Surviving a tough life

Saleem Shiekh,also known as ‘Nanhe’ by the other vendors,sells around two to four carpets a day. This teenager,all of 19,has the zeal and enthusiasm to push sales even in summer,though he admits that business is better in the monsoon and winters. “I shifted from Benaras to Pune some years back with my family of five brothers. We all live in Yerawada and all of us are involved in this carpet business. We also put up our stalls at the ‘Utsav Exhibition’ and ‘Manoranjan Nagri’ for 40 days and get charged R 50,000 for it. We specialise in hand-knotted Kashmiri carpets and Belgian carpets,” smiles Saleem. He takes orders over telephone and the wares are transported to Pune by rail from Benaras.

A little further down the road stands 36-year-old Mohammed Naheem,who is glum at not having made any sale for two weeks at a stretch. Dealing in carpets in Pune for over two decades now,he has been selling supplies to showrooms and the remaining stock on his hand-cart on the streets of the city. “Sometimes during the summer season,business gets very frustrating. I am the sole breadwinner of my family and it is my responsibility to provide for my wife and educate my two teenage sons so that they have a bright future,” says Naheem. The Badhoi carpet,which is handmade by families in Santh Ravidas Nagar Zilla of Uttar Pradesh,is Naheem’s specialty.

While stopping his cart to attend to a potential customer,Babubhai Kazi,laments,“Times are difficult nowadays. We are not allowed to stand with our carts in one place without a license. That’s why we have to be on the move. If we are caught in one place,our goods are thrown and our carts are confiscated or even broken. Some bikers come around when my kids are on duty and pick carpets off the cart and speed away. It is not possible for us to take any action against them because they come in a big gang. I find it difficult to complain against them because my kids don’t remember their vehicle numbers. The increasing drunk driving culture in the city is a big problem and when people are drunk they do not realise what harm and unhappiness they are causing to other people around them.”

Kazi’s two sons look on as he teaches them how to make a sale and how to protect the cart as well. He is supportive of whatever profession choice his sons will make,even if they want to continue in his business of carpets. He wishes,though,that they climb up to do so at a higher level. He teaches them the basics of the business during their vacations and sends them back to Benaras to attend school when the holidays come to an end.