a novel phenomenon to be wondered at and feared each time a cloud
pours. This year, right from March, even before the sweltering summer set in,
the first emails with warnings were forwarded: be careful of the tsunami. Of
course some were backed by facts: on such and such date, between x and y hours,
the tide will be high and if it rains, stay indoors, else you will drown.
Others scoffed the weather-men. These guys, what do they know, they’re always
wrong. Came the special dates and guess what, the tide really was high. Highest
in a 100 years said the papers. It was true. From my perch in the
office-building, I saw the froth reach upto three storeys high. The Arabian Sea
was very angry, it lashed the shores chucking out tons of horrid garbage. The
water was black, murky and dirty, filthy, menacing. Rocks, little boulders
weighing upto 50 kgs were tossed casually onto parked vehicles, causing serious
damage. One had to take those waves seriously.
Once the tide receded, there were
hills of plastic bags, dirt, rubble, decaying and decayed matter lining
Mumbai’s shore. Now that was
something missing from my childhood memories.The beach beside Hinduja Hospital
and the lane alongside it were full of garbage. In fact, all the gullis at
angles to the major artery Cadell Road (uh-oh, Veer Savarkar Marg now) were
blocked with dirt. The Municipal cleaners worked ceaselessly, filling up truck
after truck until, about three hours later, the place was clean again. We
cheered them, appreciated them, but the media didn’t write about them. Or show
them on tv. They never show any good work done by The Establishment. Positive
strokes don’t get ads? Maybe. That part of commerce I don’t understand. All
that garbage was thrown into the sea by…. who else… the undisciplined and dirty
citizens with the I-don’t-care attitude. The media didn’t show them up for what
they are. Never does.Wonder why? Truth hurts, that’s why. Media persons,
common-folk reps, wouldn’t want to say that common-folk are dirty people. We
all want our rights, sweep the responsibilities under the carpet. Easier to say
the BMC didn’t do its job.
Am waiting
for someone to start a campaign: 5 lakh common men aught to have parts of their
anatomy cut off because they were peeing on neighbouring walls… naaa, no one
has the guts, not a single channel will even begin to think about it… forget
following up.
Then,
ignoring the ever-present malaria, dengue, hepatitis, typhoid (yawn, do people
still die of them? Sadly, YES), we’ve gone gaga over the Swine Flu. 15 people
died of it. And how many of TB? Add several zeros to that number. Yet, we
aren’t hysterical about TB. What about Ulcerative Colitis? Renal Failure? Any
guesses anyone? Don’t bother, it’s enough for you to know that it’s more per
town, each, than an entire continent’s death toll by Swine Flu.
I’m waiting
for the media to create hysteria over drinking water, to start a campaign that
every society, each colony and neighbourhood must harvest monsoon water for its
needs. Oh yes, and sort and deal with its garbage, too.
These days,
I actually prefer Doordarshan over most of the private channels simply because
it gives me some relevant facts about the country. It lets me know that because
the monsoons weren’t monstrous this year, I may have to buy water in tankers
through the coming year. Some channels give me a feeling that these showers
give me a choice between floods and/or drought. Choose your end, their seem to
imply. Lots of problems are pointed out, no learned debates follow to provide
reasonable and compulsory solutions. Indeed, many people who have lived through
decades of monsoons, have actually begun to fear/hate the life-giving
rain-clouds.
Pity.
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