BHUBANESWAR: At a time when moving outdoors is a risky affair, 45-year-old Kumar Nayak and his wife Prabhati are out on the streets as early as 5.30am. No matter how critical be the situations, they would never be acquainted with the trending work from home culture - an absolute need of the hour! Be it the heat, thunder or a virus, nothing can keep them off the streets-they are ‘safai karamacharis.’
Much of their work had gone unappreciated and unnoticed. And, the couple now thanks the virus for letting people realise their humongous contributions. Undeterred by the fear of infection or death, the couple continues to collect four trolleys of garbage from at least 1,000 houses in and around IRC Village area at Nayapalli daily. From doorstep collection of waste to sweeping streets, they perform the odds sans any bias.
“It’s of least importance to us that who lives inside the house. The dustbin kept outside each gate is all that we look for relentlessly. I walk more than four to five kilometres, pulling a trolley loaded with used sanitary napkins, kitchen waste, foul-smelling leftovers, stinking baby diapers containing stool, and what not!. Sometimes, we also collect what people vomited due to overeating or over-drinking “ said Kumar.
With eateries shut and less people on the roads, the streets have turned a little cleaner than before, he claimed. But, what about the dirt inside?-he asked, hinting at the unhygienic habits adopted by people. “The Government is asking people to maintain personal hygiene. But, people living in posh duplexes, tall apartments and beautiful houses care little for the streets. They care little for us. There have been several occasions when they spited in front of us, as they stepped out to fill the dustbins. Perhaps, they feel that the virus will not infect us,” Prabhati remarked sarcastically.
The pandemic has created panic among people, regardless of class or caste. They are scared too. But, for them, hunger and poverty are greater demons. “If we sit back at home, who will give us money? We will die out of hunger,” they said.
Kumar earns around Rs 5,000 a month. Half the amount is spent in paying the rent of a hut. A peek into his single-room tenement in a slum near Unit-8 exposes the vulnerability of his four member family. The roof is made of a flimsy tarpaulin sheet to protect his precarious dwelling with crumbling walls from monsoon and heat. Both, Kumar and his wife had never been to school after Class V. But, in their fight against corona, they have been quick enough to learn the precautionary measures. “We don’t work without wearing masks. I don’t know what medicine (referring to a sanitiser) it is, but the officers have told us to apply that on palms. We do it, unfailingly. We don’t gather in large numbers in the slum,” he said.
