THE SLUM

 I gazed huge business places and palatial mansions in and around Ernakulam town, where there was a great display of luxury by people of the upper social level. I asked ‘Appachan’, “Who does the upkeep and maintenance of these posh buildings?” He was pleased to take me to the Mullassery Canal Area, where he pointed out lots of dilapidated tiny huts, where people lived in dirty surroundings. A shabby door opened, and a bent old lady stepped out. Their doors so low one had to stoop to enter and within was darkness. A few of the roof tops thatched with coconut palm leaves were seen tattered due to the heavy rains. The stars winked slyly through the holes in the thatched roofs from where the inmates could gaze at them.

Rapid urbanization and better job opportunities forced these slum dwellers to migrate from the farms in the countryside to seek employment in the town; their privation forced them to live in their crowded, dirty and miserable sheds, where health, comfort and moral control were lacking. Order, sanitation, and health were not provided for adequately. Sickness and crime prevailed.

Quarrels between the husband and wife were very common. I still remember an episode.           The man came fully drunk and he grabbed his wife’s arm and twisted it; she was in pain. He had grabbed her by the nape of her neck so she could not move. Suddenly he tightened his grip to choke her. “Whore.” He growled. She bit her lips to keep from crying out. She tried to tear away, but he held her tightly, and furiously. She moaned, “I hate you.”

Yet, in the absence of luxurious surroundings, I knew that the inhabitants were not without means of enjoyment. They drank and feasted; the theatrical productions too furnished means of their entertainment. Political parties too use them for protest and rallies. Many were content with their life largely, of course, because they were not conscious of their limitations and accepted their fate as inescapable.

I was totally upset at their suffering and privation. Aren’t they the proud citizens of this great country? Aren’t they who have to rule this country tomorrow? Isn’t the government duty bound to provide these slum dwellers social security, protection and means for a decent living? 

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

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