Courtesy
: My Smartphone Samsung E7 with 13 M.P Camera
The man appearing in this photo is Suresh Mondal who hails from West Bengal and came to Delhi for survival. He chose rickshaw pulling as the best bet to earn those needy bucks. When I took his service to return home from market during my stay at Delhi a few years ago , I was stirred to write his story.
When I conversed with Mondal, his smiling gesture gave me a hint that he might open up to share his life with me. As expected, the whole ride was very pleasant as Suresh though with his wiry frame, peddled his way effortlessly with no strain. When asked why he came to Delhi for this kind of manual labour, he said that he didn’t get employment throughout the year in his home district Malda, West Bengal which forced him to come to Delhi. He further stated that he has some land but not worth to be cultivated due to inadequate rains, coupled with insufficient irrigated water in the area.
Suresh
stands as a latest example of countless people who don't get adequate
employment in their towns/villages throughout
the year. How he manages his life with a petty daily earnings of Rs.500/- is a
million-dollar question. Myself being fairly employed with five-digit
salary in government service is taking a bated breath to manage my house-budget.
But countless manual labourers like Suresh do manage their lives
and we must learn so much from them.
When I dwelt on Suresh's life, immediately my heart filled with
gratitude as Almighty showered his
blessings abundantly on me as I was not given the role of Suresh to play.
When I listened to his story, it not only soothed my nerves but I
became a little more compassionate and gave Rs.10/ - extra to him in
addition to the fare bargained. In
a spur of moment, I further loosened my purse strings and gave a further of
Rs.10/- for contributing this story, which had multiplied his joy and he
thanked me with a pristine smile.