I had gone to check out an apartment in Cuffe Parade with a friend. He wanted a second opinion on a place he was thinking of getting. We entered the apartment complex and it was really nice. The cars parked there ranged from from Honda City to Mercedes Benz. So it was clearly a well-to-do building. We entered the building and there were 3 elevators (there's a reason I'm mentioning the number of elevators! Read on to find out...). We got into an elevator and took it to the 20th floor, where the apartment was. The apartment was huge with the most amazing sea view. I'm not sure how much it would cost to buy the apartment, but my best guess would be at least $1 million (Rs. 4 Crore). And renting it would be anywhere between $2500-5000 (Rs. 1-2 Lakhs). So CLEARLY an upscale apartment.
After we saw the apartment, we pushed the elevator button and waited for it to come so we could go down. The broker's agent was with us too. The elevator door opened and we walked in. Suddenly the elevator man stopped the broker's agent to come in. The elevator man told the agent to take the elevator to the right of us. My friend and I told the elevator man that the agent was with us and convinced him to let the agent get in our "not-for-poor-people" elevator.
On the way down, the elevator stopped on the 12th floor, and a maid was standing there waiting for the "poor-people" elevator!!! She knew she couldn't get into the same elevator as us so she just stood there while the door to our elevator shut and we continued to go down.
The whole way down I was a little shocked and was trying to figure out the stupidness that just happened.
Since then I have been trying to understand the logic and still haven't figured it out. The "poor" maid can go inside the "rich" people's houses and clean and cook and touch things around the house but she can't get in the same elevator as the "rich" people?! The driver can drive the Mercedes around and the "rich" people can be sitting right in the back seat but the "poor" driver can't get into the same elevator as the "rich" people?! The "poor" laundry man can iron the "rich" man's clothes, but can't get into the same elevator as the "rich" people?!
I thought education was a way to a more just society. I"m guessing the tenants of this apartment are educated considering its one of the most expensive locations in Mumbai, there's such outright discrimination. Have we just forgotten to notice these things?
What kind of a message are we sending the children that are growing up in that building? What kind of a psychological toll does it take on the "poor" people who are subjected to the segregation?
On this note, there's a must-watch video called A Class Divided. It is about an Iowa schoolteacher who, the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in 1968, gave her third-grade students a first-hand experience in the meaning of discrimination. It's the story of what she taught the children, and the impact that lesson had on their lives.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/
Enjoy!
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