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Home News India 56 Vijay Kale, 19 Hawker at traffic signal |
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August 15, 2003 'I have never thought of begging' You may not believe me, but my father, is a polistik [politician]. People come to him whenever they need something done. Many politicians approach him when they want their banners put on the highways. Our chawl [tenement] was destroyed because a flyover was to be built. Now my whole family spends the day below that flyover. I sell these flags every year. Normally I earn Rs 200 to Rs 300 a day. 15th August is a very profitable day for me. Yes, I know it is the day we got Independence. On other days I sell everything -- newspapers, roses -- even limbu [lemon], mirchi [chillies] to superstitious carwallahs. I start at around 9 am and work till 4 pm. The only sad thing is that I come from a village where we are called Pardhis. We have a very bad reputation of being thieves. Whenever the police finds this out they tend to harass us. I know there are some Pardhis who are thieves but that does not apply to us. I make my money the honest way and I have never thought of begging.
As told to Rajesh Karkera
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