Jyotsna, Rising Voices

A woman called Bhabani lives on the footpath of
Bowbazar’s Raja Rammohon Ray Sarani with her mother and her son. They have
accepted their lot. I think that footpath dwellers live a very painful life. In
summer, esp. in the afternoons, the scalding sun heats up the footpath. The
nights offer a little comfort. In winter the whole day and night are spent
shivering with cold in the open streets. The rainy season is very difficult.
You can neither sit, nor lie down, nor eat. Apart from this, footpath dwellers
who are daily wage earners have to go out and work hard in storms and bad
weather, exposing themselves to the harsh conditions of nature. There is no
place to sleep. Some people who have trolley-like vans make these double up as
beds in the night. They sleep on these after laying down a plastic sheet on
top. There are many other insoluble problems. Often out of the blue, police
cars come to dismantle them from their pavement homes. Then they try to hide
their possessions as best as they can to prevent them from being confiscated by
the police. If once they are taken away, you need to pay money to retrieve
them. Some people living on the footpaths in cities often have dwellings in
their villages. Those who don’t have these faraway village homes literally have
no place to go to.