For him, it means going to bed hungry
Om Astha Rai
Much has been said about the ignorance of Nepali workers about the only day in a year when the whole world celebrates the dignity of labor.
However, ask Hem Gautam, a New Road-based porter, if he knows anything about the International Workers" Day, best known as the May Day, you would get a different perspective. ´Yes, I know about it (the May Day),´ says Gautam. ´It"s a holiday.´ He does not sound sarcastic even when he unwittingly scoffs at the significance of the May Day.
On holidays, most of the shops in New Road, one of oldest business hub in Kathmandu, remain closed, rendering porters like Gautam jobless.
´My employers have already informed me that I will have very few works tomorrow,´ said Gautam, while waiting for a call from some of his regular employers on the eve of the May Day. ´On such holidays, I do not even earn Rs 50.´
At 38, Gautam looks 10 years older. Wrinkles have started to appear on his forehead, neck and cheeks. Clad in green shorts and a shabby t-shirt he often carries a rope that hangs from his waist. Hem Gautam, a porter, waits for work at New Road in downtown Kathmandu on Tuesday, the eve of May Day. He said May Day means no work and no food.
Originally from Lakhanpur VDC-1 of Ramechhap, Gautam lives in a dingy room in Gujjatol, just off New Road.
To reach Gautam"s room, which is on the second floor of an old and creaky house, one has to pass through a stinking toilet and climb up a narrow wooden staircase in complete darkness. He shares this room, where hardly a bed can be placed, with his two friends.
´Two of us sleep here,´ says he, showing his bed covered with a filthy sheet. ´One has to sleep on the floor.´ They do not have much space to cook meal in their congested room. ´We all eat outside,´ says he. ´It costs us Rs 300 every day.´
Gautam, along with his friends, pay Rs 2100, which covers drinking water and electricity tariffs, in monthly rent for their room. ´It"s too expensive,´ says he. ´After paying for rent and food, I save very little money to send my family back home.´Gautam"s wife and four children live in the village which is a day"s walk from Dolalghat on the Kodari highway.
Apart from festivals like Dashain and Tihar, Gautam goes to his village twice a year -- once during plantation and another during harvest. ´I have a plot of land,´ says he. ´But, the yield barely suffices for four months a year.´
´I regularly send money to my wife,´ says he. ´She buys all essential items like salt, edible oil and sugar. And, I buy all my children clothes twice a year.´ Though illiterate, Gautam remembers almost all important dates of his life like his marriage with Devaki. On May 30, 1995, Gautam had come to Kathmandu in search of a decent job. But, with no education and no professional skills he ended up being a potter.
A few months after Gautam came to Kathmandu, the Maoists waged a war against the state in the far-flung districts of Rolpa and Rukum for the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. In the last two decades, things have changed a lot. But, Gautam"s life remains as pitiable as it was some 20 years ago.
´Even my wage did not increase until a couple of years ago,´ says he. ´I used to earn just Rs 10-20 for carrying a load of 100 kg for almost half an hour until some years ago. Now, I get Rs 40-50 for it.´ As he is employed in an unorganized sector, Gautam has no financial backup. But, he does not fret about it. ´Why should I be sad today by worrying about tomorrow?´ says he. ´Only those people who have enough to eat at present can bother about the future.´
As the world celebrates May Day on Wednesday, Gautam and possibly his family members would go to bed on empty stomach.
Published on: 1 May 2013 | Republica
GET IN TOUCH