“Jal-Jangal-Jameen,” Water-Jungle-Land, “Adivasis have no alternative beyond it, no? Actually no one else has an alternative. Therefore, the environment has to be saved,” the youth adivasi activist emphasised, “The land question is very sharp here!” Outside my house, she continued, “You must have seen the wall, no? It is the new international zoo’s boundary wall; the Byculla zoo, which is to be shifted here. 190 acres! There are many such projects. My grandparents, with whom we lived earlier, lost their land due to the Royal Palms,” real estate, “project. Then we lost the land where we had shifted. Now land has been acquired for the metro car shed. You see, the work in Aarey dairy has to come to a standstill. This land was leased to Aarey no? Why doesn’t the government use it for new projects? Or the land leased to cattle sheds or poultry or veterinary college? Why is our land acquired?”
Elsewhere, the medicinal healer asked, “Who laboured when this place was renamed as National Park during the 1970s? Road construction had begun from Powai to Hathi,” Elephant, “Gate at Film City. Adivasis were the ones to work in making them. Sahebs,” forest officers, “used to come by horse carriages to pay the workers. Just like the British! But at least the British returned us some land after taking it. They allowed us to farm and asked us to give some crops in return. During the British era, things were still ok! They were better than the forest department.”