Anaconda in my backyard!!!

Anaconda in my backyard!!!
Bina Thomas ( binatho@gmail.com )

Nandini was very happy. Her dear friend, Meghna, was visiting her during the holidays. For friends who had grown up together in the same city and school, Nandini’s shift to a new city had been heartbreaking for both. So, when Nandini heard of Meghna's visit during the holidays, she was delighted. Finally they would be chatting away like old times. In person, and not on email!!

And there was so much that Nandini wanted to show Meghna. Her brand new pink room, her new computer and study table, the smart glass cupboard which displayed all her precious curio collection, and the old trunk that Nandini was nostalgic about, chock-a-block with stuff toys that they shared when they were younger.

However there was one silent prayer on her mind. May Meghna never open the window overlooking the backyard of her building!! The Anaconda would strike her and she would be smitten with disapproval of her room, house, building, and perhaps even the posh locality they lived in!! Nandini couldn’t bear the though of it.

Actually what Nandini called an `Anaconda’ was a dirty, smelly nalla flowing behind the building. Till just a few months ago, this dirty, smelly nalla was a stream. A gently flowing tributary of the river the city was located by. But things had changed so rapidly in the last few months. Many new construction activities were sprouting in the vicinity. Initially, it was the construction debris from these sites that was very conveniently dumped by the edge of the stream. The workers were instructed by the contractors to do so. Slowly, the heap of debris became a curtain for the workers to use the stream as a common toilet!! And when residents came in to occupy these buildings, it became a common dump yard for all kinds of domestic waste!!! To the extent, that the once gurgling stream turned into an unbearably smelly nalla that snaked the area, like a dark and dense Anaconda!!!. Post monsoons it had even stopped flowing. The stagnant nalla not only looked ugly, it also posed a threat to the resident's health.

“But why don’t you do something about it?” asked Meghna, when she did open the window and saw the dirty nalla. Nandini was clueless. “At least begin by asking friends and neighbors to suggest what we could do to prevent further pollution of the nalla,” Meghna clarified. “I am sure we will find somebody who will help in this matter”.

And sure they did. Not one. Many residents. Seniors were soon writing letters and talking to people in authority like the Area Ward officers, and Corporators. They were geared up to even meet the Municipal Commissioner if needed. The two friends were very happy that things were moving. The fact was, the residents were equally concerned about the matter, but were perhaps waiting for `coordinators’ like Nandini and Meghna to bring them together and `push’ them forward.