Plight of Ordinary People

 Everyone is going though a tough time. Things have changed a lot. COVID-19 has changed our world upside down 🙃. More so for the people of lower strata of Income. Many stories to be told. Of those stories some  really moved me 🥺.

Sharing 4 such stories that I recently came across.

1. Story of a clerk 

A man appeared at my home. He was in is his 50's, he had worn white formal clothes. My dad knew him. Invited him inside. Ordered me to get some snacks and Tea 🍵. I went and told the same inside in Kitchen. I sensed an unspoken curiosity in everyone's face at home. The man kept on talking to dad. He was telling everything. How he worked in Gulf  all these years, kept sending money to India, build a house and purchased small plots. Retired last year and returned to India. For the Lifestyle we had, retirement money didn't even last a year. Now our lively hood depends entirely on income we earn from printer 🖨  and printing work I do from home. He then asked my dad to lend him 2000 Rupees. Which he said he would return soon. He kept on talking and talking as if he had not spoken for ages with anyone.

In the end, it made us wonder was the man really here for money or was he here to share his sorrows!

2. Farmer's Livelihood 

I was watching news Channel. Farmers were being questioned on how the recently passed Farm bill would effect their lives. A farmer from Bihar caught my attention. He was explaining how he invested 10 thousand Rupees in farm for growing Maize 🌽 and would be more than happy to sell all his crop at 17000 Rs in an APMC mandi. My mind kept asking this question just 7k how will he manage entire  year? My mind was going offensive and defensive. What if  he had 5 members in household. My mind kept telling do not worry, this was Kharif crop. He would get something from Rabi crop too. Even than would it be sufficient? My mind kept asking more and more questions

3. Munificent Coolie

I happened to talk to one of the Labourer. I asked him, what was he doing before he took this Job. He proudly told he was in Gulf. I enquired more. What work were you doing there and how much were you earning.? He said we was doing coolie work in Airport in Jeddah for which he was getting 70 thousand Rupees per month . I was amazed 🤨 at this. I asked, how long did you work there. He said for 5 years. My mind was like 70,000 × 12 × 5. Unable to calculate such huge amount 😂. I asked, what did he do with so much money. He said I got 3 of my siblings married. Renovated my house and rest was spent on household expenses. 

Then, I asked why did you quit such high paying job? My family wanted me here so I returned. What did you do afterwards? I drove an auto for 20 years. Did you not felt like going back? 

I did try going back to Dubai, I couldn't meet the agent in Dubai and lost my 1.5 lakhs in the process and still repaying that debt.

4. Barber's Pride 

After a long time I decided to visit the Salon. This is my regular Salon, I happen to visit this place since childhood. While he was setting my hair we had conversation. I asked him ' Are people coming to salon' and how is his business going? He told me, After 2 months of lockdown he opened his shop. There was barely any customer. I would come open shop and close it without any work. It's only in recent days that people have started visiting salon. Conversation kept going and we discussed all sorts of issues ranging from COVID to Politics. Then, he told, his daughter had performed well in 12th and planning to join B.Pharma. I could see from mirror, his face was lit 😊 when he was describing achievements of daughter. I asked how did he managed her fees in COVID times? He happily replied my daughter filled some forms online we produced it in Bank. Without any security they approved the loan. Education is really a blessing. See how my daughter got us an easy loan.

I asked won't your daughter feel pressure of loan while studying?

Of course, she'll feel the pressure. We want her to feel the pressure. This would make her more responsible and will not divert her attention from studies. There was this silence for sometime. After the pause, Barber said, we don't want all the burden on our children, so with little income that I have. I will pay the interest and only leave principal for her to repay.