I came to Delhi 9 years back, from Kalahandi, Odisha with few of my villagers in search of livelihood. My youngest son was only two months old when my husband left us. I had to take care of my four kids alone.
With such young children, I couldn't work, I had to borrow and feed them. When my son just started walking I left for Delhi. Vidhyanchal Hostel was under construction at that time. I remember carrying loads of bricks on my head with my son tied around my chest. When the work at Vidhyanchal got over, the whole staff including the people from my village shifted to a different place and left us behind. My son was crying and roaming around in search of them when he saw me he ran into my arms and said: “Maa they left, they didn’t take us along.”
I couldn’t rent a room, after many requests one family let us stay with them, I used to cook for them and did other chores. Due to less space, I had to sleep on the floor for a long time. And then with some help, I got work as a cleaner in the Main Building with a salary of Rs 6000. I’ve been doing the same work since then in different parts of the campus.
There’s no man in the family, I’ve to constantly work and make sure that my children live a much better life. Somehow I managed to marry my two daughters, they are quite busy in their lives now. I often think of moving back to Odisha, but then there’s neither a home nor a work there. Due to circumstances I had to leave my elder son, Jeetu back in the village. He just got admission in ninth grade and then the lockdown happened. I want to bring him back as soon as possible
मेरा दिन कैलाश में काम करते हुए गुज़र जाता हैं हर दिन 8 घंटे काम करने के बाद मुझे अपने बेटे के पास जाने का मौका मिलता है कटवारिया सराय का वो छोटा सा कमरा ही मेरी खुशियो का आँगन बन चुका है, अपने बेटे के साथ खाना खाते हुए कुछ पल बिता लेने से मानो पुरानी सारी बातों से जी हल्का हो जाता है
All the students here are like my own children, I love being around them all the time.
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