This was one of the most privileged tours i had been to while i was interning at The Times of India. It was a journos only tour of the yet-to-be-opened Bandra Worli Sealink. The photographs of the sealink have appeared on the blog before : An Engineering Marvel . It was special because i got the opportunity to explore this link before it would be opened for the public and got to click some photographs, which i cannot imagine clicking today.
This is one photograph i had clicked even before i started snapping the Sealink. It was just a bunch of labourers, taking some time out from their gruelling schedule. Their blue safety helmet is what arrested my attention. It looked just perfect against the dull grey sky. The cloudy atmosphere added to the overall charm.
Today when i read an article on the critically injured labourer who is fighting for his life as a result of the infamous CWG bridge collapse, it made me think how much we take the migrant labourers for granted. I stopped on this photograph for a while and the guy on the extreme right seemed to be asking me, “We build your sealinks, your skywalks, your skyscrapers but do you’ll really give a damn about us if we are injured in the process?” And i realised, we don’t.
I am not going to get into the morality bit as i feel this is not the right platform for such a serious issue. But the least we can do on our individual part, is show some respect to these labourers. It’s a tough life they lead. After all, the collective efforts of these guys creates marvelous things.
Take Care
Ciao
Shutterbugged 