Melancholia. This should not be what I felt going to the market and coming back home. But it was what I felt.
If you are familiar with Balintawak market then maybe you know what I mean. Aside from the high prices of the carrots and the baguio beans that I will be using for my pancit, the picture of the condition of the market and the situation of the people in and around there is true misery.
I wished I brought with me my camera. But then again that will catch the attention of the hoodlums living along the sides of the market. Papsie told me that snatchers and holduppers live in that area. I really wished though that I have taken pictures of the tattoed peddlers and stevedores. The worn-out look of the vendors tells of different stories. There is urgency, there is need in every attempt to let you buy their commodities.
I saw a young woman, probably in her early twenties covered with charcoal dirt and grime, together with another young woman. I saw a family on the sidewalk trying to sell bunches or clusters of fruits or vegetables. The child looks malnourished.
When I boarded the PUJ and had to wait for it to be filled up, I saw little kids with clothes unkempt, with their strands of hair disheveled, and with feet barefooted. With their innocent smiles while playing, I felt so lonely.
I think I will not go to Balintawak market again.
If you are familiar with Balintawak market then maybe you know what I mean. Aside from the high prices of the carrots and the baguio beans that I will be using for my pancit, the picture of the condition of the market and the situation of the people in and around there is true misery.
I wished I brought with me my camera. But then again that will catch the attention of the hoodlums living along the sides of the market. Papsie told me that snatchers and holduppers live in that area. I really wished though that I have taken pictures of the tattoed peddlers and stevedores. The worn-out look of the vendors tells of different stories. There is urgency, there is need in every attempt to let you buy their commodities.
I saw a young woman, probably in her early twenties covered with charcoal dirt and grime, together with another young woman. I saw a family on the sidewalk trying to sell bunches or clusters of fruits or vegetables. The child looks malnourished.
When I boarded the PUJ and had to wait for it to be filled up, I saw little kids with clothes unkempt, with their strands of hair disheveled, and with feet barefooted. With their innocent smiles while playing, I felt so lonely.
I think I will not go to Balintawak market again.
I don't know Balintawak but was this area flooded from the recent typhoon? From your description alone, it does look like a miserable market to go to.
ReplyDeleteyes, there were parts of it that were inundated, nomadic pinoy, during the typhoon.
ReplyDeleteand yes again, miserable place to go though a lot of consumers go there because of the cheaper prices of goods.
Urban degradation is really one thorn in the side to today's society and that concerns me the most foremostly because it brings forth so dirty environment and unsightly places, which I detest the most.
ReplyDeleteI mean poverty should not be a justification for shoddiness and unkemptness.
And of course, the social problems that goes with it like street crime, drugs, prostitution etc.
Tsk, tsk...its so bad that way.
It's so tragic Bing. I hope no typhoons visit Metro Manila this year at least to allow people to get back with their lives. These poor people were further ravaged Ondoy with their already ravaged lives.
ReplyDeleteAlam mo bing, dito walang humpay ang palabas sa TFC about the misery of our kababayan back home. Nakaka-awa at nakapanlulumo. We did our share in donating clothes and money but it feels like it isn't enough. Got to turn-off the TV.
ReplyDeletethere will always be the poor in every country, major tom. but there is always hope for each one of them if only there will be people or groups of people who will guide them without expecting anything in return.
ReplyDeletewhat is frightening, bw, is the forecast that 4 to 5 typhoons are expected before 2009 ends. hay!! it is really frightening.
shared clothes and money, too, blogusvox. but there is a lot more to be done. and there are a lot more predicaments to come. i sound so negative but that is what i foresee. now i am a fortune teller. :-(