The urban poor ... their richness and their loss of livlihoods ...

An old man used to repair my cycle punctures. He operated out of a thatched shed. He reminded me of my village people - dignified, honest and honourable. He would say, 'Kadavul irrukiraar', ('God is there') - the same phrase as my village people 'Devudu unnadu'.

Today as I cycled past I saw that this shop had been torn down, the thatching thrown aside. Maybe it was 'illegally' on the footpath. What happened to him ? Where will he be able to set up shop again ? Would he have set up another thatched shed somewhere else ? Started building up a cliente ? In a new place where people would be used to going to some other similar cycle shop ?

The first and non negotiable duty of a country, of a government, of us citizens - is to ensure a decent livlihood to all. Everything else comes only after that. Everything else.
 

 

When I pass the old lady selling jasmine wreaths I have to buy from her  because she has become an old friend. And she sits looking at each passerby in hope. Then it dawned on me that what i am doing is not a friendly gesture - but a requirement.

Anyone poor working on earning an honest living needs others who can afford to to buy their products. A cobbler, a vegetable vendor, a hanky seller, an old lady selling jasmine wreaths, ...

And so though i has stopped wearing flowers, I restarted ...

Anybody looking for and following an honest livlihood - here the old lady buying and stringing and seling flowers - deserves the support of the community.

And when we do not buy from these small vendors we are doing a wrong. To extend, not wearing handlooms and supporting weavers, and instead wearing mill cloth is a wrong. Not buying from small vendors and buying from supermarkets is another wrong. To be aware is most important, and then we push as far as will and commitment permit ...