What is your religion and caste?
I am a Muslim by religion. And I’m a Khan.
Are you married?
Yes.
Do you have any children?
Yes. I have one son and two daughters.
How long have you been living in Delhi?
Twenty-five years.
Who do you live with? Does anyone else stay with you?
No, sir. I live on the tracks. I used to live in a room before. But for the past 2-3 years, since I’ve been married, I’ve been having a few problems. So, I had to vacate the room. I sleep on the tracks now.
Why did you come to Delhi?
I came to Delhi to find a job. I am a handicapped person but I’m ashamed to beg for money. So, I came here to work hard and earn. So, I work hard here, I ride a rickshaw.
Did you have any friends or family living in Delhi already before you came here?
I had an elder brother living here. He used to work as a tailor at the market in Gandhi Nagar. He’d stitch jackets, trousers, shirts, the imported ones. But I wasn’t in touch with him. Then I got in touch with him. He is my brother after all. I kept in touch with him after that. But for the past year he’s been staying at home. I live here alone.
What work do you do here?
I ride a rickshaw, sir.
And for how many years have you been doing this?
I’ve been doing this work for about two years. Before that I used to do diary pasting, hard pasting work.
The money you earn from this work, is it enough?
How could it be enough? I’m a handicapped man. I have 2-3 kids, their education, household expenses to take care of. How could this income suffice everything, you tell me? On some lucky days I earn 500, sometimes even 1000. Sometimes I don’t even get a 100 rupees.
So, whatever you earn, do you manage to send some money to the family back home?
I send all the money to my family. Whatever little is left, I use it to feed myself.
And had you ever done this kind of work before?
No, sir. Initially when I came here, I had mentioned to you, I’d get 300 rupees per day for working the entire month. And I’d get 10 rupees a week on Sundays for entertainment. So, I would somehow get by with that. Back then I’d need around 100-150 rupees a month to spend on food. But now a single meal sometimes costs me 100-200 rupees or 150 rupees.
Could you tell me something about your work? What do you think about it?
I can’t really say it’s okay. I’d say people, sometimes, do any work because they’re helpless. I’m carrying on with this because I’m helpless. You can, obviously, see my situation. I’m not very fit for this job. I’m handicapped. But I have two daughters and a son to raise, so I have to do this work. Otherwise, who’d want to do the kind of work where you have to ride a rickshaw no matter whether it’s hot or cold, whether you have the energy to ride it or not.
When you ride your rickshaw, what is it that’s running in your head? What’s on your mind?
I just keep thinking that even my kids should study in a good school. People should respect me even though I am handicapped. They should say that I’ve educated and raised my children well. That’s all I think about. Nothing else comes to mind.
In your opinion, what would be a decent job that you’d like to do?
A good job for me would be to have my own store. So I don’t need to run around and toil all day. It won’t be so stressful for me. I’d manage to feed my family and give good education to my children. That’s it.
And how do you like life in Delhi?
To be very honest, sir, I don’t like the life in Delhi. I’m just helpless. That’s why I live here. Everything here has its own problems. Suppose I park my rickshaw somewhere, someone would have a problem with that and would want me to move it. Someone might just come and slap me or someone would come and verbally abuse me. They me even puncture my rickshaw’s tire. So, if I park in front of someone’s store, they’re going to do that for sure. And when the shops shut at 10 or 11 or 12 in the night, I can sleep there. Otherwise I just wait for them to finish.
In your opinion, why do so many people come to Delhi?
People come here to earn, sir, because they must be helpless in some way or the other that they have to leave their family and move here. I’m sure every person wishes to live with family and kids in their homes.
What could make them helpless, for example?
It could be raising kids, educating them, managing school and household expenses, medical expenses if someone falls ill. It could be any kind of problem. That’s why a person might think ‘If I move out, earn and send money here, then one person’s expenses could be cut short and could be distributed for the other people at home.’