It has been SIX months. Governments have changed.
Chargesheets have been filed. The accused are in custody. The victims have been
distributed cheques.
The city moves on. New malls have cropped up. Metro railway is under
construction on a war level.
I live hardly a kilometer away from Nithari but for the last
six months I had been just reading about it in the newspapers. Somehow, I
grabbed my camera and courage to go past the dingy lanes of Nithari ironically juxtaposed
with the slick sectors alongside.
I saw a police barricade and some policemen on duty near the
police chowki. The villagers seemed to have come to terms with life and its
realities. I had planned to take some snaps and video of them. Interview them –
maybe I could be another Barkha Dutt.
But my hands and fingers felt numb. I felt as if I was
trying to unclothe a nude woman. I felt as if I was attempting to scratch some
wounds which showed signs of healing but carried some ugly scars. So I stopped.
Instead I captured the city’s apathy. The symbols of ‘development’.
And somewhere, I found that human memory is too short. We move on as something
else captures the headlines.
We tell ourselves- we are safe and secure. *
*Until something as horrific as Nithari happens again....
PS: I normally do not write back to back reviews...But somehow, I felt strongly about this today..and posted the review.*...So, thanks for bearing my spam!