A glimpse into man-made poverty and the abundance of earth

What exactly is a residential location in a country such as Sri Lanka where the urban poor living below the poverty line is the phantom many of us do not wish to see?

- Pic by Shehan Gunasekara

So we shun away from sights – such as tinned roofs hanging gingerly on the brink of collapse, worn out clothes of men, women and children poised forlornly on rickety fences drying out in the sun and families living in one roomed shacks (without a legitimate deed) forced to use the road as their hallway. These are the so called ‘non residential areas.’ But they are residential areas too. Human beings live there

By the Harmony page team

In keeping with the times, let us ready our minds for a minor epiphany. 

When was the last time you heard or used some of these phrases; “A house in a good residential location.” “A decent neighbourhood.” “A very refined person.” “From a high, cultured background.” 

Revealing a lot about our unconscious, polarised myopia, these terms creep regularly in our cocooned conversations. Such as for example when one searches for houses to either buy or rent. Let us reflect awhile. 

What exactly is a residential location in a country such as Sri Lanka where the urban poor living below the poverty line is the phantom many of us do not wish to see? Although we witness it daily. Unless of course we travel akin to funereal motorcades that sheathed our eyes and leeched our lives. 

Let us examine our unconscious psyche. 

It has been the privileged fad of the few in comparison to the hurdles of survival of the many, to avoid like a plague even a vestige of reality of the masses. Those who cannot afford ‘residential areas.’ The reality where the ostentatious creation of poverty has overwhelmed the natural order of abundance that is the birthright of the nation may often elude us in our own struggle for snatches of comfort. Thus we may never have spent time wondering what it is like to live in so called ‘non residential areas.’ Such as, say near the Meethotamulla garbage dump and the numerous other such locations human beings are forced to squalor in grossly unsanitary conditions. 

Our miniscule bubbles

How many times have some of us apathetically slunk away into our miniscule bubbles without giving our minds space to understand that what we have done is killed empathy, a natural human quality that generally if untampered with, would not allow us to hoard our petty luxuries when others of our human family are living complete paradoxical conditions? 

So we shun away from sights – such as tinned roofs hanging gingerly on the brink of collapse, worn out clothes of men, women and children poised forlornly on rickety fences drying out in the sun and families living in one roomed shacks (without a legitimate deed) forced to use the road as their hallway. These are the so called ‘non residential areas.’ But they are residential areas too. Human beings live there. 

We well know this. We see malnourished children running around narrow roads close to unhygienic waterways or dumping grounds that are a world apart from large and meticulously mowed lawns with formidable gates that some of us are so attached to. Those ‘cultured neighbourhoods’ that cost astronomical sums are but mirages. If one photographs them, yes they are there and the mirage is that it would seem as if they represent a very opulent country. But it does not. It represents a country sharply divided on wealth and opportunity. 

So maybe when we travel across this country with open eyes, by train, by bus and by foot, we may see with our hearts that which we have never questioned. Maybe we feared this questioning. Because questioning would turn us inward into seeing versions of ourselves we would not be comfortable with. It is this non questioning apathy that had marked our existence for over seven decades after independence where our consciousness was like a murky mirror where the reflection of ourselves was smudged with dis-use. 

Yet, most things in this planet are subject to change and there is possibly an expiry limit to humans deluding themselves. So maybe we can at least now be aware that every inch in this this planet overall is ‘residential,’ and ‘decent,’ and ‘cultured’ and whatever other appellation we would like to affix. What makes this earth non residential and indecent and uncultured is human greed, oblivion, and miserly self centredness that takes upon oneself that which is the proportion of our fellowmen. 

Abundance

Abundance is probably the one word that is necessary to describe this world in a naturalistic sense. This earth, is abundant, i.e. when left to its own devices. There is no doubt about it. A piece of land when left untouched by man’s selfish, arrogant scheming, designs its own larder – to feed all of the living beings. Try ignoring your lawn for a year. Then ignore it for two more years. You will find the birds excellent foresters and agriculturists. Just try it. You will probably not have to worry about your ignorance in the requirement of the human body for herbs, fruits, leafy varieties and vegetables. 

Thus, food and water is the earth’s gift for man and in different anatomies of earth where these gifts are rarer, there are gifts. Say in areas such as the Middle East where water and vegetation does not spring freely, there are other bounties in varying proportions of uniqueness. There are dates, olives and there are animals that are linked to that particular terrain that can help man in his survival. The best residential area therefore is a forest. Here man’s inequality to his brother is not reflected. 

Hence, we can see that there is no ‘poverty’ in this earth. Everywhere is a residential location and everywhere is ‘cultured.’ The only uncultured thing in this planet is man’s blindness to his humanity and to his fellow man’s wellbeing. Hence the non-refinedness in a person is measured not by his coffers or by how much of knowledge he has memorised but by his attitude and what he chooses to think, feel and behave.