The Milk of Kindness Called Mumbai

The Milk of Kindness Called Mumbai, originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1.

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He sells fresh goat milk and told me that it was from a newly goat mother , the first dhar ..and that it cures a lot of illness , and he is a North Indian migrant churning his dreams , saving money sending it to his family in Uttar Pradesh.

And unfortunately he is at crossfire , here in Mumbai his Indianess is questioned , and he is politically hammered for no fault of his , and back at his hometown the government of his State builds statues on the corpse of his ancestors ..statues that crows will shit on , statues built by people much poorer than him, to aggrandize the ego of political bigwigs at the expense of the exchequer ..

The poor migrant of Mumbai is in a homeless and hopeless situation a pawn on a stinking chess board of politics...

But he works from morning to night , he is the Bhelpuri wala, turn around he is the Icegolawala, walk a bit further he is the hathgadiwala pheriwala, take a right turn he is the roadside bhajiwala, extreme left he is the bhutawala ..he is so many things that the Marathi Manoos cant be ..he is the Machhiwala, he is the paperwala, he is the chanawala, he is the ganewala, he is the jhadoo bechnewala, he is the Bhaiyya outside Hill Road selling Boras Avlas Imli and other mouthwatering stuff..

He is the quintessential soul of Mumbai.. Bombay has become Mumbai , but the Bhaiyya will always be a Bhaiyya ..the concrete , the iron in the soul of this vibrant city.. a cauldron of all cultures..

Now meet him again as you hire a cab or ricksha towards your home bound destination...

Before you drop a coin to another migrant beggar blind in the eye dreaming of hopes in this city of Peace and Brotherhood.

Amchi Mumbai Tumchi Mumbai too..