"गिरणगाव" कल आज और कल "गिरणगाव" यह मराठी शब्द है गिरण मतलब "मिल" गाव मतलब तो आप जानते हो तो यह एक गाव था जो मुंबई शहर मै बसा था मुंबई शहर के दक्षिन मध्य मुंबई मै जो शुरू होती है परेल से भायखला और शिवडी से वरली तक यह मुंबई शहर के विभाग है इसी विभज मै ये गाव बस्ताता था जिन की सुबह मिल के सायरन के साथ होती थी. ये सारे मिल मजदुर महाराष्ट्र के अलग अलग हिसो से आये थे कोकण, पशिम महाराष्ट्र साथी दुसरे राज्य से भी थे आंध्र प्रदेश यूपी बिहार से. यहाँ ये एक कोशिश है उस गिरणगावको फिरसे आज की हमारी पीढ़ी है उनको यहाँ मौलुम हो क्युकी मुंबई यह इतिहास उनको जानना है उनको समजना. मेरी इस लेख दूर कोशिश है वह गिरणगाव समजो. गिरणगाव इस किताब के पन्नो को खोज ने की कोशिश है नारायण मेघजी लोखंडे देश के पाहिले मजदूर नेता रहे है उह्नोने मजदुर को संघटीत किया और उनके अधिकारों को भी जागृत किया उनके पहचत कॉ श्रीपाद डांगे, जोर्ज फर्नार्दिस डॉ दता सामंत ईनोने मजदूर को संघटित किया सन १८५६ मै पहली टेक्स्तिले मिल मुंबई मै शरू हुई उस समय मुमाबी शहर मै ६४ मिलले थी और उसकी सारी कमान नारायण मेघजी लोखंडे के हात मै थी उनके बाद सन १९७४ कॉ श्रीपाद डांगे के नेतृत्व के साथ हुई हड़ताल और १९८२ डॉ दता सामंत के नेतृत्व के साथ हुई हड़ताल ये दोनों भी गिनीज बुक ऑफ वर्ल्ड रिकॉर्ड मै दर्ज हुई. ये दोनों भी संप भारत इतिहास मै मिल मजदूर के मोवेमेंट का पन्ना रहेगा.१९८२ के बाद मिल मजदूर के मोवेमेंट का जो दूर था वह अहिस्ता अहिस्ता ख़त्म होने लगा. मिल मलिकोने और सरकारे ने मिलके मिल मजदूर हड़ताल करनेका जो मुलभुत अधिकार था वही ख़त्म करनेका कम किया और तो और मिल मजदूरो को जबरन फिरसे मिल मै कम करने के लिए जाना पड़ा ये बात है जब १९८२ के हड़ताल के बाद की उनके पास से लिख के लिया की हम फिरसे हड़ताल नहीं करेंगे. इसमे तकरीबन १ लाख मिल मजदूरो को काम पे नहीं लिया गया. क्या हुआ उनका किसी को कुछ पत्ता नहीं और नहीं सरकारने ये जानने की कोशिश की मिल चलने के बजाये मिल हड़ताल को अपनी ढाल बनाकर मिल मलिकोने मिल की जमीन बेचने की मांग सरकार के पास की यह दुर्भाग्य पूरण बात है मान्यताप्राप्त मिल युनियाने मिल मालिको के पक्ष मै एक मार्च निकला था. सन १९८४ से १९९० एस दूरान मुंबई शहर की १० मिलले बंद पडगई उसमे १५ हज़ार मजदुर कम कर रहे थे मिल मलिकोके इस धोरण की वजासे उनपे बेकारी की तलवार आगयी.उनको तनख्वहा भी नहीं दी गयी.उनके फंड जो भी बाकि थे वोह भी नहीं दी गए उसके लिए फिरसे लढाई शरू होगई. इस हड़ताल के बाद जो गिरणगाव मै जो आवाज़ था वह थम्ब्सा गया.पर मिल मजदुर हर मानने वालो मै से नहीं थे उनोने कूदने मिल चलने की शुरवात की और मुनाफा भी कर के दिकाया मुइम्बाई की स्वान और रघुवंशी मिल फिरसे शरू हो गयी एक तरफ न्यायालय मै लढाई तो दूर तरफ रस्ते का आन्दोलन ये दोनोभी सतह साथ करने पड़ रहे थे ये कम जादा दिन नहीं चला आखिर कर जब भारत १९९१ मै न्यू इकोनोमी पोलिस्य आई, जागतिकीकारन इस देश मै आया तब ये मिल अहिस्ता अहिस्ता सारी बंद होने लगी. संघर्ष की वजासे मिल मजोदुरोको थोड़ी बहुत रहत मिल मगर मिल फिरसे शुरू नहीं होए. मुंबई के लोअर परेल मै फिनिक्क्स नामक मिल मै मालिकोने विकास के नाम पे बड़े बड़े शूपिंग माल बोल्लिंग आल्यी टॉवर आये उसके साथ साथ एक कल्चर आये जो चंगळ वाद को बढावा देनेवाला था जो गिरणगाव का नहीं था. गिरणगवा का खुद का कल्चर था जो एक दुसरेके सुख दुख मै शरीक होने वाला था.उसमे एक अपनापन था आज वो सारा ख़त्म हो रहा है. मिल मलिकोने अपनी मिल चलने के लिए मिल मजदूरो रहने के लिए मकान बनवाए थे उसी मक़ाम मै उनकी तिन पुस्तिया गयी है आज वही मकान उनको खली करने कह रहे है.इन्ही मिल मजदूरो की वह जसे मी मालिकों बल्बोतेपर दिवाली मनाई आज वही मालिक उस मजदुर को भूल गए. आज हर जगह बाद बड़े टॉवर, माल दिख रहे है उन छोटी छोटी दुकानों क्या उनके दुकानों मै कोंन जायेगा. आज मिल मजदुर फिरसे गाव लोट रहे है, कुछ मुंबई शहर मै वो फेरीवाल का काम, वाच्मन का काम कर रहे है. ये शहर उन मजदूरो को भूल गया जिसने अपना खून देकर इस मुंबई को महाराष्ट्र राज्य मै रहेने दिया. उस मिल मजूदरो का कोंन पूछ रहा है उनको. मगर आजभी लढाई जरी है अपने हक्क के लिए आजभी मिल मजदुर गाव से आते है जभी आन्दोलन होता अपने घर के हो या अपनी फंड का प्रश्न हो किसीकी परवाह ना करते आते है एक उमीद के साथ जब सोचता हु आनेवाले गिरणगाव के बार मै तो दिमाग सुन्न हो जाता है

Matunga Labour Camp History

TRUE FOLLOWER OF AMBEDKARISM

The story of Bhagwat Jadhav is the story of the Matunga Labour Camp itself. His family was one of the earliestfolks to have settled down in the camp;and, his nostalgic reminiscences and fond memorieswould take any listener back in time in an instant. The Labor Camp is where he spent his childhood after he moved from his hometown Nasik at the age of four.  He continues to live here with his wife Janabai.

The Matunga Labour Camp is like any other government colony. Most residents who moved here from their native villages hail from districts such as Nasik, Satara and Nagar.  Initially, the Labour Camp was strictly a colony which housed onlythe migrant working class; where mostly people were employed either in the Railways or in several textile mills scattered all over Mumbai.

Jhadav who used to work at the Worli Milk Factory as a class four employee,spoke of the past with much affection. “The rent used to be 50 Paise when we moved to the camp. Thereafter, it was increased to Rs.5 and today the rent is Rs.48. At that time, the Pathan used to collect the rent and later the BMC appointed a rent collector called Gomes. They used to come late at night and we used to hide in other rooms where the rent collector could not find us”, he said.

Another one of Jadhav’s early memories is of the Ambedkar Chowk- a place where domestic conflicts used to be discussed amongst the entire community- and a united solution was meted out by the elderly and experienced individuals. “On most occasions”, Jhadav said, “It was the woman of the house who used to take the matter to the chowk, where her husband was confronted by others and had to oblige the public decision”. However, the Ambedkar Chowk today is an abandoned spot where only Ambedkar’s statue is planted and the space serves no communal function like it used to earlier. Jhadav lamented that in the present times, all the matters in the camp are supervised by the police, and he feels that there is no need of any police to solve the problems of the community.

There are four public schools in Matunga Labour Camp out of which, only one is open now. Jhadav along with others started a “Balwadi” or a pre-nursery school where a minimal fee of Rs.2 was charged so as to pay for Chalk, Blackboard and other such facilities. “Often, we used to distribute chocolates to the children in the community so that they would come and study at the Balwadi”, said Jhadav. During the early days, most of the children in the camp could not afford the luxury of education and saw it as a waste of time.  Most of them simply wanted to look for a job either in the Railways or the Mill.

However, the situation is drastically different today as the education system has become more and more commercialized- and most students are enrolledin coaching classes which require huge amounts of money- as parents don’t have enough time to look after their children’s education.

The change in the Labour Camp is not only occurring at a social level, but also on a purely tangible and geographical level.In 1950, Jhadav along with his family moved to a ground-floor chawl constructed by the BMC; which built five buildings in all called ‘ABCDE’. In 1960, another five were added and finally in 1963, ten more buildings were built.

Meanwhile, the political situation in the camp is primarily dominated by the Dalit Movement. People are united against injustice in the name of Babasaheb Amedkar and share a strong sense of community and brotherhood.

The organization of the Dalit community in the Matunga Labor Camp is centered around Ambedkar and his ideas. The Ambedkar Jayanti is celebrated with much gusto in the camp and is a week-long affair. In the past, each household used to donate up to Rs.2 for the celebrations where artists from all disciplines used to sing, act and perform for the entire community. The Dalit Movement was in its full vigor during the lifetime of Ambedkar. After his death, it was under the leadership of Dadasaheb Gaekwad, but it became fractured and fragmented, and consequently lead to the formation of the Dalit Panther Movement in 1977.

Moreover, the Sayunkta Maharashtra Movement which was started in 1957 as an anti-inflation movement also managed to influence the Dalit community who supported the movement completely. It was the coming together of two strong ideologies that influenced both communities mutually and inspired many artists such as Annabhu Sathey, Ahilya Ranganekar and Balraj Sahni.

Jhadav’s father was the ward president of the Schedule Caste Federation, which was a party started by Ambedkar in 1930. Before every public meeting, the shahir i.e. the poet used to sing the ambedkari jalsa which is a ballot composed in the praise of Ambedkar.

“The Matunga Labor Camp and Dharavi have grown up together, like bada bhai and chhota bhai,” said Jhadav. There is a certain amount of reciprocity which the two share; but there are major differences in their respective ideologies as well. Whenever the question is raised about redevelopment, the camp has always supported the people of Dharavi who have reciprocated by participating in the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations and lending support on any other cause as well. Moreover, the Labour Camp regularly celebrates thePeriyar Ramaswamy Jayanti, which is a significant festival for the Dravidian community in Dharavi. However, Jhadav is quick to point out that the relationship is far from being smooth and there are certain points of disagreement between the two as well. For instance, “The leather community in Dharavi called ‘Charmkar’ do not interact with the Dalit community in the camp as they nurture a sense of superiority”, said Jhadav.

The change in the Labour Camp has now become constant. Most of the families are moving out of the camp to live in various suburbs in the city such as Badalpur and Virar. Many have sold their houses as joint families are rapidly breaking up and children moving out. Moreover, the camp is also changing in terms of its demographic composition as it is becoming more cosmopolitan and is no longer a place solely for the Dalit community of Mumbai. 

Dharavi Photo Essay

         Suffering or Shining Mumbai

The picture is between Sion and Matunga Station of Central Railway which is life line of Mumbai city. Right side of picture recorded largest slum in Asia that’s Dharavi. Left side is Middle class or upper class Residential area. There is out rightly class segregation or difference  we can easily see it one side of society is shining. Always they get all kinds  benefit but on the other side through they are the suffering people of this society but they are the pillars of the city , because of them city run proper manner. They are the real creator of society they are proud to be a Dharavikar. Despite of these what they get that’s question raise in mind.

              In right of the picture which is in Dharavi near railway track there is Dhobi Ghat, Dhobi its Hindi word known as the worker who is washing the cloth. After finish of washing, he has dying that cloth but he don’t have another space for dying so he use middle space two railway track as Natural Dying Machine.

              In Sion side there is three storage, four storage building which middle class colony in teraace of that is building   we can see the mobile satellite tower that means they are the modern  people. In other side we can find the Electric Tower which provide electricity to city

              But in Dharavi  side of are we can see one ground floor or maximum 1 or 2 storage slum some of them are pukka houses or some of them tin houses but they don’t get basic needs like good water sanitation. But in other side we can see its 24 hour water supply all kind basic sanitation provided by Municipal Corporation

              In the process of Globalization or Modernation all section of people should get equal benefit of city. But this bread butter only get  one section of people and that was upper class. It cannot reach last section of society. This indicates me city is shining in one side only

HISTORY OF DHARAVI

Dharavi, spread over 540 acres of land and around 70,000 households, is the biggest slum in Asia. The history of Dharavi dates back to the pre-independence period. As per the records, the earliest colony of fishermen in the area known as Dharavi today was set up way back in 1910.

Dharavi is located in Sion, also its old  name is  sheev.  The  translation of this Marathi word is ‘Border’. Historically, the Dharavi slum was set up outside the city because as per the prevalent social norms of that time, people involved in occupations such as leather, pottery and fishing were considered of lower caste and their place was outside the village.so they are live in city as 'Gavkusa bahercha jina.

In 1912, Mumbai was developing, and a port and sea-route was the only convenient itinerary to reach Mumbai from Gujarat. Around 150-200 potter families used to come from Saurashtra via the sea route to Mumbai for eight months a year. The soil around the Dharavi area was perfect for their business. These families used to live in small huts made of coconut tree leaves. In 1932, all these huts were burned in an inferno, after which the trader community in Mumbai helped these potter families with money, food and shelter.

 After this, these 200 families were settled permanently in Dharavi and started their small-scale business of producing earthen pots, diyas, murals etc. Now, around 385 families work in Kumbharwada. Kumbharwada produces around 70% of the earthen pots and diyas sold in Mumbai. The 13 acres of land provide employment to 2,000 workers.

Khairlanji Anniversary 2011 29sep11 By Atrocity News Service

Today is the 5th Anniversary of  Khairlanji Atrocity happened in Oct. 2007.  The atrocity questioned the real interest of People into the principles of Humanity. Though it is One among the 368 Notorious Atrocities committed on Buddhist Converts , it has all the elements of uncivil outlook of Indian Society in pronounced way.

Witnessing people in general, social activists, lawyers, doctors, politicians and Buddhist Monks congregating from all corners of the world for paying floral tributes to Bhotmange family.  The family Leader Surekha, was humiliated and her dignity was taken for ride by Hindu Gang before murdering her. Later her blind son, brillient daughter and another son were murdered.

Khairlanji massacre has become a WATERSHED that sensitized media, civil society and politic by producing a realistic perspective on caste violence very deeply. Father Bhaiyalal was present in Khairlanji. There is an equivocal demand for having the ‘Khairlanji Memorial Pillar’ in front of the hut. None of the violent incidents reported till this time all over country. Atrocitynews correspondent from Khairlanji reports gathering everywhere, many more joining in groups in diffrent places to pay respect to the Bhotmange Family. We will come with the photographs for our readers soon.

Girangaon Out of Focus: By Rachel Lopez Time Out Mumbai Magzine 2009

Mumbai’s mills were already fast disappearing when Ajit Abhimeshi began to photograph them in 2005, in an effort to capture the changing face of Girangaon. A former resident of the area, 27-year-old Abhimeshi found that several decaying structures had given way to malls and office complexes even as the neighbourhoods around them stayed the same. “I grew up at a time when the mills had already shut,” said Abhimeshi. “I got to see only empty buildings. But my children won’t even be able to see these structures. An important chapter of Mumbai’s past will have disappeared forever.”

 

Abhimeshi’s images, roughly 30 of which will constitute Girangaon Out of Focus, an exhibition at Rachna Sansad, help archive what’s still standing. His images show lone chimneys lost among new skyscrapers and neighbourhoods that house the last of Mumbai’s former mill labourers. Empty shells of outer walls offer views of new constructions beyond, while moss and creepers take over factory facades.  

 

The exhibition is part of a continuing project by the research group Pukar to examine the area’s livelihood, infrastructural and educational opportunities through the lens of the caste system. Though there’s a belief that caste barriers dissolve in a metro like Mumbai, Pukar’s executive director Anita Patil-Deshmukh said that these divisions “are actually reinforced and stronger than ever”, pointing to city ghettoes and caste-specific professions. Abhimeshi contributes with mill photography and research on city celebrities who emerged from chawls, the commercialisation of community festivals and Girangaon’s khanavals – tiny kitchens run by women for millworkers living alone in Mumbai.  

 

Abhimeshi’s exhibition opens on January 18, the date that marks the anniversary of the day union leader Datta Samant started the enormous mill workers strike against the Bombay Mill Owners Association in 1982. “Twenty-six years on, most mill workers’ children are unaware of the strike,” said Abhimeshi, who hopes his images say what history books don’t.

 

The photo exhibition is a preview to a Girangaon festival that Pukar will organise later this year. “Two locations in Mumbai, Dharavi and Girangaon, are going through an unprecedented transformation never before witnessed in history,” she said. “Dharavi has been studied and studied and studied, but no one has looked at Girangaon. We’re telling these people that we revere their contribution to the city. We understand what they have been through.”

City of Gold review by Sonia Chopra

Movie
City of Gold
Director
Mahesh Manjrekar
Cast
Vineet Kumar, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Kashmira Shah and Satish Kaushik


The film’s title is sarcastic. For the message, it wishes to inculcate is that while Mumbai is assumed to be city of gold (opportunities), these riches have been paved upon the toils of several mill workers who never got their due.
The setting is a chawl in the `80s (a time when mill shutters were being downed robbing thousands of their livelihood) – the protagonists are a family supported by a textile mill-worker. The workers haven’t been paid for six months and are being encouraged to retire voluntarily. Without any income, the workers’ families are distraught. Tired of false promises by the owners who are keen to sell off the land for a new mall, a family in the chawl commits suicide. Their union leader Rane (Sachin Khedekar) fights for their rights, but can’t battle the attitude of his own people who are ready to quit the fight for a little money.

There are some arresting moments – you truly feel for the plight of the workers, and are moved when their firebrand leaders climb on top of cabs and rev up the workers. The story of disillusioned young, with an easy access to alcohol, guns and smooth-talking crime lords is also disturbing.

The character you feel for the most is the home’s matriarch Aai (Seema Biswas) who sees each of her children let her down one by one. Post-retirement, the husband too refuses to take any responsibility. It’s left to her to handle the lives of each of her family members, and welcome money into the home, even if got by questionable means. She watches helplessly as one son loses a job over robbery, another gets embroiled in crime, while a third must sell a kidney to keep things afloat.

The realism is often hampered by melodramatic bits: the neighbourhood wife having an extra-marital affair explaining her infidelity, for the benefit of the viewer and the eavesdropping husband outside the door; the women turning to prostitution; criminal gangs running with 14-year-olds drunk on power and alcohol, and so on.

This melodrama has been questioned also by a columnist who quotes PUKAR activist Ajit Abhimeshi.

As per the article, Abhimeshi who has had first-hand experience of working with mill workers, City of Gold chooses to showcase only the sensational bits – “Instead of choosing to show how women of mill workers often got together in the most enterprising of ways, the film chooses to focus on those rare cases of prostitution that may have happened. The underworld did seep into the neighbourhood. Unemployment and lack of financial support did have the potential to degrade the most ethical of youngsters. But never to the point that anyone would attack a passerby at night or pick up a fallen vada pav from the pavement. This is clearly a gaze that comes from the outside.”

And truly enough, the film plays on one heart-rending episode after the other, never seamlessly weaving them all. It’s mean to manipulate and shock (a character ends up with a contract to kill his own friend’s father; another character dies most unexpectedly), never really saying much.

Mahesh Manjrekar (Astitiva, Virudh, Vaastav) while taking up the cause of the mill worker doesn’t tell us enough. What we see is stock film portrayal of the city’s underprivileged and their daily struggle for survival. You wish the film had delved deeper with a more hands-on approach and more layered characters. The ending sequence is simply offensive. The Maharashtrian family speaking in Hindi also robs the film of its authenticity; one is certain the Marathi version (Lalbaugh-Parel) is more effective. Performance by the cast is a huge bonus.

One can call the film somewhat gripping, but hardly one that explores the mill worker’s tribulations with an honest heart.

Link - http://www.sify.com/movies/bollywood/review.php?id=14939523&ctid=5&cid=2425