Saturday, September 22, 2007

From "Indian Slum" to "Shining India"

There are many paths from a Slum to the "Shining India". Here are two:

This one is a short and quick... takes less than 2 minutes


India Nude


The other one is a longer route to dignity, more arduous path... yet, one which celebrates the human spirit... love, support, self-confidence...:


Indian Slum Girl Makes it


Surprisingly (again, not-really-surprisingly!), this piece of information came not from the star-struck Indian media, but from Al-Jazeera

[On another note, it is nice to post this 251st post on Alternative Perspective on the eve of its 5th anniversary;0)]

6 comments:

Santhosh said...

Prof. Shukla,

Congratulations on the 251st post and the 5th Anniversary.

The first video is btw shot in Chennai, which I believe is one of the easier cities in India for the poor to survive. I guess that why its common to find slum settlements next to gleaming malls - while there could have been attempts to displace the poor, they have strong political backing and are well organized.

However, the point still remains that they lack basic services and reasonable living conditions.

Santhosh

gaddeswarup said...

Professor Shukla,
I have forwarded this post to acquitances from Visakhapatnam. It seems to have stimulated one of them to start what he has been thinking for some time: to start some scholarships in a college where he studied.

madhukar said...

Prof Swarup:
thanks! that is really a good news. Often it is just one such support that can change a life...

Santhosh:
Yes, the clip is from Chennai... and I guess one would find malls next to slums (give or take a couple of kms) all over India :(

Jo said...

Dear Professor,

I have always enjoyed your posts. Thanks you for this blog and the information you pass on.

Frank Partisan said...

Congratulations. This blog is a pioneer in blogdom. Very good blog.

How does one afford college, when the main earner, is making $2.00/day.



Regards.

madhukar said...

@Renegade Eye!

thanks for the appreciation... the Al-Jazeera mentions:

"The couple received little help for Fatima's studies initially. They went hungry to pay for her books and university fees... Eventually, a charity gave Salary and Fatima a soft loan to part finance her engineering degree and despite the odds, Fatima worked hard and earned her engineering degree with distinction."

I guess, it is all about getting that first dollar/Re that gives one the platform to get one more dollar/Re.