As New Delhi is gearing up for the Republic Day celebrations, tri-coloured flags and similar patriotic items like coloured balloons have been added to the modest stock of Indira and other hawkers.
The hawkers, who cannot afford a metro ride, bus ride or even shoes to walk the tiring distances, have been crisscrossing the city in the run-up to Republic Day.
Flowers are from the Ghazipur flower market, while flags, toys and other items are bought from Sadar Bazaar in Old Delhi. “We bought these bigger flags for around Rs 100, and these for around Rs 25,” says Maya, Indira’s cousin, holding out a metallic Tiranga tabletop statue at the busy IIT Flyover near Hauz Khas metro station in the capital city. The items are then sold at slightly higher prices.
“We save Rs 150- 200 every day,” Indira’s aunt says while speaking of their regular business. However, their efforts go in vain some days as the sales fluctuate. The flyover is now home to Indira’s family and many other hawkers in the area. With no roof over their heads and no beds to rest on, they walk kilometers to use washrooms located at the nearest metro stations.
The young girls go to the nearby government school occasionally. On other days, they are tutored under the flyover. “There’s a teacher who comes here to teach us,” Maya remarks, without knowing much about the tutor.
Originally the dwellers of Bhilwara in Rajasthan, Indira’s family has been living in Delhi for the past 25 years. “We just wish the government would help us build huts, if not proper homes,” Maya says, adding that four huts should be sufficient for her family.
A bunch of cumbersome, wooden flagpoles rest on her shoulder, as she holds a bouquet of roses in the other hand. Indira says, “I wish more people buy these.”
“We came to Delhi to earn,” says 52-year-old Gopi, as he peeks out from a thick, red blanket, settling himself on the traffic light pedestal. Gopi and his family hail from a small village near Jaipur in Rajasthan. He mentions that neither he nor any other sellers have been forced to evacuate. “If we are asked to vacate, we’ll simply go back to our village,” Gopi adds.
