Life behind posters
Pictures. How happy does a family look on Facebook, or how happy do couples look hugging and snuggling into each other on Instagram? Pretty fascinating. So many of us feel a pang of envy when we see these pictures on one’s Facebook wall, Instagram and Snapchat’s stories and even hanging on the wall. Because we humans , pose and plaster fake smiles on the faces which are sad and depressed. That’s something a normal ‘you’ would do right? But here’s the catch. The tough task is when you’re sad, depressed and full of grief, you smile in reality. I got to witness that today.
I bet many of you have seen Suncity. There are a few big posters of a company “Aarohan” set up there, right in front of the school. And to me they were just any other posters which had filth piled up behind them. But there’s more to that. Behind those “Aarohan” posters there’s a whole new world. Behind those posters are the slums.
I’m flying to Sri Lanka this Saturday for a case study on Uplifting the Underprivileged. And we’re focusing on the main Arpan school of Suncity. So, I’ll brief you a little about ‘Arpan’. Arpan is an initiative launched by Suncity for the education of the underprivileged. It’s the education wing for the children of the slums.
And as a part of the case study my team visited the slums to accumulate a small bit of how they live. I know just like another cliche article the writer would focus on how the sympathized their conditions and how they felt bad for the people of the slums. But I plan to tell you something different.
The slums aren't one of the beautiful places, agreed. They’re not one of the places one would look forward to visit, agreed. They aren’t one of the most hygienic places, agreed. But ask yourselves this question “So what?” Believe me, I visited the slums and it’s like a whole new world. And it’s not like I don’t sympathize them. I do. But just as much as I do, I also think they are very lucky. They’re one step behind us in context to technology, agreed. They might not get the best of food. But they’re so happy. They’re so united. They care so much for each other. The children play together everyday in the evening. What about us? I have a lot of friends. And they’re mostly humming songs with a few playing on their phones, or clicking pictures for their Instagram story, counting followers and even Dming. And when you’re doing that, you don’t get to know your friends, you don’t get to get to term them as friends.
And when I say so, I count myself subjected to so many things the underprivileged aren’t . They can be with their friends, make fun of them, beat them, play with them, hold their hands. They don’t have social media. They don’t have songs. They probably have one television in the whole slum which all of them gather together and watch.
The best part is that, they don’t mind. They don’t care if they don’t care if they don’t have proper facilities, proper washrooms, or even a football to play with. All they care about is unity.
A slum is a whole new world. Our team visited 2 houses. One of them belonged to this girl “Reena”
She was with her mother and her story was pretty bad. Reena was a 9 year old who lived with her 2 brothers ‘Luv’ and ‘Kush’ and a sick mother. Her mother worked day and night so as to earn money which she could invest in her children’s education. And Reena’s father had been drunkard who’d ran away leaving his family in a debt they’re still repaying. But even in this case, they were so happy. Reena’s mother was grinning widely while we questioned her. And she was just another mother right? She was just like your mom, my mom and all the other moms. Who wanted the best for her children. The only difference was she wore sarees, while my mom wears jeans and yours might wear dresses.
The best part of this little outing was when we all were going to Reena’s house. On the way we saw this small vine. Vines hung in the form of a small roof with clusters of flowers growing on them. The children plucked these flowers and stuck them in my hair. It was just wonderful!
They’re all just like us. And in the eyes of the Lord, they are just as human as we are. It’s just stereotypical that they should be underestimated and not allowed to dream. It’s just a stereotype that underprivileged couldn’t make good friends. Infact, I enjoy with them more than I enjoy with my friend Raghav or Tanvi. It’s just a stereotype that they aren’t good people. And I’m so proud to say that my team shattered every stereotype that came in our way, and learned with these people, the realities of life, the way of living.
Ask yourself “Do I value what I get?” Because if you’re going to buy another nail polish (I’m still agirl so that’s the best I could think about) despite of having 70 of them at home, is it worth it? Because if you’re going to run your credit card on the cash machine to pay for another pair of shoes just because you’ve grown bored of the rest of the 50 pairs of them at home, is it worth it? Because if you’re going to buy an Iphone 7 just because your Iphone 6 got a scratch, is it worth it? Ask yourself this. Because at the end you’re going to end up growing bored of the nail polish, the new shoes, the Iphone 7. Live your life, sophisticated. And I try my best to. I don’t have an Instagram account, or a Snapchat account, or an Iphone or a branded nail polish or a boyfriend. Life is sophisticated.
Believe me, try living your live your uneventful, undistracted, unrushed, happy, serenely. Know your friends better, know your collogues better, know your girlfriend better so that you can live a life with happy moments. So that you can live your live posting your status on Instagram next day “Life lived” :P
Vanya Duggal
I bet many of you have seen Suncity. There are a few big posters of a company “Aarohan” set up there, right in front of the school. And to me they were just any other posters which had filth piled up behind them. But there’s more to that. Behind those “Aarohan” posters there’s a whole new world. Behind those posters are the slums.I’m flying to Sri Lanka this Saturday for a case study on Uplifting the Underprivileged. And we’re focusing on the main Arpan school of Suncity. So, I’ll brief you a little about ‘Arpan’. Arpan is an initiative launched by Suncity for the education of the underprivileged. It’s the education wing for the children of the slums.
And as a part of the case study my team visited the slums to accumulate a small bit of how they live. I know just like another cliche article the writer would focus on how the sympathized their conditions and how they felt bad for the people of the slums. But I plan to tell you something different.The slums aren't one of the beautiful places, agreed. They’re not one of the places one would look forward to visit, agreed. They aren’t one of the most hygienic places, agreed. But ask yourselves this question “So what?” Believe me, I visited the slums and it’s like a whole new world. And it’s not like I don’t sympathize them. I do. But just as much as I do, I also think they are very lucky. They’re one step behind us in context to technology, agreed. They might not get the best of food. But they’re so happy. They’re so united. They care so much for each other. The children play together everyday in the evening. What about us? I have a lot of friends. And they’re mostly humming songs with a few playing on their phones, or clicking pictures for their Instagram story, counting followers and even Dming. And when you’re doing that, you don’t get to know your friends, you don’t get to get to term them as friends.
And when I say so, I count myself subjected to so many things the underprivileged aren’t . They can be with their friends, make fun of them, beat them, play with them, hold their hands. They don’t have social media. They don’t have songs. They probably have one television in the whole slum which all of them gather together and watch.
The best part is that, they don’t mind. They don’t care if they don’t care if they don’t have proper facilities, proper washrooms, or even a football to play with. All they care about is unity.A slum is a whole new world. Our team visited 2 houses. One of them belonged to this girl “Reena”
She was with her mother and her story was pretty bad. Reena was a 9 year old who lived with her 2 brothers ‘Luv’ and ‘Kush’ and a sick mother. Her mother worked day and night so as to earn money which she could invest in her children’s education. And Reena’s father had been drunkard who’d ran away leaving his family in a debt they’re still repaying. But even in this case, they were so happy. Reena’s mother was grinning widely while we questioned her. And she was just another mother right? She was just like your mom, my mom and all the other moms. Who wanted the best for her children. The only difference was she wore sarees, while my mom wears jeans and yours might wear dresses.
The best part of this little outing was when we all were going to Reena’s house. On the way we saw this small vine. Vines hung in the form of a small roof with clusters of flowers growing on them. The children plucked these flowers and stuck them in my hair. It was just wonderful!
They’re all just like us. And in the eyes of the Lord, they are just as human as we are. It’s just stereotypical that they should be underestimated and not allowed to dream. It’s just a stereotype that underprivileged couldn’t make good friends. Infact, I enjoy with them more than I enjoy with my friend Raghav or Tanvi. It’s just a stereotype that they aren’t good people. And I’m so proud to say that my team shattered every stereotype that came in our way, and learned with these people, the realities of life, the way of living.Ask yourself “Do I value what I get?” Because if you’re going to buy another nail polish (I’m still agirl so that’s the best I could think about) despite of having 70 of them at home, is it worth it? Because if you’re going to run your credit card on the cash machine to pay for another pair of shoes just because you’ve grown bored of the rest of the 50 pairs of them at home, is it worth it? Because if you’re going to buy an Iphone 7 just because your Iphone 6 got a scratch, is it worth it? Ask yourself this. Because at the end you’re going to end up growing bored of the nail polish, the new shoes, the Iphone 7. Live your life, sophisticated. And I try my best to. I don’t have an Instagram account, or a Snapchat account, or an Iphone or a branded nail polish or a boyfriend. Life is sophisticated.
Believe me, try living your live your uneventful, undistracted, unrushed, happy, serenely. Know your friends better, know your collogues better, know your girlfriend better so that you can live a life with happy moments. So that you can live your live posting your status on Instagram next day “Life lived” :P
Vanya Duggal
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