Tag: devashri prabhu

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Bombay, bas

Mumbai ke laal

‘Paan’ is a feature of Mumbai’s culture, and its biggest bane – every corner of the city is a spittoon.
by Devashri Prabhu

Whoever came up with the phrase ‘Paint the town red’ sure had Mumbai in mind. Mumbai has always been a colourful city – it is green and grey in monsoons, it has the blue of the ocean, and the red of paan.

Whoever invented paan sure has it coming from the city’s clean-up marshals. People spit paan juice freely and with practiced ease all over Mumbai. No detergent or cleaning solution is strong enough to clean off the stains caused by paan.

Just spit it

Paan graffitiIt brings a smile to your face when you hear of a fellow Indian proudly telling a foreigner that paan is part of Indian culture. Sure it is, but are also proud of how the same paan is a health hazard? And what about the sanitation problems it carries? The people who eat paan choose to spit out the betel juice instead of swallowing it, because swallowing it is said to be harmful. Well, spitting it out isn’t harmless for the city, either.

Wherever you go in Mumbai, you can see paan stains. Corners of public buildings, corridors, bus stops, public benches, footpaths, public walls, railway platforms, subways and religious places, too. How do you stop this habit? Even the garbage cans provided by the municipality have been gladly used as spittoons.

My story

Apart from dirtying every conceivable surface in the city, paan eaters will also gladly spit on other people without a care in the world. I have been spat at personally. I was sitting in the train by the window. It was evening time and I was returning from work. The train had halted at Wadala station.  After a tiring day at work, I was just about to catch a wink of sleep when phachaak! Someone had spat red betel juice on me. It was like he had sprayed me with it. The guy with the paan was in the train next to time and was still chewing his paan. Even before I could react, his train moved and he continued chewing and spitting without a care in the world. A real mai ka laal.

How to tackle it?

Since you can’t really stop people from chewing paan, people have come up with a few ways to discourage spitting. The most popular way is to put up pictures of gods and goddesses at all the strategic places such as public walls, corridors of buildings, etc. A sense of decency (otherwise lacking) prompts the spitter from selecting another spot to spray his paan all over. Another one was a feeble attempt to save the municipality garbage cans from becoming spittoons. The BMC would line each bin with large plastic bags on the inside, so that cleaning staff merely picked off the bag every day without having to clean the bin from the inside.

But these are ineffective measures. More stringent and consistent punishments have to be imposed on these habitual spitters. I suppose levying heavy fines could be a deterrent. A way to do this is to empower citizen clean-up marshals comprising of a force of senior citizens or interested youth volunteers who could be selected by the BMC to police certain areas and who would carry official badges indicating their appointment.

Spitting is rampant in Mumbai despite anti-spitting laws and heavy fines. A good way to stop the menace is to publicly shame the spitters. We are too casual about dealing with people who litter all over the city – why don’t we stop people from throwing garbage outside the train windows or spitting all over the place? The responsibility of a healthy and hygienic city lies equally in us and the Government. We should rally against the habit of spitting paan, tobacco or other substances together. Our city needs to have clean roads and public spaces – not those festooned with paan stains.

Devashri Prabhu has a Masters in Psychology and her interests lie in areas like Mental Health, Social Issues and Spirituality.

(Pictures courtesy gbtimes.com, sparknbeyond.wordpress.com. Images are used for representational purpose only)

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Bombay, bas

Mumbai’s ‘potty’ issue

It’s a basic human requirement, but sadly, an international city like Mumbai still does not have enough clean public toilets.
by Devashri Prabhu

Mumbai’s local trains are the saviours for those who travel to far off places for work. I travel on the Western line, from Borivali to Andheri. The trains, as you know, are crowded even as early as 7.00 am or 7.30 am. So even from Borivali, after the great struggle to get into the train all I can manage is a place to stand near the door.

Okay, so the train starts slowly first and then picks up speed. The wind makes you forget all the worries. You feel happy about the journey even though you are surrounded by a sea of people on all sides, each one breathing onto the other!

And soon enough, a stench makes your nose twitch in disgust.

The stench becomes stronger as the train passes through the Kandivali, Malad and Goregaon. Your olfactory senses are then helped by supporting visuals to help you know the source of the stench – the source is nothing but rows of people defecating on the railway tracks.

gents toiletThis type of behaviour is majorly observed in men and also to some extent in women and children. I have encountered this scenario not only on the railway tracks but also on the roads. Isn’t it disturbing? And not only because it is aesthetically displeasing or that it is embarrassing to watch people openly defecating. The most disturbing bit is how unfortunate it is that the need for sanitation is taken for granted in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai. It is also not a healthy situation both physically and psychologically to be in, if you have no private place to go to, when nature calls, and all you have as an emergency resort is a public place such as railway tracks or main roads of the city.

The practice endangers the lives of those using these open public spaces for defecation, especially along railway tracks and roads. I feel a chill when I se even young tots, unaccompanied by elders, engaging in the same activity on the tracks, oblivious to the oncoming trains.

The needs of these people are to be seriously looked into. The vision for National Urban Sanitation Policy under Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, is:

“All Indian cities and towns become totally sanitized, healthy and liveable and ensure

 and sustain good public health and environmental outcomes for all their citizens

 with a special focus on hygienic and affordable sanitation facilities for the urban

 poor and women.”

Yes, the Government has an Urban Sanitation Policy in place, known as the National Urban Sanitation Policy, 2008. But what would happen if there are enough toilets built but there is no water facility provided? It would still be as good as no help given. I would go further and state that it is rather equal to mocking the situation of these people.

I also want to bring your attention to the availability of working/functioning community and public toilets. The paid toilets that have come up are a good step in this direction. But what amazes me is that the paid toilets on the railways stations, some of which are recently built, are locked at most hours of the day, and this is true for almost all the ladies toilets a toilet in dharavion the railway platforms. Even while leaving the house for far-off travel, females have to empty their bladders before leaving home.

And when it comes to gents’ toilets, they are far worse than ladies’ toilets. We complain of the stench and the filth in these toilets, but the people employed to take care of these toilets have a huge task at hand. It cannot be easy cleaning a space that the public uses in large numbers. So, we all have to be responsible when using public toilets. If water is available, we should flush the toilets are use – and this is not too much to ask for, don’t we flush the toilets in our own homes?

So the next time we want to assert our rights, we should also ensure that we don’t fall short of carrying out our duties as well. What I get from reflecting on this issue is that the ‘potty’ issue is surely not a ‘petty’ issue for Mumbai!

Devashri Prabhu has a Masters in Psychology and her interests lie in areas like Mental Health, Social Issues and Spirituality.

(Pictures courtesy environmentalwatchman.blogspot.com,  sanitationupdates.wordpress.com, affordablehousinginstitute.org)

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Guest writer

Chalta hai, yaar!

What is with this ‘Everything’s okay, let things be’ attitude so prevalent in our Mumbai? A worried Mumbaikar wonders aloud.
by Devashri Prabhu

Earlier in my discussions with my non-Mumbai based friends, I used to always brag about aamchi Mumbai. My sentences used to start like this: “My Mumbai has the best vada pav in the world!”, “Mumbai people are hardworking, simple and down to earth”, etc. Now, my non-Mumbai friends mock me that Mumbai is in recent years becoming famous for its chalta hai attitude.

It hit me hard. But there was some truth to what they said. You will agree if you have encountered any of the following in Mumbai:

1) ‘Doodh mein paani dala hai bhaiyya’

‘Chalta hai, madam‘.

2) ‘Arey uncle, yeh biscuit ka packet aap bech rahe ho, iski expiry date khatm ho chuki hai‘

‘Chalta hai, beti‘.

3) ‘Bhaiyya yeh 20 rupee ki note phati hai’

‘Chalta hai, madam’.

You hear the neighbourhood aunty’s cries; you know she is being beaten up by her husband. You want to intervene and try and help her but another neighbour will stop you, saying- “Yeh toh har jagah chalta hai. It’s okay, you don’t interfere in their matter”. How long have we been dealing with this chalta hai attitude and in how many areas?

Chalta hai here always?

chalta hai On National Election Day, people prefer to not vote, because chalta hai – it will not make much difference. And after elections, if a complete idiot comes and sits on the political seat, people are free to say they knew it would happen, hence they did not vote. In a Bollywood film, it’s absolutely fine for the hero to constantly stalk, tease and pass comments on the heroine, but the audience says, “Chalta hai, hero yeh nahi karega toh kaun karega?” And then when we see eve-teasing raising its ugly head again and again in our city, we say it’s because of those films and what they show.

What is more surprising is considering this type of behaviour as normal. Why chalta hai?  May be because our daily activities take up all our time and such issues take a back seat. Another reason could be that we know somewhere at the back of our minds that we are simply procrastinating on dealing with the issues and finding the answers or maybe, we are just not bothered. We easily forget that these issues are inevitably related to our daily lives.

For instance, if we accept that mixing water in milk is a ‘normal’ thing then the bug called ‘food adulteration’ will slowly spread and ultimately attack our health system. National Election Day is a national holiday not so that we can take a family trip, but because we should go and execute the most important civic right – to vote. If you consider that no candidate suits your eligibility of a good leader, then use the ‘No Vote’ Art 49 O right to effect a negative voting, which was recently upheld by the Supreme Court of India.

No more chalta hai!

We talk at length of our fundamental rights, the facilities that we are entitled to, etc., but we forget what we ought to do as residents of this city. Our indifferent attitude will not help no chalta haiMumbai in any way. When we implicitly allow the chalta hai attitude in our daily life, we are agreeing to all the wrong doings happening in the city. The chalta hai attitude reflects inaction and passivity which is harmful for the welfare of Mumbai. This inaction has become the hallmark of our city, and it is in reality, the Mumbai Spirit.

Sporadic candle light marches are not going to help. We need to create a flame of change in our hearts. A change that is here to stay. Prepare forums where we can share each other thoughts and the happenings in our city. Use the social network to the fullest for this purpose. Go, sensitise the rickshawwallahs, taxiwallahs, hawkers on issues such as eve teasing. Health education, food adulteration are the issues which need to be taken up with the common man. Take the Government’s help if needed. And last but not the least – people, go vote! A small step does make a big difference. We need to celebrate Mumbai in the real sense and set an example to others ke Mumbai mein sirf Mumbaikar ka raaj chalta hai!

Devashri Prabhu has a Masters in Psychology and her interests lie in areas like Mental Health, Social Issues and Spirituality.

(Pictures courtesy adayinlife.timesofindia.com, www.projecteffexx.com, www.reddit.com) 

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Guest writer

How deep is Mumbai’s depression?

A psychologist explains how a city’s vibrancy and aura of success can be the very basis for depression among citizens.
by Devashri Prabhu

Mumbai is life personified…it is active, zingy, kicking and full of energy. Even when the world sleeps at night, Mumbai is awake and alive. It crawls, runs, jumps, does a jig or two but never stops. It instills hope in you, it hugs you when you feel alone, it smiles with you and it helps you fall in love with life all over again.

You just cannot not ‘live’ when you are here – at least that was what I felt when I came to Mumbai. Then my journey with psychology took me to such corners of the city that showed me a complete different side of the life in this city. I saw people who had given up all the hope to live, all thanks to the wounds that this city inflicted on them, some physical and some emotional.

How can a city so alive be depressed?

emotional disconnectNo, this just can’t be – I revolted. Nobody can give up on living just like that and too in my city, Mumbai! But the truth spoke in numbers – Mumbai does fare badly when it comes to depression. There is a palpable feeling of helplessness in the city which leads us to what we know as ‘depression’.

The city has even prompted many people to end their lives drastically. The most recent example of this was the suicide of young actress Jiah Khan. Whatever her reasons may be, the frantic beat of the city poured a strange loneliness into her, which probably could not be cured even by love. Be it a housewife in a suburb trying to balance the needs of her husband, children on one hand and her personal dreams on the other, or a share broker who had just promised his son a new toy car that he saw in a upmarket toy shop or a struggling starlet, or the model who is trying hard to gain a foothold in the city of dreams, all of them have one thing in common – they all have felt the frustration while fulfilling their everyday goals and functions. This frustration, when it becomes too hard to handle, put a person into depression.

How depressed is Mumbai?

It turns out that depression is striking the city in several deadly ways. During my internship trial at the same clinic, a young girl of 14 to 15 years of age, who had just come to Mumbai – new and fresh and with lot of dreams – was depressed, and the reason was this very city. The city spoke to her in a very different language, a language she could not understand. She soon felt out of place – even among her friends. She felt all alone even when surrounded by her very own family.

Soon she started seeing only faults in herself, while the fault was not totally hers. Thus started the long dark journey towards depression, with an attitude that said, “This is the end of it, depressionI cannot take it any more because I cannot do anything about it.” The ‘I’ loses faith and finally the ‘I’ is crushed and becomes non-existent. The life that we were gifted becomes a burden, a burden so heavy that some people prefer death over it.

The question is: Does anything have so much power over the choices we make, that we choose death rather than facing life? A web definition of depression goes: ‘Clinical depression (also known as a major depressive disorder) is a complex condition marked by sustained instances of a depressed mood and loss of interest in life. It differs from having a depressed mood in that a major depressive disorder lasts for more than two weeks, evolving into a mental illness.’

Besides getting a medical help here are certain simple things that you must do when you feel depressed:

– TALK or SHARE:  Talk to someone who has a positivity around him or her. Just talk it out. Your friends will understand you. Go to a friend, hang out with him/her, chill for some time, let yourself loose.

– LOVE YOURSELF: Be Geet from the movie Jab We Met. It’s okay to indulge in yourself completely once a while. You have to stand in front of mirror and say that you love yourself dearly, thank the whole of your being  for just ‘existing’. Stay away from self-pity.

– ACTION: Bring some action in your life. Dance, jog, run, do yoga or whatever activity that suits you. A little spring in your step makes a difference to your mood.

– AFFIRMATIONS: Fight negative thoughts. Fight against them, and give them a hell of a fight. In reality, they are nothing but little packets of irrational fears, that are created to destroy your developing self. Just start every thought with ‘I can…’ and fill the blanks with your wishes and dreams and believe in them. ‘Faith’, one of the most important tools, will help you in this battle.

– NOVELTY: Try things that you have never tried before. The excitement of trying something new gives you a rush, it helps break the monotony of your daily routine. Besides, it might just give you a fresh perspective to life, the one that may move you to a better you.

There is no be-all-end-all way in our life. The city we that we call ours has the power to heal the wounds that we carry with ourselves, just like, our life. The questions that are still unanswered may be because we were searching the wrong cabinet or maybe we are in a situation where our ladder is  at the wrong wall. But so what, it’s never too late for anything in life. Time, after all, has the answers to everything and all we have to do is give time some time!

Devashri Prabhu has a Masters in Psychology and her interests lie in areas like Mental Health, Social Issues and Spirituality.

(Pictures courtesy theviewspaper.net, she.sulekha.com, healthposts.easemyhealth.com)

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