Story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.

Submitted into Contest #59 in response to: Set your story in a small town where everyone is suspicious of newcomers.... view prompt

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Creative Nonfiction Adventure Drama

This is the story of a big city morphed into a small town or a smaller village metamorphosed into a small town.

The nation like India has enshrined in its Constitution equal rights to all its citizens irrespective of the religion, caste, color, language they speak, to live in any part of the country and practice their trade. These rights can be exercised not just by enshrining in the Constitution but by having a firm belief and strength in its implementation.

To a great extent the people of India are exercising their constitutional rights but at the same time not the same amount of freedom as enjoyed by those born and brought up in this particular new small town transformed from a big city and a small village, into a medium sized town providing the residents with avenues, income, entertainment and other benefits not as much in other sections of the country. This is also called a satellite town which is on the verges of becoming a smart city.

Lot of it has been imitated from developed countries to counter the densely populated cities, overcrowded local trains, buses, cars, auto rickshaws, and other modes of road transport giving rise to traffic jam, blockage of drainage system, spiralling prices of real estate and essential food items. This is one of the satellite towns belonging to a network of nodes approximating a dozen developed by the Government as a part of the plan of decongestion of the main city Mumbai, in the State of Maharashtra.

This new small town is well planned and it has mitigated a lot of problems. Travel has become comfortable, education has become bearable health services have harnessed the resources and helped the downtrodden. Distances are now covered in decent time. Railway tracks have been extended to all the nodes and local trains connected to the satellite town stations. Auto rickshaws are showered with licenses, which has resulted in auto rickshaws becoming feeder to the railways station from the remotest corners of the satellite town.

The new town has in it colleges catering to courses of choices aplenty. The facilities available in this small town has, enabled generation of wealth and construction of stadiums and malls, bridges and roundabouts and new wide roads with numerous lanes has made living more lively. Families have sold away their houses in the main city for a huge sum of money and bought houses in this small town for a less price giving them a surplus as savings to lead a comfortable life hereafter.

The stadiums constructed with most modern amenities and the new airport development in a close vicinity has attracted lot of international guests and visitors to watch cricket matches, enjoy site seeing and have a comfortable stay in the well-furnished and well equipped star hotels.

The students have started coming from all parts of the district, states and corners of the country to pursue higher education and all their accommodation and food requirements are met by lodges as well as housewives running messes to serve these students home food of their liking.

The town also provides to its senior citizens parks and gardens to keep their health fit, to youngsters gymnasium to look smart and energetic and give their best output at their place of work, to religiously inclined women places of worship and career women clubs for gathering to quench their thirst may it be discussing about the welfare of her children, activities of their husband and in laws and news of their siblings or their colleagues in the work place.

The town has also constructed graveyard for the dead and is efficiently managed and provide free burning material like wood and fuel. The town also has a post office and a police station to ensure that law and order is maintained. There is also fire station to respond to any untoward fire incident and also catch the stray dogs before they become nuisance to the dwellers of the small town.

This is a town which has a very big wholesale market and has taken the major load of the warehouses in the city of Mumbai. This town has proper taxi and bus stations to transport from the small town to airports and railway stations for passengers willing to go to other states and those who are travelling overseas on business trips or working overseas and also those who are seeking employment.

There are of course suspicions of new people who come to this small town but with modern facilities and cameras all over a lot has been eliminated and basic amount of carefulness and alertness would ensure in minimizing the perils and dangers that could cause because of suspicion.

There used to be suspicion in earlier days when some new person takes asylum in the houses of the owners as a tenant and does not leave even after repeated requests and stake claim in the house. But now with rules and regulation are more organized and transparent such misadventures do not take place and people are able to let out their properties after drawing out clear cut agreements and work peacefully for mutual benefit and coexistence.

The town is also having a round the clock engagement. There are business taking place up to midnight and other business which start past midnight like the milk supply and newspaper, film industry, hospital, fire and safety, essential services and hotel and aviation industry. The roads are well lighted with the use of solar energy and nuclear energy in proper measure.

This town turns out to be an ideal town catering to the needs of the citizens of all ages and hopes to provide even better infrastructure facilities and other opportunities to evolve into a better town and be acclaimed and cherished by all who have in some way or the other any connection with this town.

This town becomes a guide to a perfect town and a source for many future historians, present journalists and past scholars to engage themselves in and entertain the reading public with their points of view and take on the town.

September 18, 2020 17:26

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