If we studied the lives of people who have reached the
level of greatness that has put them on a pedestal, more often we will find that these men started out with a dream. The fact that they decided to act upon them, to perform what was necessary to get the ball rolling made the difference.

"It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is
shaped"

- Anthony Robbins

The area in front and the side of our house is busy with construction activity, a boom in my neighborhood, one a training centre in computer skills, two apartments and one hi-tech commercial complex.

One must understand the way our house is situated to know why we are at the receiving end of all this activity. There is a private road from the main road that ends at the entrance to our house and the property adjacent to ours.

As we make our entrance from the main road, on the left is the training centre and on the right is about half an acre of plot which had in its midst a huge bungalow. As we drive in, on the back of the training centre is this vacant land whose owners purchased and forgot all about it.

This is the place of growth of wild vegetation from weeds, all kinds of wild shrubs to spurting growth from cut trees. Come monsoon and rains they become the haven for the most amazing collection of worms that on any particular day the white washed compound wall turns green with these creatures making their way into our small garden.

By noon we get to see some of them attempting to crawl into the house. This has however been the least of our problems as we have become used to this pattern every year for the last four years but has resulted in a few thousands down the drain in pesticides. After several phone calls to the owners, a bull dozer arrives one fine day and in a matter of hours the undergrowth razed to the ground..the growing cycle continues.

Fives years back the twenty two feet private road was broadened to thirty by our neighbours as a step towards profitable ventures in the future which meant all trees and shrubs lining one side of the road were brought down much to our chagrin in a matter of two days.

Two of them grew back with a vengeance- the Bilwa and teak tree, much to our delight. It seemed to us that a miracle had happened as the bilwa was at the far end of the private road just opposite to the entrance to our home and as a means to protecting it we built a short concrete platform around it.

All the land owners having access to this road raised a big hue and cry and threatened to remove the tree. We did not react and continued with lighting a lamp there every Friday. To this day no one has mustered the guts to touch the tree.. hehehe.

The teak tree also remains....

Work began in these sites all within a gap of a month or two from each other. I am sure we are aware of the noise pollution associated with construction. First the drone of the machines, cutting through thick lime mortar, day and night for more than a month at a stretch..soon it became music to our ears.

With the construction activity it's the constant clanging of steel against steel and the continuous whirrs of the concrete mixers, day and night.marked between the roars of heavy vehicles trying to unload their stuff..

Then came the invasion of construction workers on all the sites. Built themselves lean to shacks against the compound walls, that too the one separating ours with the adjacent property.

One pleasant breezy morning when I stepped out at around 6.00 and made my way to the gate, peeped over the closed gate and I almost froze. One side of the road was lined by squatting figures all in place for completing their morning jobs.

This was when realization struck that the developers of these properties had 1.no care or compassion for their fellow beings to even get them a make shift toilet or two 2. they had no care of their surroundings .

.In the meanwhile one other strange irritant was the invasion of swarms of flies from the neighbouring shacks that made way to the small back yard and began creating a major nuisance within the house. As a measure to reduce this we had to use insect repellants and shortly turned murderers with a fly killing competition once in a while..and the battle is still on..

Our windows and doors have been shut for the past six months.Now where is the scope for ventilation or infusion of fresh air into the house when the plants and floors have a fine coating of dust and cement every day despite the showering of plants and sweeping, mopping of floors. I suppose our exhalations mixed with the existing oxygen are in a far better state to be inhaled and recycled..

Having protested to the first group's misuse of the place the owner cum developer in the adjacent property took measures to make provisions immediately.

Next in toe was the construction gang of the most successful property developer of the city. Not only did they come out of that huge property (where a commercial and apartment complex are coming up) they even began storing the materials on the roadside above their own shit..Gross, to say the least.

A mass protest followed and this guy, the big boss who visits the site daily and even made way for his vehicles through this common road by breaking down a portion of the dividing wall rather than use the two direct accesses to the property, claims he had no idea of even the materials being stored on the common road. Can anyone beat that?

I almost forgot, when the training centre was being built we had these empty food packets being hurled into our compound at the end of every meal till the time we called those owners and complained.

One evening after seven, when we switched on the tv there was no transmission and the next day on investigating we found that it was cut by these morons who did not have the basic courtesy to inform us and we found the cable lying amidst the debris in their property. Our telephone lines have met with a similar fate half a dozen times.

A thing or two that perks us up while wading our way through all this nuisance - when the big boss's group began to draw electricity stealthily from the neighbouring property and now there is a lot of friction going on between the two gangs.

Another unforgettable sight when we happened to peep from the window was these guys having their baths atop the sand hills pouring bucketsful of water over themselves..who knows...this may make the foundation stronger...And now we know all that goes into the making of a building...Don't know when we're going to get the next breath of some fresher air with the pollution boom on...

Alang is a town in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, 50 kms south of Bhavnagar and it houses the world's largest and leading ship breaking and recycling centers. It is on this ten Kilometre stretch that the ship yards are located in the Gulf of Khambat. For more information of the place please visit, www.wikipedia.org/Alang .

Now for the alarming and amazing facts that this industry revealed to the channel.

About 50% of the worlds' ships are wrecked and recycled here. It takes six months to completely break down a ship. 2.5 million tons of steel are recycled annually, constituting 15% of our country's production of steel. Approximately 350 ships are wrecked a year.

Tens of thousands of men, majority of youth are employed in this profession. The high tide variance in this area helps ships to cruise to the shore at high tide and work begins during low tide.

A Brazilian ship called Welma was brought ashore, weighing 9000 tons after thirty years of service and through the breaking process, the dangerous aspects of their work was explained.

A set of 5 cm thick steel ropes are used to haul the ship into place. A tricky job here as one snap of any one of the steel ropes can back fire to the extent of cutting a body into two.

Before the actual breaking starts with the use of gas cutting torches that cut through the steel, a thorough fuel check is done. Contaminated fuel is emptied onto the beach and burnt. Clean fuel is sold.

Imagine the scene, if the gas cutters were used when there is any traces of fuel left. It will cause one helluva explosion. There are experienced guys like Patel who are given this job of ensuring that the fuel tanks are completely drained and dried out. His job is to also systematically check out for the presence of toxic deposits which are equally volatile.

The actual cutting starts and though no one receives any special training, experience has taught them to adopt a systematic approach.

Almost 99% material is reused. This is where the ladies come in to take their share of non steel stuff, mattresses and miscellaneous articles to be resold in a market nearby which was specially established for the purpose.

Cutting through the steel begins and the top portion of the ship is cut through. Once all the surrounding body is cut, they reach the main steel frame which is the toughest. As they work at the steel beams, precariously balancing atop the beams, a day's work for one person who cuts a beam from one end to the other. One wrong move and it's a straight 20m fall down, resulting in death.

No special clothing for them except their mining hats and they inhale the toxic fuel vapours all day long, the poisonous carbon monoxide fill their lungs. A health hazard to say the least.

A poor but unique work force who continue to go back there to work for their hunger and basic needs to be met, on an average a worker earns US Dollars.60.00 a month. (Rs.2400).

The more specialized workers like Patel receive Rs.5000.00.

For this salary, these men swear by their work not taking into consideration the health risks attached. On an average 400 of these men die every year, mostly accidents and some from cancer too. So many dead are brothers or fathers of the workers.

They share a common motto "Every day 1 ship, Every day 1 dead'. This is the condition of their existence and outside the shipping yards the place is the worst kind of slum dwelling. People live in the poorest of conditions in huts in a totally polluted environment. National Geographic claims that Alang is one of the most under-developed places in the world.

The broken steel plates are taken to a nearby steel mill where they are melted and re-rolled into steel rods. Even here the work is handled by more youth who are equipped with just a pair of glasses to protect their eyes and gloves and no masks or protective clothes as they continue to work at the smelters.

One ship building baron who visited the site is believed to have said that he knew what had to go into building the ships, but he never realized that such a systematic approach was required to break them. He was shocked that no formal training was imparted to them.

Well, that's Alang for us and sadly the ways of life for 12000 or so of our population.

Isn't it ironical, the largest and leading in terms of the Industry but the exact opposite in terms of the environment and living conditions.

My apologies if any of the figures or name of the ship is wrong as I tried to follow up as closely as I could.

stood watching through the window
the call of the whispering willow
the majestic verdant hills at bay
reminiscent of many a good yesterday

beckoned, I am tempted to follow
the crisp breath of air to wallow
a spring in my step, make my way
the allure of nature has much to say

come to me with no thought of tomorrow
drink in my magic, your pain you swallow
my creations, a muse will make you gay
lessons to learn for a brighter day.

at the break of this fresh new dawn
my feet took me over beautiful hills
carpeted by lush green, dew topped grass
a cushioning for life from the spawn

as my eyes scanned the landscape
a mushroom of rocks spoke it's own story
of inevitable obstacles that make or break
to veer or overcome, thus making our history

wild flowers adorning the edges, abound
nodded in brilliant display and said to me
we perched ourselves by these hard mounds
to lighten your spirits and set you free

the gentle slope of the tree specked hills
spoke of some tire, to be met with sojourns
as the dense woods beckon from beyond
leading me on to a few more frills

not for a moment made to feel small
by the sun dappled solemn pines
with the sweet wooded scent of pine corns
braving every season and standing tall

weaving my way through the trees
spoke of one's journey through the maze
this way or that, but in measured steps
paths of discovery that wipe the haze

my walk led me on to a shimmering stream
the gentle ripple of water over rocks and pebbles
softly urges me on to follow my dreams
in pursuit of one's life through nature's calls.