Sometimes I Find a Rupee in the Garbage
Saheb : The Ragpicker
Every morning the author meets Saheb and his friends scrounging for ' gold ' in the garbage dumps of her neighbourhood . Saheb and his family are Bangladeshi refugees . They have left their home a long time ago as storms washed their fields and homes , reducing them to a away state of abject poverty . That is why they came to this city ( New Delhi ) looking for a better life ' .
The author asks Saheb why he does ragpicking and does not go to school . To this , he replies that there is no school in his neighbourhood . The author jokingly promises to open a school . After a few days , Saheb asks if the author has opened the school . The author is very embarrassed at having made a promise that was not meant to be fulfilled .
Saheb - e - Alam : Lord of the Universe
After some months of knowing him , the author asks Saheb his full name . The author notices the irony in Saheb's name , ' Saheb - e - Alam , ' which means Lord of the Universe . She feels that Saheb would not believe what his name means . Unaware of the meaning of his name , Saheb roams with his gang , barefoot , on the streets . The author curiously asks why they don't wear slippers . He replies that his mother does not KS.IN bring them down from the shelf Another says he wants shoes . Moving across the country , the author has seen many children walking barefoot . One of the explanation that it is a tradition and not lack of money .
Author's visit to Seemapuri
The author's acquaintance with the barefoot ragpickers takes her to Seemapuri . Seemapuri is a place on the periphery of Delhi , yet miles away from it metaphorically . The place is home to 10000 other shoeless ragpickers like Saheb . They are all Bangladeshi refugees who came here back in 1971. They live in very poor conditions in mud structures with roofs of tin and tarpaulin .
The place has no running water facility and no drainage . The ragpickers have lived here for the past 30 years , some even more , without identity , yet they have valid ration cards . Children are born in them and become partners in survival . And survival in Seemapuri means ragpicking . Over the years , ragpicking has become an art .
Different Meaning of Garbage of Ragpickers
Garbage is gold to these ragpickers . It is their only support and means of income . Saheb tells the author that sometimes he finds a rupee , even a ten - rupee note . Anees realises that garbage holds a different meaning to both parents and children . For parents it is the source of their livelihood , providing them with food and shelter ; for children , it is something wrapped in wonder .
Saheb No Longer his Own Master
One morning the author sees Saheb on his way to the milk booth . He is carrying a steel canister informs the author that now he works at the tea stall and is paid ₹ 800 and all his meals . But the author feels that Saheb is not happy . His face has lost its carefree look . The steel canister seems heavier than the plastic bag . The bag was his , but the canister belongs to the owner of the tea stall . Saheb is no longer his own master .
I Want to Drive a Car
Mukesh Wants to be his Own Master
In Firozabad , the author meets Mukesh , who insists on becoming a motor mechanic The author feels that his dream is like a mirage amidst the dusty streets of Firozabad . Firozabad is the centre of India's glass - blowing industry , where generations after generations have been involved in this business .
Another Encounter with Poverty
The people of Firozabad involve their children in the bangle - making industry without knowing that it is illegal for children to work in the glass furnaces with high temperatures , in dingy cells without air and light . The children work day and night , often losing the brightness of their eyes .
Mukesh volunteers to take the author home . They walk down stinking lanes choked with garbage , past small and dirty constructions , where families of humans and animals co - exist in a primitive state .
They enter a half - built shack , one part of which is thatched with dead grass , where a frail young woman is cooking the evening meal for the whole family . She is the wife of Mukesh's elder brother .
The God - given Lineage
Mukesh's father has toiled hard all his life , first as a tailor and then as a bangle - maker . Still the poor fellow has been unable to renovate his house or send his two sons to school .
All he could manage to do was to teach them what he knows about the art of bangle - making .
Daring , Not a Part of Growing Up
One wonders if Mukesh's father has achieved what many have failed to achieve in their lifetime . He has a roof over his head . The cry of not having money can be heard in every household of Firozabad . Nothing has changed over the years . Years of hardship have killed all hopes and dreams .
The author asks a group of young men to organise themselves in a cooperative . She learns the horrific truth that even if they get organised , they are taken to jail for doing something illegal and are beaten up .
There is no leader among them . The author finds two distinct worlds in Firozabad . One is the exploited family caught in a vortex of poverty and the stigma of the caste in which they were born .
The other is a vicious circle of those who exploit them , the sahukars , the middlemen , the politicians , the lawmakers , the policemen and the bureaucrats . These have created such a burden that a child accepts this as naturally as its father did . To do something else would mean to dare . And daring is not a part of growing up .
A Ray of Hope
The author is filled with joy when she finds that Mukesh thinks differently . The boy is filled with hope . His dream of being a motor - mechanic is still alive in his eyes as he is willing to dare .
