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Journalism of Courage
Life for the 225 porters at the Pune Railway Station is no bed of roses. For them, survival depends entirely on physical strength. As a result, the sick and elderly barely manage to eke out a living. But those who are young and healthy manage to earn Rs. 100 or more in a day.
To prevent clashes, these coolies have divided themselves into two groups. Says 43-year-old Baburao Patil, head, All India Railway Licensed Porters8217; Association, Pune Branch, 8220;We don8217;t squabble over customers because we work in shifts. Coolies bearing badges from No. 1 to 63 work on the second-class side while those from 64 to 127 work for the first-class passengers8221;.
What about safety and security? 8220;We get nothing, even if we die under the train! A young porter lost his leg under a train a few years back, and we hamals contributed Rs. 10 each and gave him some money,8221; remembers coolie Mahipati Chavan. Patil has now demanded group insurance for the association.Though most of these porters do not want their children to take up this profession, they never earn enough to educate their kids and are left only with this option. Obviously, there is tremendous competitiveness to retain this sole means of living. So new members are not allowed in, only the son or a relative can take over from the one who retires.
However, the porters8217; biggest rivals are the unofficial porters residing in the slums near the station. 8220;They are the local dadas and are more than 100 in number. They do jobs like holding a place in the train, polishing shoes and if nothing else, even beg. Many times, we are accused of theft because of them,8221; laments 30-year-old coolie Ramesh Dimble.
And yet, these men still find time for entertainment. This spare time is spent reading newspapers, smoking bidis and even resting. As far as lunch is concerned, they have it together in the small hamal rest room, sharing each others8217; bread and problems.
