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Rediff.com  » Business » This 12-year-old earns Rs 15 a day

This 12-year-old earns Rs 15 a day

By Indrani Roy Mitra
July 27, 2010 15:46 IST
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Subhankar HalderSubhankar Halder, aka Mejo, comes across as a feisty 12-year-old, who is always looking for something.

Ask him what he is looking for and pat comes the reply, "Empty bottles. They are strewn everywhere. They fetch money for me and my family, you know".

Subhankar earns his bread selling empty bottles. He makes about Rs 15 a day out of which he gives about Rs 8 to his family, which 'isn't much for my auto-driver father'.

Subhankar's mother works as a housemaid in south Kolkata and earns 'just about enough' to keep the family from starving.

"About a year ago, we could have four meals a day. But of late, our family of six (Subhankar has three younger brothers) can only afford three meals.

"Though my brothers often cry of hunger at night, I don't as that would make my parents feel guilty."

Subhankar loves to study and English and Mathematics are his favourite subjects. Yet, their plight does not allow him to go to even a corporation school.

Thanks to the initiative of a local club, however, he attends the Anganwadi school in the vicinity.

"I am happy. At least, I am getting some opportunity. There are so many children in India, I have heard, who don't get any chance to even hold a pencil, let alone study."

Subhankar is an avid fan of football and during the recently concluded World Cup, he kept himself updated on almost every detail of the matches.

He loves to play hide and seek with his Anganwadi classmates but hardly gets any time these days as "I am always trying to earn more for my family." While he is not collecting bottles, Subhankar works as an errands' boy at the roadside food stalls.

"Bad times, say elders, don't last long. And I am sure ours too shall pass," Subhankar muses.

"When I grow up, I will take up a well-paying job. I will then take my family out on a vacation to the hills. Ma has never ventured out of Kolkata and I once overheard her talking to Baba about her dream of visiting a hill station.

"As her eldest son, it is my duty to help her fulfil that dream," he says.

For a moment, the grit in his voice makes us forget his age.

Image: Subhankar Halder. | Photograph: Dipak Chakraborty

Child labour is a dagger through India's soul. The country has the dubious distinction of being home to the largest child labour force in the world, with an estimated 30 per cent of the world's working kids living here.

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Indrani Roy Mitra in Kolkata
 

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