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Marooned by kin, Ghatkopar man living on streets for 35 years

Bustling with functional chaos, the city is often blind to the travails of the homeless. But it is difficult to overlook Abdul Gaffoor who, in his late fifties, is a dweller of the streets. Short in built, he goes about his daily chores with a limp. Abdul, who claims to be staying on streets for 35 years now, has settled in the area facing garment shops in Ghatkopar (West).

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Abdul Gaffoor, who is in his 50s, hails from Navavas village in Kutch, Gujarat
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Bustling with functional chaos, the city is often blind to the travails of the homeless. But it is difficult to overlook Abdul Gaffoor who, in his late fifties, is a dweller of the streets. Short in built, he goes about his daily chores with a limp. Abdul, who claims to be staying on streets for 35 years now, has settled in the area facing garment shops in Ghatkopar (West).

"I have made the street my home. My brother's home is near a temple a few hundred metres from here. But I do not stay with them," said Abdul.

Abdul hails from Navavas village in Kutch, Gujarat and speaks Kutchi proficiently. Shirtless but with a woollen shawl around his waist, he looks distraught and lost. Close to a year ago, he said, his uncle took him to his village in Kutch. He was attacked by a wild dog when he was sleeping in the courtyard at night.

"The dog was bothering me, so I kicked him in my sleep. He in turn ferociously bit me on the back of my left leg," Abdul said. A closer look at his leg reveals a huge dent from below the back of his knee running till above his thigh. The wound is deep. The attack has left him bereft of a huge chunk of flesh.

"I was taken to a local hospital there and later shifted to BMC-run Rajawadi Hospital. Doctors then referred me to Sion Hospital where I was operated upon," he said. A graft of skin from his right leg was extracted and patched on to the wound. "I was kept in the hospital for close to six months during which time my nephew came to visit me. After discharge, I stayed for a while at my brother's house, but the daughter-in-laws harassed me no end. They refused to tend to me or wash my clothes. They did not offer me food. I was shunned and verbally abused. I chose to leave the house and return to the streets," said Abdul.

Though Abdul's wounds have healed considerably, he does not walk properly. "I cannot walk well. I have lost sensation in my left leg to a large extent. And I suddenly jerk and halt while walking. At times, in spite of my will to walk, my leg becomes static and does not move," he rues.

He said he is helpless as he does not have the wherewithal to seek follow-up treatment for his disability. "There is no one to ferry me to the hospital, guide me about my medication or help me seek medical help for my disability," he said.

A quiet, reticent man, he poses no harm to the public, says a shopkeeper in the neighbourhood. "Abdul has made friends with two night security watchmen with whom he rests on the pavement at night. He has been staying here for as long as I know. He uses the bathroom near Ghatkopar railway station to bathe and wash his clothes. He dries his clothes on the railing facing the shops and sits or sleeps here. He barely eats anything, does not beg for food or money and keeps to himself," said the shopkeeper.

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