Did you know that shopping malls are the only places where you get covered parking in Hyderabad? Even if
you don’t want to go into the mall, you can safely leave your vehicle in their
parking and go around doing your business nearby places without worrying about
a traffic police giving a challan or creating a traffic jam in a matter of
seconds. My revelation led me to meeting Madhu, in one such parking lot yesterday,
who came smiling towards me with a pamphlet for car wash.
I get a bit
alert, when a kid like that approaches me trying to sell something. As MV Foundation
volunteer, I was trained to keep a watch on all forms of child labour. But this
kid seems like he is a bit above 14, so the law wouldn’t apply so no point in making myself a spectacle by raising a hue and cry with his employer now. More on the 14 yrs clause in toothless labour law later… let me
tell you a bit about Madhu now.
The kid had
a rare sparkle in his eyes. I noticed this when he was trying to sell me the car wash service. He made eye contact and spoke very clearly. He was a good salesman too. I could see his boss eyeing him from distance and
did not bother to intervene. Probably he knew Madhu was doing a good job and I was sold too. Madhu promises me
to do a thorough cleaning and washing for a reasonable amount which we agreed
on. He said he needed 90 minutes to do that. I had to leave for about an hour
to run some errands in the neighbourhood.
So, Madhu takes my car and reassures me that it will be ready by the time I come back.
The real
conversation started after I returned, amidst the background Telugu film songs playing on their mobile phone, which probably served as an entertainment and
takes their attention from breathing in too much of carbon monoxide in the
underground parking full of stale air. I had to wait as Madhu and his elder brother who was doing
their job, which I should say I was impressed. While waiting, we got into small
talk. Madhu is from Jedcherla in Mahboobnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, he
was 19, 8th class drop-out, came to Hyderabad in search for work
when he was 14, he was washing cars for 3 years here before doing some odd jobs for 2 years. And his brother is just a year older than him,
passed class 10th, but couldn’t find a job in Mahboobnagar, so it
did not make sense to him to stay in the village idly adding burden to his
family.
Madhu’s
father is a poor farmer, but fell into debts due to rise in seed and pesticide
prices and had a bad crop. Unable to pay off the money lenders and bank for the
loans he took in the past decade, he turned to NREGA (100 days of minimum work
for poor in India) he found work as unskilled labourer, which pays him Rs. 137 on
record, but he gets to take home only Rs.70-80 on a good day. The work is hard
manual labour offered for 100 days in a year, which equates to Rs.13 per day
per person in his family of 5 members even when he takes his two sons along
with him as daily wage labourers. Maybe, we should give these wages to our
ministers and see how they will manage, because I am pretty sure they are not
doing their job, even for 100 days in a year.
Back to
Madhu…so, both brothers took a chance, got on a bus to Hyderabad instead of
Mumbai to find work and stay within the state. For the record Mahboobnagar is a
hellhole district of Andhra Pradesh where girls are trafficked to Mumbai for
flesh trade and boys are taken for contract labour and they have a daily bus
service to Mumbai which is full of contract labourers aiding to the so-called
development plan in real estate business and building infrastructure which look
good in ‘India Shining’ ad. But then that won’t sound very good when I mention
it now when we are so close to elections.
When I asked
Madhu if he wanted to write 10th class exam and get some skill based
training and go for a better job, pat came the reply, not from Madhu, but from
his brother. ‘Madam, Madhu wants to open a software company’. There were about
6 guys working in the car wash and everyone laughed so loudly at the idea of
Madhu opening a software company. I could see a bit of embarrassment in Madhu’s
brother for ridiculing his own sibling. But noticed that Madhu ignored all of
them, and was doing his job as if nothing happened. It was only when I
responded that ‘it is a great idea’ and added 'two top guys in IT business never
finished school'. (Thanks to my husband who feeds me with a steady dose of information
about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs), he looked up. I couldn't stress more than this, but
this kid had some strange determination in his eyes. He did not utter a word, but his eyes
said it all. That look, gave me a crazy reason, to believe that I might be
looking at some big guy who will make his dream a reality. I saw it.
Cursing
myself for being so numb towards the future of India, this young boy washing my
car, made me question what is the whole purpose of development and world-class infrastructure, when we don’t even
let a kid complete school and force him to work for 10 hrs a day. His chances
of getting out and joining a course was bleak owing to his boss and the kid of
work that piled on. Yet he had a dream to pursue. When I asked him if he is
serious about doing a basic course, he said yes, he is trying to find some info. When I mentioned SETWIN
institute which is not far from the place he works, and he could take a
couple of hours off to do a basic computer course for as little as Rs.1000 to start with,
his eyes lit up. I gave him some more details from the report we prepared for MV
Foundation girls for career counseling session. I knew he just needed that bit of information
and a little help which I could extend happily.
Before
leaving the place, I told him I would look out for his picture in the newspapers as a big software company owner in a few years from now. His eyes were shining
again hearing that and muttered “Thank you Akka” which was very touching. I
know it was not another teenager’s dream. And for some crazy reason, I know he
would do it and much more. I like to believe that and hope he will make his
dream come true.
This is for
you Madhu, for instilling the faith in overcoming the odds. I wish you good luck and success in everything
you do. God bless you.
इरादे नेक होतो सप्ने साकार होते
है।
अगर सच्चि लगन होतो रास्ते आसान
होते है॥
No comments:
Post a Comment
Post our comments and views here