“Once a person falls into a debt trap, it becomes difficult to come out of it because by the time we realise it, the burden has already increased way too much,” says 17- year-old Saddam Hussain, who is living such a life in Delhi’s Sawda Colony.
Hussain, youngest of nine siblings, recently got admission in BA (English and Sociology) at Delhi University’s Shivaji College. He is the only one in his family to have had a regular education. But it’s not been easy. In Class 10, he worked as a waiter at weddings. “A bhaiya in our colony organised it and each of us would get Rs 350 per day.
Sometimes, I would do two shifts in a day. All the money went to my mother,” he says, “But then she asked me not to do it and focus on my studies.” Hussain was born in Delhi after his parents shifted from Bihar in search of work in the early 2000s.
His father is a construction worker, but doesn’t work regularly now because he is getting old. “So, our house expenses are managed by my mother, who usually takes loans from the area money lenders. To repay one person’s debt, she borrows money from another and the chain goes on,” he says. Hussain was an ordinary student till Class 10, scoring 54 per cent in his board exams.
“Then, I took Arts in Class 11 because I was never really fond of maths. I got myself transferred to another schools where I took Economics. But the syllabus was really difficult,” he says. This is when a tutor called Inder, who lives in the same area, came calling. “He taught me without fees for six months.
Slowly, I started to develop interest and scored 88 per cent in Class 12.” Post school, he was once again directionless, but got to know about an Asha society member Rubina, who lived in the colony. “I did not know how to apply for college, but Rubina Baaji added me to a group and did several counselling sessions,” adds Hussain. With their help, he finally got admission to the DU-affiliated college.
“As my English is weak, I have taken it as a main subject with sociology. And I have also decided to take part in college politics because it interests me,” says Hussain. This time again, his mother took a gold loan from Muthoot Finance on her gold earrings to pay his fees of Rs 19,000.
“Later, the Asha society team asked me for the receipt and gave me Rs 10,000,” he adds. He wanted to study BALLB, but the crash crunch compelled him to change his plans. “After graduation, I will do BEd, and then take the CTET exam and secure a government job as a teacher.
Then, I will pursue LLB. And if time permits, I would like to do an MA and then PhD in political science,” says Hussain, who has been mostly free because there were no jobs during the pandemic.