Guest dada_rocks Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 The 'Sarbaharas' These illegal migrants, who like to call themselves 'sarbaharas' (ones who've lost everything), have the peculiar tendency of wallowing in their misery, blaming the world for their misfortune, and expecting doles in perpetuity. Yes, they got a worse deal than those who fled West Pakistan at the time of Partition because the union and Punjab government rolled out generous rehab packages for them. But all said and done, the refugees to Punjab were enterprising, hard-working and ambitious and are, now, big traders, industrialists, professionals etc. The one from East Pakistan who chose a small patch in a pavement five decades ago to do petty business is still there, full of angst, expecting the world and the rest of humanity to somehow feel guilty and do something for him. He has modest savings, but will never use that to start a new business or to shift vocations. His stall on the pavement yields enough to put rice, dal and, occasionally, a small piece of fish, on his plate and he's happy with that; he won't make any effort (at least not the hard-working and enterprising way) to increase his earnings. Most hawkers, according to many surveys, have large families despite their poverty. Their kids, thanks to them, have the same negative attitude. The stories we hear of them scoring high marks and getting admission to medical or engineering colleges are exceptions to the rule. We don't, of course, hear of a single case of any of them or their children becoming successful entrepreneurs. They'll continue to occupy Kolkata's pavements, assert their moral right to do so (they're, after all, 'sarbaharas') and will continue to resist big-format retail stores, thus forcing Kolkatans to shop from the pavements and filthy markets. We, after all, have to empathise with those who fled persecution. And so what if that happened four decades -- or more -- ago? http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20080711&fname=kolkata&sid=1&pn=3
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