What is your religion and what is your caste?
I am Thakur and my religion is Hindu.
Are you married?
Yes, I am married.
And, how many children do you have?
Three children – two daughters and one son.
How long have you been living here?
I have been living here for the last 3-4 years.
Why did you come here?
I came here for bread and butter, for a job.
When you came here did you have any friends or family here?
No one was here. I was in a very new place, I was even pick-pocketed two or three times.
How did you come here?
Since I am handicapped, I just came by train. The money I had brought along was lost when I was pick-pocketed. Then I learned how to protect myself.
What work do you do here?
I work making sweets, [also] whenever there is work, like work for parties, marriage functions, then I go work making food.
And for how many years have you been cooking?
This work I’ve been doing for a very long time, even before this leg was amputated. This leg was amputated because of this very work. I was coming back from Saharanpur after completing my work, and I had cooking tools hanging here. And because of these tools – the train was going slowly and there was a huge crowd. I was also hanging outside the train. Four or five more people had come and they were also hanging on to the train. I was carrying a heavy load on my body. And my hand slipped, and I fell down between the platform and the track.
So, what were you doing earlier, before doing this work?
Before this work, my entire family used to make gacchak and marunda (sweets made from jaggery).
This is your skill, so why don’t you make it here also?
No, I don’t like to make it. Moreover I am unable to pick up heavy things on a stove with one leg. It is heavy and weighs 20 to 30 kilograms. When it is boiling on the stove, I am worried about burning myself.
When you do your work, what kind of thoughts come to your mind?
What thoughts? [I’m] just roaming here and there every day, what else can I do? I make a small peg (of alcohol), take it and sleep in the night, living with loads of pain. What else can I do?
How do find the life here in Delhi? Which life is better here in Delhi or of there [in your hometown]?
I like the life in my hometown in Haryana, but what can I do? Here one lives in fear, not knowing when your pocket will be picked. If you rest anywhere for even two minutes, your pocket could be picked by anyone.
Where do you stay here?
I live in Old Delhi. I stay here for the whole day and at night I go to Old Delhi to sleep at the station.
At the station?
What else would I do, live alone here?
Can you tell me some other incident, some other story which has happened to you?
What can I tell you? It is the end of my life.