What religion and caste do you belong to?
I am a Muslim and I work here. I pull this cart and sell stuff from here. I manage to save around 100-200 rupees. Can’t do much else.
Are you married?
No. I’m not married yet. I don’t have any kids. Just me and my parents. I’m their only child.
How long have you been living in Delhi?
I’ve been living in Delhi for almost 10 years now.
And with whom do you live?
Yes. I live my mother and father.
And why did you come to Delhi?
I had to come to Delhi. I had a brother who passed away. So, we were helpless. We had to come here. We weren’t earning enough for the family.
Before you came to Delhi, did you have any friends or family living here already?
No.
What work do you do?
I sell fruit from this cart.
You’ve been doing this ever since you came to Delhi?
Yes. I’ve been doing this same work.
And is the money you get from this work enough for you?
How could it be enough? I barely sell anything. I roam around all day. At the end I’m barely left with 200-250 rupees. No more than that. That’s it.
And do you manage to send or give some money to your family?
Yes I do give them. I give whatever is left at the end, which is hardly 200-250 rupees. I give it to them.
Had you ever done this kind of work before?
I hadn’t done it before. I started working 10 years ago and this is all I have done in my life.
What work did you do before you started doing this?
Before this, I would just roam around doing nothing. My father had started working for us and sold fruit.
What do you think about while working? What thoughts come to your mind?
I just think of getting better work. I want to make more money and have my own house. That’s it.
What would be an interesting job that you’d like to take up?
An interesting job would be something that offers decent income to live comfortably, have two good meals a day and for savings, too. That’ll make me and my family happy. I wish to get a good job like that.
How do you like life in Delhi?
It’s good. It’s not very troublesome. We get by and manage to save something. So, we don’t face any problems as such.
Have you ever faced any discrimination in Delhi due to the fact that you’re a Muslim or because your income is low? Did you ever experience anyone speaking rudely with you or anything of that sort?
Yes, there are many people like that here. They threaten to hit me if I don’t go away. They snatch away my money. They threaten me with blades, hit me. That’s what happens here.
If you ever get a chance to back to your village, would you go?
Yes, definitely. Yes. What would I do in Delhi? There’s nothing much here. I would’ve thought of staying here if I had my own house. My house is in the village. I have a huge family there. I’d rather live with them than here.
In your opinion, why do so many people from all over India come to Delhi?
They must be poor too. What can they do? There’s not much work in Uttar Pradesh. It’s worse there. What can anyone do? They can’t even fill their stomachs. They come here to make money for their wives and kids when they get married. That’s the only benefit for them. They somehow save up 200-400 or 500 sometimes. They themselves eat plain bread to collect that much money, just so that they can earn for their family and kids.