Rain in Slums

       Rain!!!Rain!! Rain!
                  What comes to your mind when you say the word rain...
Greenery, hot cup of tea and bhujiyas, rain songs,wet streets,smell of the earth, dancing peacocks, paper boats, playing football in rain..?????all this creates a very pleasant picture of Rainy season for most of us.
                  If in Mumbai how can we forget flooded roads, traffic congestion, delayed locals,  roaring sea, diseases...

                  The same monsoon has a different meaning for people who stay in the communities, 'basties'.There tiny homes are flooded with dirty water with their belongings floating in the water. All the family members are busy draining this water from their huts by pots and pans. As these slum areas have no drainage system they have to stay in this flooded home till the rain stops. Forgot to mention that there is no electricity. Its difficult to get one day's meal as they cant go out for their work.          They have to tread their path through ankle length water in order to reach the road from the maze of other slums around. Most of the people here work on daily wages basis so no work means no food.
                  They don't have proper drinking water facilities. people collect water dropping from their ceiling in pots and use it for drinking or household work. As a result community people easily fall prey to the diseases. 
           There is an  overcrowded ,single municipal hospital in nearby area catering to this big community population. Due to which the patients don't get immediate medical facilities and they can't afford to go to the private clinics or hospitals.They do have quite a few quacks in their communities taking advantage of this situation.
                 Eventually this all ends up in some body dying of diseases like Malaria,Gastro, cholera. At one point we talk about human rights and at the other end people lack basic civic facilities like food, water, shelter. Life has become cheap..
                      Water Water everywhere not a drop to drink...
                                                                                                                                     Miraculously they survive this ordeal gearing up for another monsoon to come...