With the footpaths becoming close to extinction, we fail to provide a safe path for the pawns who fight for our everyday survival.
The worth of pawn is only realized when they are not left to defend. The roads in our country or more correctly the battleground on which a common walking man, just like a pawn struggles to seize the day. In their struggle lies our sustenance! A soldier fighting on the battleground to protect our country is our hero. But there exist battles in our society every hour, every second and there are pawns who are fighting them for us and it is fixing these everyday conflicts which brings to us a vanilla society in which we live.
Pawn, a cut and a dried common man. Who comes at the bottom of the pyramid. He is the man who stands with a torch all night if need be to protect people from falling in a manhole, he is the construction labourer who builds your house, he is the cop who protects when you relax. These people in return never get their adequate due. As the dignity of labour in our country is not even a concept.
I am a part of that same society where all things are provided for education, food and a good job. I was absolutely oblivious to the existence of these people until, “my precious life” was saved by a “not so precious one” When I was walking on the road and was about to fall in a huge manhole in the middle of that road. Thanks to my Mr India (as I did not see him) who had planted a branch beside it, almost as if to warn me from falling inside. The person who had planted the branch was a sweeper, I found out later from a bystander and it was NOT his duty to prevent people from falling.
Secondly, why was I walking on the road at the first place? FYI- THE FOOTPATH IS UNAVAILABLE. Road deaths have increased to an alarming rate because pedestrians are walking on the road instead of footpaths. This is because the footpaths have been “encroached” upon by “jugaad” households, hawkers, tea stalls and tyre repairs. People who are obviously on the streets as their last resort. Situation in Mumbai is worse because the inordinate amount of people is spilling over from houses, trains, and roads.
The manhole was an example of a regular battles we fight and the sweeper was the pawn who was responsible to save my life and made me reach at work on time.
While walking, it dawned on me that the work which matters is done by these pawns of this country, and not the CEO’s sitting in their air condition office and “developing our economy” the minister of welfare or his team is not responsible for the white collard public, forming the majority of the population reach their office on time. It is the motor man of our local train who gives up his cosy bed at 3:30 am to kick-start the engines of the trains to be on track by 4 in the morning.
The footpath is a territory of the “common man” and of the “pawns” who get the world rolling, who are responsible for delivering milk every morning on time so that you can make your morning tea or coffee, the milkman use that footpath, the house help who cleanse your house use that footpath. We can imagine our lives without the human resource minister, in fact would prefer that but we can’t imagine our lives without these people on whom are lives are completely dependent, and our “very important” work will be gone for a toss.
It is not OK for pedestrians to walk on roads and be prone to get hit by speeding vehicle. With the footpaths gone and roads getting thinner and narrower squeezing cars, autos, motorcycles and now even the “common walking man” we are doing something consequentially wrong!
But seeing that branch planted beside the manhole made me look at the brighter side of humanity, the face of My Mr India and many that exist. There are plenty of people who are doing their jobs so that WE don’t fall, sometimes in a manhole and the other times in LIFE! The struggle for these people is real, the cleaners of the roads in Mumbai are regularly hit by cars and smoothly replaced by someone else. Almost like dead battery cells in our remotes. No one cares!
The structure of our society and governance from the beginning has been of a kind, which does not allow these pawns to cross over to the other side of the game and become the queen who is the master of her own actions. Once a pawn always a pawn remains a reality. However this is the same nation which has allowed the same pawn, to become the prime minister of our nation!
So all hope is not lost.