"My life is not as beautiful as people imagine! They only saw that I was a rich businessman with endless treasures for seven generations. They didn't see how I worked hard from the start, starting from scratch. I experienced all the sufferings in life. In fact I once did not eat for a week because I did not have a penny. When I was young, I did everything to survive. Becoming food vendor, manual laborer at ports, barber, dyer worker in textile factory, I've done everything," Narendra Prasadh told his eldest daughter, Zoya.Zoya reverently listened to her father without interrupting a bit. She let her father talked about his past. It was the first time in her life that she had heard the story of her father's life, and she did not expect it at all. In her entire life she had never heard her father talk about his struggling for life.Even though she was the daughter of Narendra Prasadh, she was the same as everyone else. Only know that her father was rich. When she was born, her father
It was very lively that afternoon at the Gateway of India. Many come to spend time relaxing on the sea side waiting for the sunset. The gateway of India is one of Mumbai's most famous icons. Every tourist who comes here both local and foreign, do not forget to take pictures in front of the gate overlooking the Arabian sea.Praveen was already here feeding the seagulls with the bread crumbs he bought earlier. Dozens of birds swarmed in front of him while pecking at the crumbs he had scattered. They looked tame. He didn't get tired of feeding them until he ran out of bread. More fun than just taking selfies. For a moment the mind was distracted. He didn't remember that he had just been kicked out by Auntie Jana.A group of teenage girls passed in front of him. He was busy feeding the birds. They whispered to each other and then smiled to him, perhaps surprisingly a young man with a charming face looked attentively feeding the birds.Praveen looked indifferent and didn't care about the g
At 9.30 pm, he arrived in front of the PN Shelter. The building looked more as a large warehouse than a shelter. For a moment he hesitated to move on, but he had no other choice but to stay here instead of sleeping in front of the shops. It's probably safer here, at least free from police raids that come to pick up homeless. Indeed, it was not every day that the police raid poor people, but recently had often been carried out due to the security situation not so conducive.Praveen dragged his steps towards the entrance of the shelter towards a table near the door. A man in his fifties with a gray mustache and beard sat there like a watchdog."Good night, Uncle." Praveen greeted him. "Can I stay here for a night or two?"The man looked at Praveen probingly. Maybe he didn't expect a young man in neat clothes to come to sleep in the shelter. His appearance was far from shabby like most homeless people"Why do you want to sleep here?""Because I have no place to stay. I just got kicked ou
"Make sure everything goes according to the plan. Don't let it go wrong. Wherever she is, make sure someone is stalking her unnoticed. Is that clear?" Narendra Prasadh said to Rajesh."Yes sir! Everyone is ready. I have clearly instructed them.""Is it clear where she placed in Dharavi?""Yes! Even our people are already there.""Good. But don't make it flashy or even revealed. It might all fall apart. If she finds out that everything had been set, it's still better. What I'm worried about is... if the people find out that she's my daughter. Her safety could be in danger." There was still a hint of worry in Narendra Prasadh's words.He knew that placing Zoya in Dharavi was indeed a high risk, especially in terms of safety and security. However, he would not reverse the decision. His daughter needs to get some mental training before taking the CEO seat. In Dharavi her sensitivity would be honed. At least she was more concerned with the working class so that later she would not be arbit
"Can you take me to Dharavi?" Zoya asked approaching."Of course!" replied the taxi driver with a big smile. He was a young man with the age of about 29 years. "Use the meter or not?""What is the difference?""If don't use a meter, it's about 200 rupees.""With the meter?""It's a bit expensive, it could be more than 200 rupees," said the taxi driver. He seemed to have memorized the tariff by heart."You don't have to use the meter, then.""Please get in!" the driver let Zoya in.Zoya opened the back door. She put her bag in first and then sit. The taxi immediately moved.Ten minutes Zoya was silent while directing her eyes outside. Her chest thumped a little thinking what she should do there. Obviously she would find lodging first. She knew there were also hotels worth staying for a while before getting rented.The taxi driver occasionally glanced at her through the rearview mirror. Looked like he wanted to talk, but hesitated.He cleared his throat a few times."You live in Dharavi
"Is it still far, Anil?" asked Zoya continued to follow the footsteps of Anil, the taxi driver. To be honest, she was starting to feel stifled through the narrow, stuffy, and cramped alley. The smell of curry mingled with the smell of sewers, and the smell of burning plastic bothered her. She wanted to cover her nose but she didn't do it, afraid she would offend the people around. They looked relax. Their noses must had been immune to those smells."About two hundred meters, Miss!" Anil replied looking relaxed. He jumped over a small ditch that was clogged and the water was black. Water pipes were milling over it. Zoya jumped it too. Luckily, she wore low shoes so it didn't obstruct her steps.The alley turned to the right and seemed to be getting narrower. The deeper they walked into the Alley, the houses getting densely and there were many small alleys on both sides. Zoya tried to scan the place and marked it as she was sure, if the driver suddenly run away, she could get lost.She
Ten minutes later Zoya and Anil were already on their way back to the taxi parked on the side of the road. They followed the path they had taken before. Zoya seemed to be observing the path which was nothing more than an alley. Let alone small cars, motorbikes may not be able to pass by, just for people passing by."What are you looking at, miss?" asked Anil surprised to see Zoya looking around."I want to make sure the alley we passing through so that tomorrow I don't get lost here. It's a bit hard to remember the route.""Really? It's easy!""For people like you who were born and raised here, of course it's easy.""It's still close to the main road, we haven't entered the heart of Dharavi yet. Inside, it's more complicated, there are many small alleys like a maze," said Anil, continuing to walk a little faster. "By the way why did you choose Dharavi as a place to live, Mumbai is so big isn't it?"Zoya was silent, unprepared for Anil's question."At first I thought it would be cheape
Praveen had been going around looking for the address Auntie Neha gave him, but couldn't find it. From Morning till noon, he was still going around in Dharavi. He even asked people by handing a small piece of paper written by Auntie Neha, all of them shrugged and shook their heads.It was too hard to find. Too many nameless alleys. Too crowded houses, and too many misleading clues. And what annoyed him was many people he asked gave different answers. Some of them pointed to the north, some pointed to the south, and not a few pointed to the east.What a confused! He cursed himself. Did he have to look for the address in all directions?He was getting tired of walking down Dharavi without result. At noon he felt thirsty and hungry. He persisted not to have lunch. But keep looking for. His stomach was smarting to be filled. But he didn't care. If today the address he looking for was not found, he would inevitably return to the PN Shelter to stay overnight. It didn't really matter if stay