Thennavan's interesting post on my Home state Tamil Nadu made me think.
Upon reading the points in the post I wonder why:
- India's Largest slum Dharavi in Bombay has such a high number of Tamilians.
- New Delhi's slums have a high number of Tamilians.
- Slums in Kerala have high number of Tamilians. ( In fact I've also heard that no Keralites live in Slums - not sure if that is true ).
- Why is it that Tamilians move out and live in slums even in towns like UJJAIN .
( These are all based on my experiences - I don't know about the slums in the other cities in India ).
What's wrong with Tamil Nadu. On the one hand we see all this news about honey and milk and on the other so much of poverty that drives people to these slums all around our country.
"Sen Thamizh Nadenum Podhinilae....Inba thaen vandhu Payudhu kadhinilae"...cannot be true today isn't it ?.
I am glad those poets and the noblemen passed away.
12 comments:
guess u forgot to add ... indialerndhu us vandha tamizhargal (students of course!) also live in the slums of us ;)
Venkitu: I guess people move out of TN looking for jobs and finally find one to help them with food. They create their own shelter somewhere. As time passes more tamilians come and cling towards the spot because it already has tamil population and it becomes a slum with majority of tamilians.
CM: That was a good one. All university housing are like that :(
Narayanan, I guess this aspect of slums was totally overlooked by me. In a way, what I wrote may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because we are a populous state, there are not enough jobs to go around for everyone. So, people migrate to other places. There are two types here: the high skilled and the low skilled. Because of good education, the high skilled are absorbed in white collar positions in different parts of India and with a little more luck, some of the educated masses emigrate.
The low skilled think that for the same type of work, at least the wages will be higher in places like Delhi and Mumbai (of course this does not explain the Kerala and Ujjain angles) and so they think of a better life for themselves and their children.
While Tamilians are living in Dharavi because the one main costly item in Mumbai is real estate, you will have also heard that in their houses, they have color TV sets and fridge etc. even while doing the most menial jobs simply because wage rates are higher. So at least according to them, their standard of living is far better in those cities than if they had stayed in Tamilnadu.
I think Tamilians are survivors anywhere and that is what your examples highlight more than anything. Some of the saved money finds its way back into Tamilnadu as investments in houses, gold etc. thereby boosting the overall prosperity of the state and now with rosier times predicted ahead, I am hoping what our poets and noblemen said really becomes true.
Me having lived in Mumbai...its tamilians all over the place with business..Y just u talk about Dharavi..what about Matunga, chembur,and pockets of borivali and navimumbai..there are elite tamils also..One cannot generalize the tamil population.
For ex..sweepers in Chennai are not tamils,from AP...so its vice versa
Tamils are all over the world,.india,ilangai,malaysia singapore..southafrica,caribbeans etc etc..they have moved out for better job prospects and obviously the language spoken in almost all places.
..will post more later..
Me having lived in Mumbai...its tamilians all over the place with business..Y just u talk about Dharavi..what about Matunga, chembur,and pockets of borivali and navimumbai..there are elite tamils also..One cannot generalize the tamil population.
For ex..sweepers in Chennai are not tamils,from AP...so its vice versa
Tamils are all over the world,.india,ilangai,malaysia singapore..southafrica,caribbeans etc etc..they have moved out for better job prospects and obviously the language spoken in almost all places.
..will post more later..
I am not sure whether we can chratcterize a state or even the country just on the basis of IT boom. IT is still less than 10% of the economy. Agriculture is 70% of the economy. While in Tamil Nadu, rains have failed repeatedly and we don't have water catering to agriculture leading to a lot of people being displaced from their main occupation of agriculture. They move to different places in search of bread and hence they settle there.....
When the Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place, many people who lived in the bustees near the Union Carbide factory belonged to Orissa. They had apparently come from there because they were laying a railroad in Bhopal and it needed labourers. So, the problem of displacement is not limited to Tamil nadu alone. You tend to notice Tamilians more because you are a Tamilian.
as sud said IT growth is nothing. it actually only divides the rich and poor even more. infact even a lot of middle class people are left behind.
TN has a very long way to go.
I would submit to you that Tamils in generals have the tenacity and courage to venture out and seek riches and happiness. It’s not only the elite Tamils who migrate looking for greener pastures, but Tamils of all strata move around looking for a better standard of living and some end up in slums.
As the great Bharathiyar said ‘Thirai kadal odiyum dhiraviyum thedu’, Tamils take him seriously and move and seek out. To characterize these migrants as mostly living in slums would be over simplification. If they are living in slums, it could be because 1) it is better than what they left behind or 2) live in ‘hope’ that it would get better than what they left behind.
Compare this to the people who don’t know / don’t want to move out of their districts and die of hunger and malnutrition.
I guess Tamils don’t ask ‘Who moved my Cheese’ but venture out to find new Cheese in their lives. And when they do that, many times, they have to LOSE to GAIN.
Then again, it is not just Tamils who move out in search of something ‘better’ but lot of people of all races, cultures and classes do. Invariably, some people land up in slums.
Rams views on the subject seem to be laced with plenty of regional prejudice and misplaced regional patriotism.
Tamilnadu, unlike neighbouring Karnataka and kerala is poor in resources. Both Karnataka and Kerala have reasonable forest cover, thanks to the Western Ghats. Tamilnadu has to its credit the Eastern Ghats, which in all its glory, would end up being nothing more than a poor farmished cousin of its counterpart - the Western Ghats. I am bringing this up, to drive in the point that dinner in karnakata/kerala is a quite affair, for there is enough food to go around. However, things are different in Tamilnadu, where every morsel of food has to be fought for. So, they venture out not to seek riches and happiness as pointed out by Ram - but in search of far simpler basic needs.
Sud is right, you tend to notice your own people more often - but that again does not bring down the numbers.
KD.
dear narayanan: I can understand your feelings about 'Tamizhar'.Lots have been said in comments.Anonymous and Viswanathan have almost hit the bull's eye.It is the people largely are responsible for this sad plight.There are thosands of villages in Tamizhnadu and all of them have not left.They change their crops,practise their family skills in other avocations and lead a contented life. Lured by the city life those who migrate have no particular skills and added to that is their tendancy to group.Add poor wages and non availability of lands_U have slums
quiet affair...oops
KD
Folks,
Noted all your comments, thanks.
My question is - Is the economy is vibrant, if the numbers are true..per the report...does it mean that the economy doesn't reach everyone?
About Tamilians living in Chembur, etc..etc..true, I agree...but I haven't seen other groups of people moving to slums as our people do.
Also, reading between lines why did Bharathi say ' Thirai Kadal odiyum .!' Was it the same problem even then.?
Do you guys know of other poets in other languages who sang the same theme?
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