Diwali, the festival of lights, is here again

Today it is Diwali or the festival of lights. When Indians celebrate Diwali, their homes could be seen from space, the whole of India is lit up for the night of Diwali as seen in this photo from satellite. As the legend goes, in Ramayana,Lord Rama returned from exile to his throne, and the people lit up their homes to welcome him back. Lord Rama must be looking at his land from the heavens and must be happy that people still remember him and celebrate Diwali.People decorate their homes with lights, pray to Luxmi (Goddess of prosperity and wealth), wear new clothes and share sweets(prasad- sweets shared after prayers); all pray for prosperity in their jobs. Children play with fire-crackers which make loud noises.

But life is very different for many urban dwellers in Delhi who live under the pillars of the many flyovers.They seek shelter under the flyovers and are often pushed away by the Municipality under 'slum-clearance' projects. Under the flyovers they sleep when it gets cold; under hot sun, they seek shelter. They sell flowers and make a living.When these flyovers were built, they were working as the manual laborers. After the building phase was over, they were not given another job and therefore stayed on,not knowing where to go.For them everyday is Diwali, as the lights on the flyover are lit on all nights. And every time a heavy-duty vehicle passes over the flyover, they feel the tremors and always hear loud noises.These pillar people are those on whose sweat(hard work) these big concrete structures of urban India were built; and it is this urban India that will not provide them any living space after extracting work from them. Workers continue being the pillars of India, and they are continuously denied a place here.The cost of making of the infrastructures here does not include or calculate the countless people's wasted lives.When will the pillar peoples get their prasad-a share of the prosperity? When will Diwali light the minds of the policy makers? When will be there be a Diwali for the pillar people who are the true pillars of urban India?Who will provide the muscles for future growth of planned infrastructures? India must care for its workers, if it wants to grow.