Slumdog is definitely the Class of '09. In a class-ridden country, it has trounced poverty-stricken class or below-the-poverty-line wallahs to become synonymous with the poorest of the poor. The term however has distinct urban overtones. You would not refer to a village dweller who earns Rs. 50 a day as a slumdog even if he lives further below the poverty line than his urban brethren do. Therefore, to rephrase, slumdog is now a class of Indian who lives below or near the (albeit urban) poverty line, in urban India. Essentially what the movie has done is recognise a class of poor who survive on the edge of large Indian cities.
Attitude is important in this Indian. As all such movies have depicted, Salaam Bombay included, the poor child / man is happy-go-lucky and has acquired a certain street-smartness that enables him to survive. He's cheeky, but likable. Like the boy who comes to my car window at a particular signal near Mahim causeway and asks for money and when i don't oblige, offers me a Rs. 5 coin instead, suggesting with wide innocent eyes - 'Madam, would you like me to give this to you, then?'
At first i was affronted, but then saw the humour and smiled. He grinned back. He had some entertainment at least in his day, if no money. That's fine with me and if I'm aiding his survival in this crazy city by helping him not lose his mind, i'll live with it.
The movie has made me think of these fellows. Every time a pirated book seller tries to thumb a lift from me at a signal, at least i think of where he lives. When he sits in the car and fills it with his smell, i don't hold my nose in disgust. When i see the same chap every other week, i heave a sigh of relief that he has not fallen victim to some slumlord scam. I don't do anything to prevent it, admittedly, but at least i'm privy to what could happen to him. That knowledge sits uneasily inside me while i go about my life as usual.
The Slumdog class has arrived. There may soon be a quota reserved for them. Some political party may espouse their cause. There may be self-immolations to uphold their rights. Where will it lead to, if anywhere? I'm asking myself this.
For us city dwellers, we will encounter them every day, from the people who come into our homes to work, to those we see on the streets, and finally in a film here and there. Will it change anything for us? I'm not sure at the moment.
I will not suggest that a social revolution is under-foot as a result of the movie. That would be an exaggeration. But surely, surely, there will be one child there, or one youth somewhere, who will be watching this unreal spectacle unfold. Who will be affected by the trip to LA,Disneyland, stardom and beyond of an under-privileged slum-child and who will want to do something to break out of his or her own circle of existence. Surely for someone from the Class of '09, a dream will be born that will grow to become bigger than them, bigger than the slum, bigger than the whole city and then the country and the world. Surely this is not just stuff of movies and fiction.
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