What is your religion or caste?
I’m a Dhobi [Hindu].
Are you married?
Yes, I am.
How many kids do you have?
Three.
How long have you been living in Delhi?
For 20 years now.
You’ve lived in Delhi for the past 20 years?
Yes, I have. My parents came here first.
Your parents came first. Why did they come here?
My father used to often be sick. They came here for his treatment. My brother started earning. He was still young when he used to go to the store. He was studying, too. And that’s how he started, from there.
With whom do you live?
I live with my husband.
What made you come to Delhi?
My helpless situation made me come to Delhi. We came here to earn something. The village doesn’t offer much. So, we have to move to the city to earn.
Okay. Before you moved to Delhi, did you have any friends or family already living here?
Not really. An aunt lived here. We did come to her initially. Then she helped us get a rented place.
So, what work do you do?
The store.
What sort of a store do you have?
I have a grocery store.
So, you have a grocery store.
Yes.
And for how many years have you been doing this work in Delhi?
I’ve done this for the past 10 years.
Is the money that you make out of this enough to run the household?
We somehow get by with this.
Are you happy with what money you make? Is it okay?
I have to be happy. Do I have an option?
Do you manage to send something to your family in the village?
No. There’s nobody else [there] except for my brother-in-law and his wife.
What work did you do before this?
I have never done any work before this.
No other work at all? Were you a housewife?
Yes.
That is also quite a lot of work. So, tell me something about your work or the store. What do you do? How do things work here, etc.?
It works somehow. We buy things from vendors. We get all our stuff on credit. We sell things and then pay the vendor after that.
What about the customers who come to you? What do they ask for? How do you manage all of that?
They always pay in cash.
What do you think of while working?
What do I think about? I can’t carry on like this. Maybe I should do something else? That’s what I think about.
In your opinion, what would be an interesting job that you would like to do?
Having a job is better than this, right?
You think a job is better than this? What kind of job would you like to do?
I could do any job that I get, really.
As in?
I haven’t thought about any specific job as such yet.
How do you like life in Delhi?
It’s okay. Better than life in the village, though.