As I write these words at the odd hour of the day, or night as I must say, I feel to be in trance of gloom. My Allahabad also seems to be engulfed in a pall of gloom these days. May be it is my reflection exacerbated by sight of an otherwise beautiful city enshrouded by unbearable dust. The abnormal amount of dust is not because of summer parched landscape of Northern India. Instead, it is the outcome of the developmental exercise of laying down of the sewage system in the whole city. It is ironical that a system being created to manage human waste is causing pollution since inception. I positively hope that it is the only reason behind the recent high ranking of Allahabad in pollution hierarchy.
It’s all in the mind. Is it? I feel that genuine Allahabadi psyche is quite confused these days. Neo-liberalisation is clamping down the natural growth of the city. Being a major railways centre, it is well connected to many cities today, especially the so-called centres of development. The fear of Allahabad becoming their replica looms large. Seeking refuge in materialism without gaining any insight about it is creating the foundation for a dangerous prospect. Where shall we reach treading this path devoid of the beauty of poetry and life?
Our future generations will be completely unaware of our great past in coming days. The legacy of this city will be reduced to mere embellishments on paper, which might provide fodder for advertisements but not the thoughts. The fate of Ganges and Yamuna lies in hands of thankless denizens who love exploitation more than replenishment. Perhaps, Saraswati forebode these happenings and wisely decided to become invisible and reside in this city.
Education is plummeting to shockingly new low levels. Democracy, sometimes also presents animal instincts of human beings who are ready to cross all limits to assert themselves. This whole cycle of discrimination and reverse discrimination will one day turn us all against each other. The land of love, I fear will bear fruits of hatred which shall not be as sweet as the famous guavas.
Masaan, a critically acclaimed film recently had a scene in which lovers drove to Allahabad from Varanasi (or Banaras as we call it). The movie ends on the ghats of Sangam, symbolising the significance of union of two hearts ripped apart because of different reasons. We must not allow this automated gloom to deprive our waters of the surreal power of confluence. If it happens, we shall be nothing but bodies sans souls. A life so lived is worthless, howsoever, successful it might seem to be.
Joyous youth, eternal piety and redeeming nature of our Allahabad must always remain intact in order to conserve the sanity of this universe. Falling prey to ideals without understanding its basic nature has always been the cause of the decline of various groups and races in the history of humanity. Mistakes must not be repeated. The city which provided justice to Siras cannot afford to become a breeding point of conflict and regressive ethos.
We must move forward and evolve ourselves in ways which justify our birth as human beings. Otherwise, this scintillating life would be wasted for a failed cause! May all this ultimately turn out to be the happenings of a night of interlude and fade into the dawn of joy gracefully.
– Prashant
Small City Thinker 