THE BYGONE `ERA' OF SILENCE!

The looting is going on mercilessly - all in the name of `hotte padu' [filling my belly]. It begins early in the morning - those booming sounds of dynamite - they are getting closer and closer all the time. Tearing apart the sheet rock layers that last saw violence some billion years ago - they are ripping apart a way of life that we are so used to.

Everything is on the move - people from villages gather with bandlis and guddalis - the tractors and the lorries that sneak into small rivulets - the LOADING of chappadis, fencing stones, foundation stones and SAND begins. DESTRUCTION FOREVER! But who cares - it is `hotte padu' for the villagers - it is `only source of income' for the contractors - it is bonanza for the developers of sites and buildings - it is `free lunch' for the petty politicians and other officials involved.

We live in a violent world of noise - who cares for THE BYGONE `ERA' OF SILENCE. I DO - DO YOU?