1. The first thing that would strike you in a slum is the noises that would engulf you as soon as you enter. A band playing the latest blockbuster for somebody's wedding, while a group of youngsters practising on the song "Jinke aage Ji, jinke peeche ji, jinke aage peeche ji ji,...." for the sangeet function, with the song playing at full blast on a 10,000watt player.
There would certainly be a temple close by with either the aarti playing or a group of middle aged to aged ladies singing bhajans on a microphone, with the assumption that the louder they sing, the better God will fulfil their worldly desires. And God alone save you if either the Ganesh Puja or the Durga Puja is round the corner.
Be ready to lose sleep for atleast 7-8 days while the jobless dwellers of the so called society busy themselves in dancing, dining and playing Tambola (gambling in the name of God) through the night, all ofcourse accompanied by very-very loud music.
Another very common form of noise is adults, both men and women, fighting at the top of their voices. It could be for water, for maintenance money, for maids, for the post of the society administrator, for throwing garbage near each other's houses, or any thing else that I am not even able to think of.
2. The next important aspect of any slum is the garbage. Mango and banana peels, biscuit wrappers, empty haldiram's mixture packets, disposable cups and glasses, cat, cow and buffalo shit, beer bottles, rice and dal thrown from the fourth or the fifth floor balcony, torn underwears, and most importantly the paan juice at every possible corner and walls.
Yeah, I must mention that dabur lal dant manjan's red juice and the colgate tooth paste's white froth are also patch worked on the area just below the first floor houses' balconies.
3. The stink will not be missed. Though it will take you sometime to realise its presence as you will be totally overtaken by the noise and the garbage initially. Urine, animal shit, rotten food, stink from the nearest Municipal Corporations garbage collection area (which seems to be located almost every one meter in a slum) are all common. And yes, the smell of alchohol is pretty common too.
A few other salient features, which must be mentioned, though may not have meat enough to write a paragraph about are:
4. Lack of fresh air and sunlight in houses.
5. You can see your neighbour beating his wife at night from the kitchen balcony and hear another neighbour abusing his wife from your own bedroom.
6. Mosquitoes.
7. Kids running around without footwear (everywhere....not only at home).
8. Highly decked up ladies in artificial jewellery for even festivals of lesser significance.
9. Many dwellers may own high end cars like honda cities and ford ikons, but would still throw garbage from their balconies and would still abuse their wives at the top of their voices.
10. And last but not the least, everyone, almost everyone of them, love their share of free food at temples, weddings and Ganesh Pujas.
There would certainly be a temple close by with either the aarti playing or a group of middle aged to aged ladies singing bhajans on a microphone, with the assumption that the louder they sing, the better God will fulfil their worldly desires. And God alone save you if either the Ganesh Puja or the Durga Puja is round the corner.
Be ready to lose sleep for atleast 7-8 days while the jobless dwellers of the so called society busy themselves in dancing, dining and playing Tambola (gambling in the name of God) through the night, all ofcourse accompanied by very-very loud music.
Another very common form of noise is adults, both men and women, fighting at the top of their voices. It could be for water, for maintenance money, for maids, for the post of the society administrator, for throwing garbage near each other's houses, or any thing else that I am not even able to think of.
2. The next important aspect of any slum is the garbage. Mango and banana peels, biscuit wrappers, empty haldiram's mixture packets, disposable cups and glasses, cat, cow and buffalo shit, beer bottles, rice and dal thrown from the fourth or the fifth floor balcony, torn underwears, and most importantly the paan juice at every possible corner and walls.
Yeah, I must mention that dabur lal dant manjan's red juice and the colgate tooth paste's white froth are also patch worked on the area just below the first floor houses' balconies.
3. The stink will not be missed. Though it will take you sometime to realise its presence as you will be totally overtaken by the noise and the garbage initially. Urine, animal shit, rotten food, stink from the nearest Municipal Corporations garbage collection area (which seems to be located almost every one meter in a slum) are all common. And yes, the smell of alchohol is pretty common too.
A few other salient features, which must be mentioned, though may not have meat enough to write a paragraph about are:
4. Lack of fresh air and sunlight in houses.
5. You can see your neighbour beating his wife at night from the kitchen balcony and hear another neighbour abusing his wife from your own bedroom.
6. Mosquitoes.
7. Kids running around without footwear (everywhere....not only at home).
8. Highly decked up ladies in artificial jewellery for even festivals of lesser significance.
9. Many dwellers may own high end cars like honda cities and ford ikons, but would still throw garbage from their balconies and would still abuse their wives at the top of their voices.
10. And last but not the least, everyone, almost everyone of them, love their share of free food at temples, weddings and Ganesh Pujas.
