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Poverty in India – Up Close and Personal |
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Written by Colleen Coughlin
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Friday, 17 April 2009 |
Colleen is a staff member at the Mission Office. She is the Website Editor and the Coordinator for the Holy Childhood Association.
 A few weeks ago, I had the experience of seeing both a TV show and a movie in which the poverty in India was brought to the forefront – the March 22nd episode of “The Amazing Race” and the award-winning film “Slumdog Millionaire.” The one thing that struck me in both of these shows, as I’m sure it struck many other people, was the image of the outright poverty in India. I’ve seen photos and heard stories about the bleak conditions in this country before, and I’ve always known that there was dire poverty … but never before did such images have as much of an impact as these did. There was a difference, in that “The Amazing Race” showed real footage of the poverty in India, while “Slumdog Millionaire” showed filmed scenes. But, both brought to mind that these images actually ARE a reality for millions of people living in India each day.
So what exactly has caused such extreme poverty in a nation that is also home to some of the most educated, skilled workers in the world? As in many other places around the world, there seems to be such a disparity between the “rich” and the “poor.” We saw it in the show and in the movie – images ranging from high-rises and riches to slums and violence – and we see it in real life, too. Take the photo below, for example. This is a photo of the slums in Kaloor, Kochi, India next to high-rise commercial buildings. Hundreds of people, mostly comprised of migrant laborers who come to the city seeking jobs, live in these types of conditions. What is wrong with this picture – figuratively AND literally? It’s a shame that people must live in these horrid conditions, while in the same instance, the wealthy buildings in the background are just a few steps away.
One major factor that has played a role in exacerbating the poverty in India has been the caste system. The caste system in India basically describes the stratification of social classes and has long created an exploitation of the poor, low-ranking groups by the prosperous, high-ranking groups. While caste-based discrimination has been outlawed by the Indian Constitution, and although caste barriers have largely been broken in large cities, there are still elements of the caste system, often in the rural areas of India. This extreme segregation has only worsened the situation. Take a look at the photo below. This man is living in Jaipur, India and is regarded as one of the “untouchables” (outcastes). Can you imagine walking down the street with tattered, dirty clothing and pushing your child in a rickety pushcart, like this man is doing? To be known as an “untouchable”, like this man, is to have people discriminate against you, cast down their eyes at you, and think that you, your job, and your lifestyle are contagious and polluted. Unfortunately, many people in India, and other places around the world, live like this each day.
Other images of poverty from the show and the movie struck me as well, and made me realize that yes, these kinds of things really ARE happening in the world every day. Orphaned children running barefoot through dusty streets … families digging through garbage to find food … shotguns and bombs going off under one’s feet … faces with wide eyes staring back at you. From the moment I first saw the scenes of poverty on my TV screen, I shuddered, and simply could not believe what I was seeing. It was very powerful – and emotionally draining – to see the images of India that I’ve only ever seen in photography come to life on the screen. Take the state of Bihar, for instance. Bihar is the poorest state in India and one of the poorest areas in the world. While India’s national poverty line is just $.40 per day (already low), the people of Bihar live at an even lower poverty line. Now, compare these numbers with the international poverty line, which is approximately $1.08 per day, and you can see how extreme the poverty in India really is. The woman in the photo below – a rural worker in Bihar – is just one person who is living and working in the conditions I described above.
As India, its people, and its poverty move further into the forefront, please keep everyone involved in your prayers. While “The Amazing Race” and “Slumdog Millionaire” brought the issue of poverty in India to media’s center-stage, it is still an ongoing reality that continues to exist even when the cameras are off. I am glad that the public got the opportunity to see these images – as despairing as they were – and I hope that they were able to make as much of an impact on other people, as they did for me.
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