Opinion Poverty is a passive religion

Curiosity made me get off the car to check out brick-making today. I found children and women working here. Suddenly my driver came and forced me to leave. A friend later told me that women workers in many such brickfields are virtually bonded labourers; men who come to dump mud or take delivery of bricks often have abusive sex with them. Unless the poor avoid passive,submissive poverty,and claim their own rights by pressing for modernising the brick-making process that respects their dignity,no brickfield owner will change this situation.

This hurts me; if I could eject myself from a penniless past,why not others?

Selling the only wedding gold bangle she possessed,my mother bought me Air India’s Rs 2,700 return ‘youth fare’ from Delhi to Paris via Mumbai. In the aircraft,the air hostess said something in English. I looked at her stupidly. A foreigner seated next to me figured I didn’t understand. He took the two portions of the seat belt,put them in both my hands and said something. As the plane took off,I was holding the two seat belt bits separately. The air hostess came again and shouted at me. My neighbour closed my seat belt. We landed in Mumbai to change to the Paris flight. I unmindfully tried standing up,the seat belt was still fastened but I didn’t know how to open it. The foreigner came to my rescue again. When I came aboard for the Paris journey,I fastened the seat belt before another air hostess could shout at me. Being quick on the uptake was important; I was venturing into a new life with mental courage and determination only.

I love this story Haren Barua recounts of a samosa vendor who lives off his wits. A traveller who journeys home by train from work in Paranur to Chennai,he once had a samosa vendor sit next to him with an empty basket at Guduvanchery station. He empathised with his tiresome day-long samosa-selling job. The vendor replied,“What to do sir? Only by selling samosas like this every day do we get a commission of 75 paise for each samosa.” The traveller queried about his daily sales. “On peak days,about 3,500,on dull days can’t even move 1,000; on average,about 2,000 samosas a day.” Quick arithmetic for average sales amounted to Rs 1,500 rupees daily,or Rs 45,000 per month. The traveller’s business instincts awoke; how does he make the samosas? “Our proprietor gets them made by a samosa manufacturer.”

The vendor said his earnings went for living expenses,only with marginal savings could he take care of his other business. “What other business?” The vendor said he’d bought 1.5 acres for Rs 3 lakh in Urupakkam in 2007 and sold it a few months ago for Rs 15 lakh. Now he’d bought land in Uthiramerur for Rs 5 lakh. “Of the balance,I’ve set Rs 6 lakh aside for my daughter’s wedding and deposited Rs 4 lakh in the bank.” He further revealed he’d studied up to class III; could read and write. Before disembarking at Chromepet station,the vendor politely said,“Sir,there are many people like you who dress well,speak fluent English and work in air-conditioned rooms. But I don’t think you earn as much as we do wearing dirty clothes and selling samosas.” Isn’t this a great example of personal initiative and genuine entrepreneurship?

Sympathising with poverty is promoting a passive religion,it earns people no money. My message won’t reach the poor or non-English readers. Politicians professing to be their torchbearers don’t teach or inspire them to exit poverty without charity and begging,they merely tap them for votes. The main point is how to instill a desperate urge in poor people to oust poverty with their own initiative.

Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com