2019 has started for many as it started in 2018 with everyone wishing everyone "Happy new year" . Well, the fact is for all of us , it is only a new calendar . Everything else remains the same . We will continue to have the same job and the same wife . Only difference in 2019 is , January 01 comes on a Tuesday while it was on a Monday in 2018 . Nevertheless Happy new year.
Like for all of us , January 1 was a Tuesday after Monday for Suresh, an entrepreneur based out of Bannerghatta in Bangalore. His day started at 4 AM . He landed at his office at 06:00 AM . Unlike most of us, it was a hard day at work for Suesh. He finished his job for the day and left for his home at 2:45 PM from Krishna Rao park in Basavanagudi and reached his home at Jungle Palya in Bannerghatta at 5:30 PM. As Suresh put it , these times may not be correct because Suresh does not get to see the watch. It is only a guess.
Why was it a hard day at work for Suresh ? As he puts it , it was a very bad since it was January 01. Suresh said , since it was January 01, there were very few morning walkers in Krishna rao park and his business was very poor since there were very few customers .
This was the narration given by Suresh as he was waiting for me to finish my breakfast at a Udupi hotel today morning . Since i picked up a conversation with him , he was hoping for some business from me and waited till i finished my breakfast.
Suresh is born blind . He stays in a rented house near Bannerghatta. Every week, an organization working for the blind visits his house and gives him some handkerchiefs. His Job is to go around selling these kerchiefs. He gets paid 300 rupees for every 6 packs of kerchiefs that he sells . 6 packs is 72 kerchiefs .
Suresh lives with his wife who is also blind and a 9 month old son. The rent for their house is 3000 rupees a month.
His Day starts at 4:00 AM. He goes out of the house by 4:45 AM. He walks for about 20 mins to catch a bus which gets him to JP Nagar. From there he takes another bus either to mini forest or MTR or to Krishna rao park depending on his instincts. He goes around walking in the park selling kerchiefs to walkers . He then stands at the Darshini type hotels (Fast food joints) and tries to sell the kerchiefs to the customers . He says his target is 72 kerchiefs a day . That works out to 300 rupees. Suresh adds , "With some tips and few people sharing their idli or coffee with me , it adds up to about 350 rupees to 400 a day ". Suresh said he has to get back to his house before dark since his wife cannot manage the kid in the dark .
Necessity, determination, self-respect , call it by any name . Here is a guy selling kerchiefs to walkers and leading a life . Walking in Bangalore with both eyes wide open is itself a challenge . So one can imagine how it is to walk in Bangalore unable to see.
Suresh was telling me his story as i was having my breakfast. He refused to have breakfast since he had finished. Not once; he said , his life is difficult . He said he is happy making 300 a day . For that he has to work all 30 days a month from 4 AM to 4 PM.
As perhaps expected by Suresh, i did give him a business. Before taking leave , he said "ಮತ್ತೆ ಸಿಗೋಣ ಸಾರ್ ", meaning let us meet again. It was a nice gesture.
These stories make me wonder if we are all too pampered. Most of us are just bundle of excuses trying very very hard to pass the buck.
New year has started with a nice learning experience . Hope my new year will be full of new learning.
Once again, A very happy new year to all.
