Tuesday 5 March 2013

Monday 4 March 2013

 Palani Amma aged 35 is a mother of 5 who was a resident of the EWS Slum for the past 20 years. With Her husband who passed away 7 years ago, she came to Bangalore in search of job and livelihood all the way from Thirvanamalai, a village in Tamil Nadu. Doing odd jobs to survive the family, they both worked hard to meet basic necessities and ends. Tragedy struck their family in 2006 when her Husband died of cancer, leaving her and their 5 children to face the world on their own.


Palani Amma and her family then occupied one of the quarters before it collapsed and after which they were shifted to the tin sheds which were constructed to house the residents of the EWS Slum - allocated or rent. Life goes on and she worked as a domestic servant with which she managed to send two of her children to school; Chitra (12) to St. Patricks School and the younger boy Praveen (7) to a play school nearby the slum. Though they were poor, they could manage to survive sharing the little they had. This was their life story until the morning of 18th January 2013. The morning they will remember for the rest of their life or at least for a very long time.





There was utter confusion prevailing in the slum that morning. Bulldozers and JCBs hired by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) started pulling down the houses one after another with police in tow. The 15 acres and 22 gunta on which the shantytown was located is now slated for the construction of a mall and higher quality quarters for the original residents. This in fact was a joint development agreement of the BBMP and Maverick Holdings and Investments Pvt.  Ltd. 1512 families had to pay the price.

Not able to go for work anymore, Palani Amma now reside on the roadside pavement beside the fence that are put up around the area that used to be their colony, though not officially. She dare not leave her belongings unguarded as thieves and maniacs would take off with whatever they can possibly grab. If it was not for hope, the condition she and her families are in along with a few more families who still reside along the pavement of the EWS Slum is not something that is easy for a human to go through. Though they do not have any future to look forward to, the belief that someday things would change keep them alive.

Notice by the BBMP stating that they are supposed to leave the slum was put forward to the slum residents 6 months before the demolishing process started. Also they received a sum amount of Rupees 10,000 as compensation. But reality doesn't permit the family to vacate the house and shift. They decided to stay along with the other families of the area.

Anjali aged 22, sister of Palani Amma who used to stay with them was unwilling to settle on pavements that she decided to leave her family and move out on her own will along with her friends to a location undisclosed. True, the condition in which the family is living lacks the smallest degree of sanitation and hygiene. Mosquitos wouldn't allow them to sleep at night, Stray dogs would howl beside their makeshift shed, Traffic honks all through the night, drunken local villains disrupt the peaceful night, and the police themselves would chase them away if they sleep in the drain barrels that are kept on the side of the road. A situation where any person would at one point curse the day he or she was born. Neither is there anything they could possibly do about it.

She desolately recollects the accounts of that faithful morning when her little house was pulled down in front of her eyes. With gloomy face she speaks about the events that happened. Women were beaten as they cry and shout with despair. With the little belongings they could manage to grab, they ran helter skelter around the area hoping the gruesome act would stop. Half of the residents left the slum area a few days after the demolition. But the rest stayed back not because they don't want to leave, but because they have no place to go. With no rice, vessels and water, let alone money, even after almost two months since the tragic event happened, they are still dependant on sponsors and donations from well-wishers to supply them food to eat and water to drink.

Searching new jobs for them is easier said than done. People would not hire them as they belong to the evicted slum area. With no jobs, they do not have any source of income, and with her children growing up on the pavement she felt the agony hurting too much she shed a tear. They spend their days watching the traffic pass by as they are without any job or work. The families who still reside along the pavement of that area are supportive towards each other and they share and help in whichever ways they can.  

Also Palani Amma’s daughter Jyoti , aged 17 is currently 8 months pregnant. Her husband beats the drum during funeral processions.  Although she goes for regular check-ups at the government hospital in Austin Town, she has to pay every time she visits the hospital which is supposed to be free. When asked what she fears most about being a mother, she puts her head down and said she gets trauma thinking about the future.

This is a story about one family who got evicted during the eviction drive at the EWS Slum, Ejipura,  Bangalore on 18th January 2013. Lest we forget there are other 1511 family who were also evicted from the same area and facing life just as bad if not worse. 

- Lallian Valte

Took it on our way to Goa last summer
Lallian Valte
Saw an abandoned car by the highway, had to take a shot of it. :)
 ©lallianvalte photography 2013

See the moonlight shinin'  
On your window pane 
See it leave you  
As faithful as it came~~