Adoption
This was in Jan 2003. It was severe winter and we had gone
for a morning walk on Kolshet Road at around 6:30 AM. As we
went little ahead from our house, we heard a baby crying from
thorny bushes near the main road. Initially we thought that
it must be a puppy crying in pain.
Then we walked ahead & Radhika said it
is a human baby & not animal sound. In the meanwhile a
milkman was passing by & he also said that this was a
baby’s crying voice. Then it was confirmed.
Then we went ahead but at the same time decided
to wait. One or two passers just went on the road but no one
dared to go ahead and see. But we did. And saw that it was
a new born naked baby. It was near a gutter. With the help
of some people we picked up the baby.
The moment we touched the baby it was our
baby. It was very sweet, healthy baby boy. We felt very sad.
The first thing Radhika said that we should arrange for a
blanket as the baby was shivering being naked. We wrapped
the baby in blanket.
After some time, the baby stopped crying due
to warmth of blanket and human touch. The baby was found on
9th Jan. We took him to doctor. The doctor said that the baby
was around three days old & might have been fed earlier.
After seeing the plastic clamp they could make out that the
baby was delivered in a private hospital. The baby was absolutely
healthy and in good condition despite of lying near gutter,
no rashes or bites of mosquitoes or rats etc.
Thane's challenge
no 1 - Education I am living in Thane since my birth. Thane
is growing tremendously. It was earlier a town with one lakh
population, now it is having 24 lakh population. The major
problem is education system. There are hardly 4-5 English
medium schools. The schools are distributed in 3 categories
State, CBSE & ICSE – So for the parents the option is
limited. There is no increase in the number of schools in
so many years. Most of the schools belong to the builders
or housing colony. So naturally the residents of the housing
colony get preference in the admission process. Thane badly
needs good education institutes. The last good college is
VPMS’s Thane College. As of now we don’t have a medical or
engineering college. See
Video
Thane's challenge
no 2 - Public Transport
It is not just bad but absolutely bad. It is under subsidiary
of TMC which is in very bad condition. Out of 200 odd buses
only 100 buses are in good condition. Buses don’t have the
route written. The routes are all faultily designed. Each
and every bus passes through Thane station for reason unknown.
Somebody wants to travel from Pokhran to Kalwa.
It can go from Cadbury Junction via Uthalsar to Kalwa. I have
never understood why all the buses are going via station.
That is why there is a long gap between 2 bus timings. The
problem is major in kolshet road. We used to stay there from
1994 -2005. I used to visit my clients waiting for a long
time for a bus. The same scene is seen today also. People
are waiting for half an hour for the buses. That is something
very surprising seen today that despite of road development
there is no proper road transport. See
Video
Thane's challenge no 3 - Jobs
in Thane
The third thing that affects Thane is the jobs. Wagle Industrial
Estate was the biggest Industrial estate in Asia. If I am
not wrong it had around 21000 industries running in 1970-
80. Many of them have gone into loss, many have closed down.
But there are no major companies in Thane. Earlier we used
to have in 1970s. many worker families of Raymond, Bayer,
Sandoz who lived in Vartark Nagar. But there are no jobs in
Thane. People are working in Mumbai, travelling 2 hrs from
Thane. Thane is only as supplement / extra bed room for Mumbai.
People only come here to rest / sleep & go back to Mumbai
for their career. That is why there is not interest seen in
development of Thane. I have seen many of my friends migrating
to Thane. But for regular purchases, haircut they are going
back to their original place. That is the reason we cannot
see Thane really developing. If Thane has really to develop
then it is our citizen’s duty to take part in the regular
running work of TMC. Like my friend Satyajit Shah started
TMT Bachao Andolan. Where ever something wrong happens he
steps in. Many more Satyajit Shah’s have to come ahead &
make our corporators accountable. If something is wrong in
the colony regard with drinking water etc. We should meet
our corporators. Citizens have to come forward for the development
of Thane. See
Video
