If :
You had 3 square meals every day
You had decent unhindered education
Your manual labor means exercising
Your some dreams came true
Others are in the pipeline
You provide your kids with smartphones
To go to their online classes
You get to take time offs
To visit places or to chill at resorts
You have time to think and act
You have never thought about your privileges
Influenced by : Pushed out of school in the pandemic, they now stitch shoes
Some quotes from the article for the special ones who would find the article long :
“I put them to work so that we can at least get rotis. My children have never had ghee or milk.”
“The rough amount of Rs 4,000 that Seeku earns for around 20 days of work is one-third of the total monthly income of the family of seven. The money he earns helps keep the family afloat, and send three children to school”
“Mala explained that keeping her child out of school was a matter of survival for the family – it allowed them to save precious funds needed to feed themselves. “Should we educate our kids or should we feed them?” she said. “We can do either.”
“Education is for kids of people who have money,” she said. “We cannot educate our kids.”
But her studies were also interrupted when the school shut down during the pandemic “I thought I would grow up to be a teacher,” she said when I met her at her home in Shanti Nagar. “But not anymore. There is no money to study. I feel sad about it.”
…..who starts work at 9 am and continues through the day, spoke about how the long hours affected her health. “My hands get cuts,” she said. “ My back starts hurting. I get headaches and have problems with my vision.”
“I did not have a smartphone when online classes started,” said Nitin, who was studying in Class 9 when the lockdown struck. “We did not have any money then.”
“These days, she returns from school at 4.30 pm, after which she straightaway starts assisting her eldest brother, who works out of home, with cutting and thread work on shoe parts. She does this till 6 pm, and then, till 7 pm, helps her mother in making rotis. The little time she gets till 9 pm after completing her chores is dedicated to studying. Weekends mean more work hours.”
“Like my daughters are studying, my sons should also study,” she said. “I am unlettered. I thought my children would learn to write their names. I can’t sign. I put my thumb stamp.”
agamthedal 