Hardlook: By the sweat of brow – Burn to earn because there is no other way

Maya said she and her family members work in the fields as they have not been able to hire labourers. “After Panditji’s event, we have not had much profit. We do most of the work now,” she claims., referring to the World Culture Festival organised by the Art of Living Foundation in March . Crops of tenant farmers were damaged when work began to create a parking lot for the event. Maya said she has sowed crops on eight bighas and is expecting a harvest of ladies finger, bottle gourd and other vegetables. She works for almost 12 hours a day.

Resting for a few seconds to have a glass of water, she said, “The heat takes a toll on my health, but what will my family eat if we don’t work.”

Sunil, at Majnu ka Tila

In north Delhi near Majnu ka Tila, 20-year-old Sunil is facing one of the worst afternoons of his life. Sunil arrived in the capital a few days ago from Uttar Pradesh to help his brother sell inflatable plastic pools by the roadside. It is 1.30 pm and a customer has stopped by. Sunil shows him his long display of products even as beads of sweat start to trickle down his cheeks. However, he has devised a way to beat the heat. He has placed an inflated plastic water pool on the top of his rickshaw and sits under the shade. “Dhoop nahi lagti isse. Thodi rahat hai (The sunlight does not fall on me. There is a temporary relief).”

READ | Don’t ignore early signs of dehydration, say doctors

A traffic junction

On the outer ring road at Mukundpur junction, traffic police personnel are exposed to heat, dust and fumes from vehicles. Two head constables and a sub-inspector control traffic in the area. Sub-Inspector Karam Singh Brar and his team have been posted at the spot since May 1. The intersection does not have any traffic signals. According to them, at least one lakh commuters cross the road from either side each day. “We have to stop vehicles manually whenever there are more than five people waiting to cross the road. It is taxing in this heat,” said Brar.

He added they have only one complaint — the lack traffic shelters at the junction. “We are forced to stand in the open. One of my team members has diarrhoea. Our only respite is the a tiny room at the side of the road in which we take turns to get some rest.

READ | ‘Water for every person on road in two years’

An industrial unit in Wazirpur

In northwest Delhi’s Wazirpur Industrial area, the heat does not seem to bother workers collecting steel sheets fresh out of the furnace. Wearing gloves, 32-year-old Mahendra Singh holds a long iron rod and stands near the furnace. It is Singh’s job to ensure that the sheets of steel, which roll out after smelting, are arranged neatly in a big iron tray.

He does his job till someone replaces him. Two standing fans blow the heat generated by the furnace away from Singh. His face is covered with a towel and only his eyes are visible. “The heat near the furnace is worse than sunlight,” said Singh, shouting above the noise of the fans. He admits he feels dehydrated when he steps out under the sun.