JASIMUDDIN SARKAR, 59 was born in Chakkarpur, Gurgaon, and has been pulling a rickshaw for the last 26 years. He has 8 siblings, (5 brothers and 4 sisters) “Ours is a big family” he says – “All of us have four to 5 kids, even I have three daughters and two sons. My dad is happy to have around 40 grandchildren but we all rarely get to be together. My father could not afford school for us – only three of my sisters could go to school and could manage to study but only till the primary level. For my father, putting food on the table was far more important than providing for education.
Unless I am not well, I work every day of the week for 7 to 8 hours every day. It’s a question of earning 350 – 400 rupees and that matters a lot for me as I pay a sum of Rs. 5,000 per month as my house rent and electricity. Fortunately, my hard work keeps me in good health and I get to sweat a lot. I live in a tall building that has several single-room shacks, in which the bedroom has a corner identified for cooking, but the washroom is separate. For the moment, I am ‘pulling along’ well. I have never tasted of alcohol, nor any narcotics but I do feel like smoking a beedi at times. Being the sole bread-winner, I need to be in good health. I have seen a lot of ladai-lafdaa happening in the neighbourhood where men get back home in a drunken state and create a big ruckus. I always steer clear from such practices. At no cost do I wish to spoil my health. I have a bit of sugar problem but my hard work keeps it at bay. We have our own rickshaw stand at the Huda Metro Station crossing, where 8 of us rickshaw pullers, all from Malda, West Bengal, park our rickshaws. We accommodate a maximum of 3 people in our vehicles, a couple, a bacha and, maybe, a couple of bags”
Jasimuddin, despite being of the Muslim faith, enthusiastically participates in Durga Pooja and takes almost 10 days’ holiday every year – and that’s the only period when he is off work. This is also the time when he helps his brother cultivate his farm. He goes for Durga Pooja alone by FARAKKA Express, which entails a one-way journey of 38 hours…
“I own my rikshaw, which is now a year old. I just spent about 1500 rupees on it when I felt it needed new tyres, new tubes, and new rims on all three sides. That’s what it needs as repair & maintenance once every year. My wife too worked in houseping (meaning to say Housekeeping) but the owner did not pay her salary for a couple of months and she had no other option but to quit.
God has been great; I do not have any kind of problems in my profession but I feel really sad when the seemingly well-to-do people haggle for ten, even for five rupees. How much will they save if they pay me 5 rupees less, to an old, poor rickshaw-puller like me.
