Story
The day starts with a joyful sunrise. We were very excited about our visit. After completion of our ablutions. We went to auditorium. Everybody was sitting and waiting for exciting visit. After the announcement of the visit, we went for the visit beside GRAMBHARTI. Everybody including constructor and Laborers were working. Some of the laborers were transferring bricks from one place to another. They were carrying 12-16 bricks on their head. Some of the laborers were carrying the MORTAR on their head and shoulder. Some of the laborers were also spraying water on the wall. Constructor were making the wall using Bricks and MORTAR. After observing their work and procedure, we have asked many questions to a girl whose work was to carry the bricks and transferring from place to place. She was from Rajasthan and she came here to work for one month. She was just 16 years old. She was studying in class 8th. Her working hour is from 08:00 to 18:00. She was just getting R.s. 300 for daily basis. Her life was very difficult. We have also experienced to transfer the bricks. This was very difficult for us. After the conversation, we again came to the auditorium and had the delicious lunch. We had taken rest for a snap. Then, we went to SRISTI office, Ahmedabad for a 2nd visit. We have prepared the questions and discussed with Sir. At 5 in the evening, We went to a construction site in Gujrat University Campus. They were using a lifting machine to lift the bucket from the ground to top floors. Then, we enter the building and there we saw the laborers. Some of them were constructor who were making walls using Bricks and MORTAR. Some of them were transferring the load. Many laborers were women. We have started conversation with a girl. She was just 15 years old. She was studying in class 9th in her village in Rajasthan. She came here for one month. In that site, they were using cement bricks instead of Clay bricks. The weight of that brick is more than 5 kg. They were able to lift the bricks on their head. After some time, the constructor got irritated and after visiting that site, we again came to SRISTI and had a delicious Dinner and then we slept. We woke up at 8 in the morning. After having breakfast, we again went for our third visit with two girls to introduce ourselves. We have observed many things there. They were making bricks in temporary bricks making factory. They were first preparing the MORTAR in the mixing machine and then they poured into the mold and keep it for some time. They were using those bricks for flooring. They were making two different types of bricks, smaller brick (5kg) and bigger brick (20kg). They were able to carry 4-5 smaller brick on their head and one bigger brick on the hand. For preparing the MORTAR, they were carrying the sand, cement and smaller stones from one place to another and throwing into the mixing machine. After making the brick, they had to transfer types of brick from one place to another. They were getting huge pain in hand, shoulder, and knee. This is very difficult job. We again came to SRISTI Office and had a delicious Lunch. In the evening, we went to KALUPUR railway station to observe the situation of coolies. First, we have observed many things around. Coolies were carrying the loads on their hand, shoulder, and head. They also had to climb the stairs. They were using the trolley on the platform provided by the railway. Many people were traveling to Ahmedabad. Some of them use to carry their bags by themselves. Some of them is not able to carry the load or they do not want to carry. For those people, collies were there to help them. After observing, we have a great conversation with Paplu bhai. He was working for 25 years in this profession. We have asked many questions with him. We met with Manoj Singh. He had a great personality. He wanted to become a clerk in the army. Somehow, he did not get it. He has given all the answers to the questions. He was very interested in talking with us. On the next day, We came to GRAMBHARTI. We again talked with a labor then we asked, would you like to prefer a device, which can take a load on the back. Then they told I will try but I have not used before.