He is regular ‘Pheriwalla’ in our vicinity and comes every alternate day to fetch the household scrap – it is his regular feature to shout “Kabadi” again and again to make his presence felt that he has arrived.
“Kabadi” – the namesake that he shouts
makes us all understand the work he does – with all his dignity and commitment,
he makes sure that the customers, as us, get the best deal possible. We have
sold our household trash aplenty without a bargain as we know he is the best –
even if he makes a skewed profit of the deal, the sheer aura of “Yogesh -Ji” as
I like calling him, has been captivating.
As time passed and the pandemic subsided,
our physical interaction began to happen and during one of those days when I was
disposing off newspaper items, I had a frank talk with him. He came out to be
just another father around, having 3 kids and other family consisting of wife
and old mother and father.
He has a tough job in hand as he
strolls with his cycle-riskshaw from street to street with plastic waste and
other collectibles, it is certainly a tough job and in this roasting heat, it
makes things worst for him – as he carries a makeshift plastic bottle under a
canopy of plastic bags which makes the water little ‘Cool’- as per him, he has
made ways to survive with his day to day ordeal – so what was his zeal to struggle
so much and what is his aim in life, I asked him this time when he came to
fetch month’s newspaper trash – his answer was straightforward as if he was a self-motivated
man on a mission –“ Bhaiya, my family and especially my kids are my real
motivation, inke liye karr raha hoon” [doing it for my kids].
I appreciated his commitment to this
great cause, the cycle of penury can be broken by such acts of dedication and
motivation, Surely, Yogeshji is one such soul who I resolutely believe is on
great path and the one who would break the shackles of misfortune through his
vision… probably, time has the answer to this…
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