I’m on my
way to Kerala for Part 2 of my Summer Vacation. The Hatia-Yeswantpur special
train happened to stop at a non-descript station called Orga. For people who
does not know about the region, stations such as Bano, Orga, etc are major fruit
growing regions.
You could
see packages of jamuns waiting to be transported to Ranchi. And then there were
girls and ladies selling some brown colored fruit which I took some time to
identify as dates. Then there were water-melons. I was surprised that there
were no litchies.
As I was
happily snapping away at the rustic scenes of the station, there appeared one
middle aged man out of my coach and told me to stop taking photographs. I asked
him the reason.
‘These are
all disturbed areas and the people are also unpredictable’. He appeared like a
senior government official on a trip. I got back into the train without any
ado. He disappeared the same way he came.
Of course,
he was correct. Bano, Orga, etc were in the middle of areas which has been on
the throes of Naxalitism or Naxalism. A movement where people have been at war
against the state.
An outcome
of poverty and marginalisation used by secessionist forces to meet their own
ends against the country, Naxalitism has been a major headache for few of the
state governments of the country.
I wondered
how easy we’ve stamped regions of our country disturbed and
undisturbed. As I meditated on that word, I realised that there was not a
better word to describe the scenario.
When we use
the word ‘disturb’, there is an implication that there is a second force acting
to cause the disturbance. For example, when you throw a stone into a placid
pool of water, there is a disturbance caused. An adverse event in the life of a
person can cause his mind to be disturbed.
Therefore,
the connotation of a ‘disturbed area’ means that there has been some sort of an
external intervention in the region which has caused the disturbance.
Is it not
up to us that we become absolutely sure of this disturbance and make amends to
remove it from our midst?
If we don’t
do this soon, we could lose people and regions of our country beyond all
expectations. Any one group will not be able to do this. This needs concerted efforts from all stake-holders, who are willing to look at the equitable development of the region.
The red plastic covered baskets are jamuns waiting to be transported to Ranchi |
Oh My! look at those bicycles hanging upside down from the train windows :D
ReplyDeleteVery nice read :)
Perfectly captured. This happens in India only :)
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