“The path less travelled” is read by most. This is such an apt title for me, the common man of Mumbai, who is in search of one unobstructed, well-maintained…….
#Foot-path
Here are 3 such stories I see everywhere. Do you?
1. Cow-path
This story is of the humble cow who eats and eats till it become obese. Nutritious food dumped by pious people to get some good karma, for a price. Yeah, people pay money to buy some “grass” (healthy grass) and some nutritious balls (I do not know what it is made up of) and put it in the mouth of the innocent cow. Wonder, if one day the cow turned around and said, just because I have 4 stomachs (let me correct you O Human – I have one stomach with 4 distinct compartments) does not mean you feed me to death. By the way, their timing of coming and going is fixed, cause they are domesticated cows, trained to eat by the master for a price. Who feeds them? – educated people who come to the local temple to pray. It does not matter that next to the very cow, there may be a fellow human being slowly dying to death due to the indifference shown by another fellow human being who has come to the temple to pray, ignoring that God (whatever name you want to call) comes in various disguises, one being the beggar.
2. Hawker-path
These are the smartest bunch of people I have seen slowly takeover Mumbai city, of course they will have a mai-baap (Godfather) who is the sutradhar (Administrator) of this game. The game begins with a moving hawking cart wherein the hawker calls out to sell his wares and people slowly start following the hawker’s routine. First comes one item say tomatoes for sale, then the cart starts building up. You may also notice that one cart leads to a bunch of carts coming together at the same time, like a mini portable departmental store. Cool it is. I am for entrepreneurship and honest living. Then, slowly the cart looses its movement and stays put in one place, as now the people are habituated to buying and the hawker has a fixed customer base. Comes the bamboos on the footpath, then the roof and finally electricity (again some one is responsible). Then the common man cries foul for they just lost their space permanently.
3. Car-path
With cars becoming an affordable product in Mumbai, almost every second person wants to own one. New cars are dime a dozen. The latest trend is of changing cars like you change your clothes. It has become a fashion statement. Where do you keep it for “Sale”? It lands on the Mumbai streets. Whenever I am at any major junction, I observe that the deadly trio of the Car-path, Hawker-path and Cow-path is endangering the #common man’s life.
Credits:
elletbranch.akronlibrary.org – Cover photo
www.iamin.in – Mumbai footpath cows image
www.dnaindia.com – Mumbai hawkers image
www.team-bhp.com – Mumbai car path
www.texemarrs.com – The Road Less Travelled poem image
Robert Frost – The Road Less Travelled poem (timeless)
(Disclaimer : The images above are for representation purpose only)