NEW DELHI: “East or west, home is the best,” says 61-year-old Mohini Kaur, sitting inside a bamboo tent at Singhu border. A retired nurse from a government hospital in Delhi Cantonment, Kaur has no immediate relatives. The sexagenarian, who was living alone in her Swaroop Nagar house in Delhi, has found a new ‘home’, ‘family’ and a ‘loving son’ at Singhu border. What’s more, she spends all her pension money to make clothes for the farmers here free-of-cost.
Kaur’s is an odd presence at Singhu as she is neither a farmer nor she is from Punjab or Haryana like other protestors. However, her ancestors were farmers from Punjab. She was confined to her Delhi home after the deaths of her husband and son. When the protest erupted, she moved to Singhu, and has not visited the house for nearly one year.
The care from hundreds of farmers and a 22-year-old youth made her start a ‘tailor sewa’, making free clothes. “I first got to know about the protest from TV. Even though I am not a farmer, I wanted to do sewa and join them in their struggle and fight as a farmer’s daughter. After watching news, I decided to reach Singhu and with the help of some people here I set up this hut. I wanted to help in some way, so I used my skills to stitch pants, jackets and caps for the farmer brothers to help them survive the winter,” says Kaur.
Recollecting her life at Singhu, Kaur says she put up the tent with Rs 13,000 and bought cloth pieces using her pension. She gets Rs 21,000 every month as pension and for the last one year she has been spending it for farmers. Kaur says she has made 250 clothes so far. “Also, many farmer brothers come to me saying ‘sister please stitch this pant/shirt, it is torn. Some people give money to support the sewa, but largely it’s a free service,” she says smiling.
Kaur is accompanied by 22-year-old Harjeet Singh, who is also a tailor and helps her. “I lost my son four years ago but this protest has given me a son. Harjeet never let me miss my son. It’s not easy to stay here alone without basic amenities but Harjeet takes care of me like his mother. I have a family and home now,” says Kaur as tears fill her eyes.