The narrator, Anees Jung feels that the ragpickers not wearing chappals is a subtle reference to their economic condition, which is a perpetual state of poverty. They live in unhygienic conditions, and due to their hand-to-mouth existence, the children are forced into labour early in life. As a result, they are denied the opportunity of…
The rag pickers of Seemapuri do not have proper shoes to wear. They either, have mismatched shoes or have never owned a pair in their lives. They stay barefoot, but they explain it as a ’tradition’ rather than due to lack of money.
The full name of Saheb is Saheb-e-Alam, which means Lord of the Universe. He does not know the meaning of his name. The irony here is that Saheb in reality is a ragpicker and a refugee from Bangladesh. He is not the ‘Lord of the Universe’. OR Saheb’s full name was Saheb–e–Alam. It means the…
Saheb’s family came from Bangladesh in 1971 to live in Seemapuri, Delhi. They had come there because their homes and fields were destroyed by storms. They had nothing left to live on. He was always searching for a coin or a rupee or something valuable in the garbage dumps. He did this as he had…
Saheb’s parents left Dhaka because repeated floods swept away their fields and homes leaving them on the verge of starvation. This led to their migration to India, where they hoped to find better living conditions and livelihood opportunities. OR Saheb’s parents left Dhaka and migrated to India because repeated floods had swept away their fields…
‘Garbage to them is gold’ is an apt statement for the ragpickers of Seemapuri because they lead a life of misery and perpetual poverty. Garbage is gold to the rag pickers because it is a means of sustenance to them, it gives them their daily bread and a roof over their heads. Finding a coin…
The rag-pickers of Seemapuri do not have proper shoes to wear. They either, have mismatched shoes or have never owned a pair in their lives. They stay barefoot. But they explain it as a ’tradition’ rather than due to lack of money.
Saheb took up a job at a tea stall where he got eight hundred rupees a month. He was not happy there as he had become a servant. He was no longer his own master and had to work according to the whims and fancies of the tea stall owner. He had lost his freedom.
Bangle makers are born in poverty, live in poverty and die in poverty. For generations, people have been in this trade, but they have not been able to improve their living conditions. They have to work under inhuman conditions. They have to work under flickering oil lamps. Their eyes get used to darkness and they…