Lost livelihoods

Clad in a green shirt and saffron `lungi’ with a peacock feather adorning his head, Sayanna Dora is on a frantic search for his friend at the Musheerabad and Kavadiguda crossroads.No wonder the loss of his oneand- a-half year friend drove Sayanna Dora into a state of depression for Ramu, the parrot, is his sole bread winner.Dora used to sit on the pavement near the GHMC playground at Musheerabad or at the Kavadiguda crossroads with his parrot, predicting the future of his clients. “Ramu was out of the cage picking a card for the client when suddenly violence broke out during a religious procession on Tuesday,” said Dora narrating their separation.Since then, Ramu did not return to his master and Dora’s search for it on trees and rooftops and enquiries with other footpath vendors and pavement dwellers in the locality on Wednesday proved futile. Having migrated from Nalgonda district to the city 10 years back, Dora was practicing parrot astrology regularly at the spot till yesterday.“Ramu helps me earn my daily bread. Customers from all religions and faiths come to me.Tuesday’s incident changed my fate completely,’’ he rued.Dora is not the only victim of the violence in the otherwise peaceful localities of Kavadiguda and Musheerabad.Sixty-eight-year-old Syed Afzal’s small cafe and pan shop in front of a place of worship near Musheerabad police station were severely damaged in the attack. He is now busy salvaging from the rubble and counting his losses.“They have ruined my livelihood,” rued Afzal but added that he would renovate it to run his family.“I came here (Musheerabad) when I was 10 years old. But Tuesday’s incident was the most traumatic one I had ever faced. Though I belong to a particular religion, am secular in my heart. Because of a few miscreants common people like me suffer financially and mentally,” he lamented.Afzal also lodged a police complaint but has little hopes of securing justcie.

By Mouli Mareedu

moulimareedu@gmail.com