For a few previous months I was banging fruitlessly against the wall of ‘Uncertainty’. Now finally I am relieved, that I may not have to hunt for any ‘home’. All of us need a ‘home’; All of us need to nest our family. Fortunately I did have the privilege of time. I could choose the best from all options, which ‘time’ would generously give. I paid the ‘token’ amount to the broker who would confirm my new ‘home’. I sighed as the Damocles’ sword of ‘uncertainty’ disappeared from above me.
However I would eventually think about the ones whom ‘time’ never fortuned, namely our families at the Magdumpur slum.
The crisis there began, when they were informed that in a week’s time, they will have to evacuate the area of Magdumpur. We saw all our shelters being grazed down, only to be walled quickly on all four sides. An eminent sign on concrete cement claiming ‘Private Property’ was being put up. Those who delayed ‘bringing down’ their homes had to load their belonging over the brick wall. There was no choice. Now I asked myself: “will I be able to handle that ‘uncertainty’?”
The children echoed their parents’ fears at the school. There was a frantic search for new homes. Most of them shifted to a nearby area named ‘Maleshamau’. A few of the quick acting ones could displace themselves to closer vacant areas. A few others went back to where they had come from. Our school was one of the last surviving structures. It had stood majestic among the little shelters.
Now it had been deprived of any glory without the lovely children. The Paathshala department now worked on their toes. The displacement means rescuing what was being built up in these little lives. It involved tracking the families and assisting the kids in continuing their education. Finally we were able to resolve the issues. We had to begin a new school at Maleshamau.
The one in Makdumpur has been shifted to a nearby area to assist the remaining scattered families. Children are crowding once again! And the happier news is that we have two schools running at two different areas with children resuming their studies. Perhaps it was God’s doing!
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