BENGALURU: India is a land of stark contrasts. On one hand, it ranks among the wealthiest nations globally, yet it harbours one of the largest populations living in poverty. Each year, countless individuals of remarkable talent rise to lead organisations and governments abroad, while at home, over 80 per cent of the workforce remains in the informal sector – trapped in low-paying, insecure, and often exploitative jobs, barely enough to survive. Despite this, the nation seems to move forward, indifferent to these imbalances and content with its self-perceived success.
In her debut book, The Many Lives of Syeda X (Juggernaut; `799), award-winning journalist Neha Dixit exposes these contradictions through the experiences of countless women toiling in India’s informal economy. These women form the backbone of the nation, producing the vast majority of goods consumed domestically, yet their labour remains largely invisible and unacknowledged.
“The book is called The Many Lives of Syeda X because it’s not just one person’s story but the story of countless women. Many women around us are living the same kind of life as Syeda. Everything we use-whether it’s a pen, a mobile cable, or part of a helmet – is made by people like Syeda, who are paid as little as a fifth of a daily wage,” Dixit, speaking recently in Bengaluru, explains.
After demonetisation, she witnesses how her mother’s work and the lives of the working-class community around her in north-east Delhi have been severely impacted. They’re no longer even cooking three meals a day just to save fuel, as they operate within a cash-based informal economy,” Dixit shares.
Dixit hopes readers will no longer overlook these invisible workers. “Everything we use is made by cheap labour under excruciating conditions. Whether you’re crossing the road to buy keyrings and tricolours, or purchasing rakhis, string lights, Christmas decorations, stationery, bags, or pressure cookers – every single item is assembled or produced by people earning less than `80 a day. Simply becoming aware of this reality is a step towards addressing it. We need to stop normalising the fact that we no longer notice who is doing what to keep the world around us functioning,” she adds.