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RAGPICKERS:
scavengers at a different graveyard
a
documentary on the rag-pickers of Mumbai
As
of today, the city of Bombay generates nearly 8 million tons of
Waste (household, commercial, hotels and restaurants, markets,
institutional, construction etc etc). 85,000 Ragpickers (the name by
which garbage collectors are popularly known in India), it is
estimated, help the Bombay's Municipal Corporation’s effort to
manage solid, recyclable waste and control hazards of pollution,
health and hygiene for its residents.
The
highly independent and industrious lot of Ragpickers also ekes out a
living by sorting out and selling a large part of the city’s
increasing load of waste. Most of them are from below the poverty
line and lower socio-economic strata and live a difficult life,
earning between 40-150 rupees a day.
Remarkably,
over 80% of them are women --- mostly wives of alcoholic or
deserting husbands or even widows --- women who continue to raise
their children, dreaming of a brighter future for them.
Even
though they might sport an impoverished look, they, therefore, are
very different from the beggars that many people mistake them for.
At the worst, indeed, they are scavengers of a different kind. Like
the scavengers, however, they help us maintain some ecological
balance and environmental cleanliness, with a little profit for
themselves.
What
is their world like? What draws them to an unromantic workplace like
the various dumping centers, big and small and garbage bins around
the city? What is the gap between their dreams and their reality?
What do they feel about the world which offers them only rubbish?
How do they grapple with their problems that range from bringing
home money for the next meal to running an errant household to
pitching small dreams for their children?
The
film, RAGPICKERS, scavengers of a
different graveyard, attempts to explore this tenuous world
of theirs and create a sensitive portrayal of a group of people who
rarely move away from the fringe. Yet, how they live a brave life,
seldom compromising on their inherent dignity!
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