COVID-19

When I wasn’t doing this door-to-door work… this is also… a thing to understand… this is something that should be discussed further ahead… this matter should go to everyone’s head. When I was doing something else, when I was doing manual labour… people’s perspective was different. When I was selling tea and momos, the perspective was different. Then those who wouldn’t greet/salute me before would greet/salute me (jo salaam nahin thokta tha, who bhi thokta tha). And when I felt ashamed… I feel something. I was born in this place, I have grown up here… as in, everyone knows me here, right? I have worked in the same place too. I have worked in the book market as well. I have done a lot of work with books, right, in wholesale… so everyone knows me. So, in the same place, today… like they say, right… time also becomes heavy on the person (waqt bhi insaan par bhaari paadd jaata hai). So, one shouldn’t get worried… this is what the meaning of a warrior is. As in, today, I’m having to face such a situation wherein… people who would join their hands when they saw me… today ask me “brother, what are you doing?” (jo log mujhe door se haath joda karte the, woh bolte hain ki “bhai, aap kya kar rahe ho?”) (shocked). When I’m doing this door-to-door [garbage collection] right, they ask me if I didn’t get any other work… “You had to do this?” (“bhai, aapko aur koi kaam nahin milla…yehi karna tha?”). People give me a speech in this manner. So… so, I say that… time beat me “waqt ki maar hai”… haina. In a shortcut, I will say that there is a need for money, so I found this work, and there’s no other work in times of Corona. Little… in this, one gets free earlier… the body also relaxes. So, in this manner, I tell them that… this is why I’m doing this work. Some time later, I’ll do some other work. So, they say “No, no, brother… don’t do this work… you have a stall (street vendor)… you should run your stall” (“nahin nahin yaar bhai… yeh kaam na karo aap… aapki toh stall hai… aap apna stall chalaao”). I said that I’m not even able to make a living out of running the stall. It’s not working… there, the customers are close to nothing. If my stall were running well, then why would I do this work at all? I’m not mad (mera dimaag toh phirra nahin hai). Because I have responsibilities on me (mere upar zimmewari hai). The work that I’m doing, I’m not doing this happily. I’m doing this work for my responsibilities. And I should do it… not just me, how many ever people are there, right? Everyone has responsibilities, so I just want that everyone should fulfil their responsibilities. Don’t look at the work that you’re doing. You’re not stealing, you’re not robbing anyone’s house, you’re not lying to anyone, you’re not breaking anyone’s head. So whatever work you get at a point in time, just do it. So, everyone teaches… teaches… our elders also used to say this before: “You should never be ashamed of doing work, be it any work. Child, don’t feel ashamed. There is shame in stealing” (“kaam karte samay sharam nahin karna… koi bhi kaam ho… beta, sharam nahin karna…chori karne mein sharam hoti hai”). So, I said, I have seen from my childhood experience… I have enough experience… so that’s why I said let’s do this work. I got this, right, I will do it. So, when I lift the sacks (bori), when I went from house to house, everybody already knew me. They said “Friend, how come you’re here?” (“yaar, aap yahaan kaise?”) (shocked). I said, what to do? Corona is going on, everything is closed. So, some people cheered me on. They said “Brother, we can’t do this work. How did you? Anyway, it’s good that whatever work you got during the time, you did it. You have to run the house” (“shabbashi di…ki bhai, hum aapko maan gayye…ki bhai, hum toh nahin kar sakte…aapne kaise kiyya? Chalo, accha hai…waqt mein jo bhi kaam mila…aapne kiyya…ghar toh chalaana hi hai”). I said, yes. Everyone cheered me on. They said good things, that you’re doing well.