Dharmendra Satapathy

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Slumdog


Much has been said and written about this. Hence it is difficult to bring in a fresh angle to the controversy. However I would like to record my own take. In the title I have not written the word millionaire. For me slumdog is what we have woken up to. Millionaire is for the film construct and so on and so forth. It may be fashionable to criticise the depiction of slums in Mumbai but why do we want to live with an illusion that Mumbai is closer to Shanghai and not Slumbai. Politicians have sapped this city over and over again. It has been transformed from an elegant women to a beautiful whore to an old hag. The city has been drained of all its virtues. People who claim love for this city are either blind literally or in the mind. The slums are there and growing at rapid pace. Who says slums are only in Dharavi. The fact is the city is a slum with a few pockets of relief. Hence people hate being outdoors. They either choose to be in their designer homes or in world class malls / multiplexes or gourmet restaurants and hotels shutting their eyes on everything else. People who spend most of their time travelling across the world perhaps are confused while commenting on their city. Who knows which city are they seeing in their mind when they speak of Mumbai. Politicians have only helped in changing names. But let's be clear that by putting on a make over, the old hag cannot get transformed into the dream girl she once was. Instead of denouncing the film which is a work of art emanating from a very clear vision of the director lets look at ourselves and understand what we need to do as a nation. It is sometimes nice to even look inwards. Indian have revelled in looking outwards and making superficial changes to compete with the world outside. We need to acknowledge the rot and work towards solutions in a disciplined manner. We need to focus on the journey and leave the the ends to unfold on its own. Instead we do the opposite. There is no short cut. The path has to be traversed and hence acknowledgement is the first step. For Slumbai to regain its past glory so that no one makes a film on its underbelly and instead seeks to understand its success, we need to start now and build a city for our future generations. Politicians have bloated up and any more will be detrimental for them. It is now time to give back. Give Mumbai back to its people the way it was when the plunder began.