4.09 Cities

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4.9.5 City versus Village

Moving to the big city

Hi Sarika, how are you?
Hi Uma, what are you doing here, in the city?
We just moved to Delhi last week. What are you doing here?
Yeah, we also moved last month. We sold our land.
Hahaha, who is left in our village then? It is better here than in the village, isn’t it?
Well… you will see.
It is good, because my daughters can go to a good school now. In the village there is only one teacher for all the classes, and she is old. I want a good future for my daughters.
It is true, but my sons are bullied in school. The other kids call them names, because they are from a village.
It is good because I can go shopping nearby, and I can buy whatever I want. In our village the only shop had only rice and cigarettes. Here I can even go to malls.
Yeah, you can, if you have enough money. Anyway, the streets are not safe. I am always scared when I have to go out. I don’t dare to take the bus. In the village everything was within walking distance. We all knew each other, so I was not afraid of leaving the house.
It is good, because my husband found a job and it pays more than working on the land.
My husband also has found a job. He drives a car, but here the streets are narrow and he is often stuck in traffic. He leaves the house early in the morning and comes home late.
It is good because there are parks here and we can go there for a walk. There is no park in the village.
Seriously? You dare go to a park? My younger son has asthma from the bad air. Some days the air is so thick that I can taste it. In the village we always had fresh air, and my sons were rarely ill. And the streets are dirty. Have you seen the trash everywhere?
We bought a house and it has a bathroom and a toilet. In the village we had to go out to do our business.
We also bought a small house, but it is near Sangam Vihar, which is a slum. We have piped water, but the slum doesn’t have it. In the slum people use communal toilets or they just do their business in the street. Now you can imagine the smell. There is a canal in front of the house, but it carries only dirty water from the houses. It is always stinky.
Well, let’s see. Worst case, we will move back to the village.
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