Skip to main content

Who Migrates for Fun?


Why isn't the world concerned with human immigration that is under covers? I mean, yes it is, in the sense of banning illegal entry and deporting refugees at the drop of a hat, but what about the human aspect?

Imagine this - You grow up in a land you call your own, Your family, your school, college, workplace, social circle, everything is here. Then things start deteriorating - with unemployment, vanishing opportunities, targeting you for your religion/caste/gender, deliberate isolation and victimization. One day, things get so bad, you have no other option left, than leaving that same place you loved so much - for good. But visas are not for grabs, and passports are delayed/held up for various causes. You pool in your life's savings, sell your property, maybe your kidney, and manage to get a berth in any of the illegal transport routes to the promised land of your dreams. The land where you can breathe free. 

Get this - no one leaves the land they were born and grew up in, just like that. There is always some compulsion. Especially, when going the illegal way is slightly better than getting burnt alive.

So, when you reach the promised land, after a harrowing, devastating, bone-crushing journey, you are denied entry. We don't want you - they spell out clearly. You beg, you plead, you agree to clean toilets and scavenge - just for a inch of space. Finally, after a lot of negotiation, you get entry. Settling down as second class citizens, you can't vote, can't raise your voice against any injustice, have to make do with discards.

Then one day, some megalomaniac despot comes and decides, you are vermin, you don't belong in the golden land. Get lost. immediately. So you are tied up in chains, stripped off any shred of dignity you may have, herded like cattle, and thrown into a crowded plane on the return flight of over 20 hours.

Back in your own country, no one wants you back (remember why you left in the first place). You are grudgingly allowed to land. The administration looks the other way at your plight.

Welcome to the 21st century slave! Neither here, nor there, the citizen of no-man's land.

#illegalmigration #immigrantsplight #deportationof migrants #trafficking

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Enough! No more rape!

The recent horrifying, stomach-churning incident in Kolkata is not a one-time aberration. It keeps occuring in our country. And we women are also responsible for this stinking rot in society. Ask yourself these uncomfortable questions. How many of you protest when a girl wearing "revealing clothes" is cat-called?  Did you show your support for our wrestlers protesting against a habitual offender? Did your blood boil when you saw pictures of our sisters in Manipur paraded naked?  When rapists are released from prison or routinely escape punishment, do you raise your voice? How many of you have tolerated violence or even casual sexism in your own home? Do you turn the other way when transgenders are leered at? Do you grin and bear it when the men in your family crack obscene jokes? Do Kathua and Hathras ring a bell? And lastly, how many of you thronged cinema halls to make misogynistic horrors like Animal and Kabir Singh blockbusters? I have asked myself and am distinctly feeli...
Post a Comment
Read more

All We Imagine as Light- Lyricism on Celluloid

When an Indian film makes it the prestigious Cannes film festival, the world sits up and takes notice! And the lovely ladies swinging on the stage is a recent memory that brings a sense of pride. I had the good fortune to catch this film on screen recently. A review of such work is unnecessary, but still am bursting to say a few words. Right from the scintillating background score, to the events that unfold like pages fluttering in an open book, to the effortless performances, it's a masterpiece all right! The first half romances Mumbai- in the rains, at night, in the bazaars, in dingy rooms, in the local trains. Image source: Wikipedia  The second half shows what light truly is, brilliant sunshine, crashing waves and salty air in a small coastal village in Maharashtra. You can feel the taste of salt, the breeze in your hair and the touch of sand under your feet, the cinematography is so real. Payal Kapadia masters the art of holding back, of showing beauty in the mundane. The hosp...
Post a Comment
Read more

Laapataa Ladies - the Unfortunate Story of Lost Women

Laapataa Ladies is a deceptively simple, yet extremely thought-provoking satire couched in a simple story of exchanged brides. Image Source: IMdB This is the unfortunate story of countless ordinary women living under the veil, in the shadow of uncaring men. Who can't remember any details of their husband or the sasural they are married into. Who are trained only to obey their husband, do their duty in the kitchen, and follow orders of in-laws. Who don't have the liberty to study or do something for their own betterment. What can we expect for such women, except a lifetime of slavery? If the husband happens to be good, then there's some ray of hope. If he's a rascal, then God save her. Thanks to Kiran Rao for addressing the woes of 80% of Indian women living in nameless villages. And thanks for calling out the "greatest fraud" - the fraud of getting ready for marriage and domesticity. Where you can make the perfect kalakand, but you can't find your way...
Post a Comment
Read more