The pampered lot.

In quest for easier access to children's tutorials, entertainment, and to be near relative's circle,coupled with the fatigue of maintaining an independent house with a garden in the suburbs,we landed in this placein central Chennai.

I first saw it in mid afternoon and it looked very neat and clean though a huge slum tenements an housing board initiative of the govt was just on the opposite side, masking the dirty cooum river from eyesight.Beguiled by this and its affordability ,made me ok it.

Little did I know what was in store for me.Early in the morning the loudspeaker of the nearby temple [an encroachment into private property]would blare devotional songs in high decibel without single devotee nearby.Even the most pious would find this irritating in the stress laden morning hours.Then the verbal fights between the women pumping water would break out. Choicest curses which i have never heard before in my fairly long life , that to from women would fill the air.Rama!

After this dose of devotion and curses the evenings would be enlivened by fist cuffs between youths ,with their mothers,and sisters,who had just finished the verbal assaults on each other ,would intervene wailing aloud and dragging away their dear one's fearing for their lives.

Then there is the regular tamasha' s during election times.Parades, party songs, handshaking and smiles.Every politician ,the top ones made it a point to grace this street.So I had a ringside view of their personage and eloquence.

I fear the annual Thiruvizha's most and would make plans to get away from the noise pollution but never did.So go around with wads of cotton in my ears ,bemoaning my fate and lack of foresight in trading a idyllic quiet suburb to this hot spot.

Now all this has subsided to a large extent except the racket during every death, an daily occurrence, the loud beating of drums, whistles , drunken dancing and bursting of fire crackers.Ofcourse the hand pumps are cranked nonstop but the noise that once grated on my nerves has become a reassuring lullaby.

If one thinks that only New york is lit like day please visit my street.There are street lamps, tube lights, serial lights, mast lights,sodium vapour lights,blazing all through the night dazzling one's eyes.I have several windows but never get to see the stars, these lights eclipse them with their brilliance.I have to use heavy curtains to turn night into night!

The worst and nastiest deal handed out to us the middle class flat dwellers is the dumping of the garbage generated by the 1000's of residents of these tenements ,without batting an eyelid ,at our doorsteps.

From the amount of garbage generated it is obvious that none are poor any more.They have kept their own front clean and tidy and spoil our fronts daily.

None from our side dare question this insolent behaviour of the vote bank.Can't they dump their garbage on their road side or hand it over to corporation workers when they make their daily rounds?

In this rainy season the stench arising from the mountains of garbage piled and flung around [the pvt comp has removed all their bins] is terrible.

Why is it that the middle class ,the hardworking and tax paying section but voiceless section of the society has to be in the receiving end of every inconveniences foisted on it, in name of democracy,whilst the rich and the urban poor are deriving their own dividends?They can encroach on prime lands ,shut off dissenting voices either with the financial clout or the ability to gather huge vocal and belligerent crowds in a jiffy,whilst the middle class dies a hundred deaths at the very thought of encroaching or sullying others neighbour hood or in evading taxes.

The conscientious lot, with no conscious benefits, to alleviate its lot.