Jamnapaar

When you hear “Delhi,” the first thing that probably comes to your mind is a dream city — the nation’s capital: Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Yamuna, job opportunities, children’s future, endless pollution (if you live here, that is — otherwise, doesn’t matter), and the rest you may think of according to the power of your own imagination.

I know you’ve probably thought of all that — but I bet you didn’t think about Jamnapaar. In the wise words of Outer Jamnapaar police station in-charge Mr. Hathiram Chaudhary:
“This world, you see… it’s not just one. There are three worlds.
At the top is Swarg Lok, where the gods live.
In the middle is Dharti Lok, where humans dwell.
And at the very bottom is Paatal Lok, where insects crawl.”
(Of course, this is all written in the scriptures, but he read it on WhatsApp.)

Yes, you understood correctly — he was referring to Jamnapaar as Paatal Lok.
And truly, insects live here — the kind whose names alone make the residents of Swarg and Dharti Lok wrinkle their noses in disgust.
Whenever these so-called creatures from Paatal Lok dare to cross the Yamuna and enter Lutyens’ Delhi or South Delhi, they’re spotted immediately — poverty tends to give itself away from a distance, doesn’t it?

By now, you’ve probably figured out that the Yamuna doesn’t just divide two riverbanks — it divides two entirely different social worlds.
And it just so happens that all the development of one world… ends up happening in the other.
What remains for this side is a tiny rented room in a shanty colony, drain-like drinking water, and battered, uneven roads.
Don’t even get me started on government schools and hospitals — setting foot in one is enough to seal your fate.
You should be grateful for the private ones, at least they’ve somewhat preserved Delhi’s reputation.
Otherwise, the folks migrating from villages would wonder — we thought we came to a city, this turned out worse than any village!

To sum it all up:
Start acknowledging that the people of Jamnapaar are Delhiites too.
Stop treating them like insects. They are, in fact, just like you — simple, decent human beings.
Sure, they’ve been beaten down by circumstances and money — but their hearts are in the right place.
Ask your factory workers, your maids, your drivers — they’ll probably tell you:
“I live in Wazirabad, Bhajanpura, Karawal Nagar, Shahdara, Mustafabad, Seemapuri, or Babarpur.”

Now think — it’s because of them that your business and life run smoothly.
(And yes, without a doubt, it’s because of you that their lives run too.) But this is about your mindset. If your thinking mirrors that of Mr. Hathiram Chaudhary, then it seriously needs a reset.
Because what he’s doing — that’s called victim blaming. Blaming the very people who’ve been wronged, so we never have to fix the actual problem.

It’s the same old story — these are the people nobody wants to “touch.” Whether it’s development, infrastructure, or administration — they’re conveniently excluded. The only ones who “touch” them are those who need something from them — who use them as vote banks.

Yes, you got it — our beloved netas.
The only two things they grant Jamnapaar are:

1. Dirty Hindu-Muslim politics — where temples and mosques will be built, where segregated colonies will be set up.

2. Poverty and crime — which always walk hand in hand.

So, what we need today is to bridge the social divide of Jamnapaar —
To fill it with dignity, simplicity, education, and healthcare.

Hopefully, you’ll help build that bridge.

Thank you.
Yours truly,
A resident of Paatal Lok