From Tiruvanamallai, Tamil Nadu
Kaviarasa has been working as a porter for the past 6 years at City Station, Bangalore. He works anywhere between 12 to 18 hours and earns a salary of Rs. 5000 a month.
He likes Bangalore and feels at home because he has many friends from Tiruvannamalli who are working and living together. When I asked him if he misses home, he said that home is wherever he can earn, fill his stomach and make a living.
From Darbanga, Bihar
Mohammad Zilani is a 37 year old Chaiwalla at the Yeshwantpur Railway station. He has been living in Bangalore for 10 years and visits his village every alternate year for 2 months at a stretch. He planned is vacations around the Bihar local assembly elections in November, to ensure his vote for Nitish Kumar (JD), and was happy that his candidate won. He hopes that the new government will be able to ensure his kids go to school for free and his food will continue to be subsidized.
From Tumkur, Karnataka
Gopal Aiyya has been working in Bangalore since 45 years at a hospital nearby. His family still lives in tumkur and hopes to be able to move them to Bangalore for better work opportunities. His job is to work at the registry counter of the hospital on a 12 hour work shift.
He was using the platform to get to his house via the train station
From Thuppa in Araria, Bihar
Mohammed Sharief previously worked as a road construction worker in Agra. The job payed him anywhere between Rs. 9,000 to Rs. 13,000. He moved out because the city was too cold, and he couldn't afford the clothes to keep him warm.
So, he took the train to Chennai to meet with his friend Pradeep, who was to give him a job at a potato factory. Unable to get in touch or find him, he took the train to Bangalore to look for him here. Finally, he spoke with his brother who connected the two of them. He was waiting at the station to take the train back to Chennai to meet with Pradeep.
Mohammed has a wife, Bulshan, and three kids aged 10, 8 and 2. Upon asking if she worked, He said “Hum musalmaano mein aurat kaam nahi karte.” / ("In the religion of Islam, our women do not work.")
From Bharathpur, Rajasthan
Lokesh Kumar is a 24 year old Railyway Security Forces officer. He has trained in the armed forces camps in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. His stint in Bangalore has been for a long 1.5 years, and hopes to be able to return to Rajasthan to continue working closer to his home and family.
From Bharathpur district of Rajasthan
Ranbath and his friends decided to join the army together at the age of 18. He was stationed in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir and was later posted to the RPF at 21.
He doesn't like Bangalore much because he thinks the city is too modern and often feels like people are rude to him because of the language barrier. He likes to cook for himself, and doesn't eat at the railway mess as most often, he doesn’t recognize what he's eating.
When I asked him if he ever experienced fear on the line of duty, he said that he'd long forgotten what fear felt like after the intensive training sessions at the army.
From Ashora, Uttar Pradesh
Bhoop Singh was on a short visit to conduct and facilitate a workshop at a local NGO in Bangalore. He previously worked in the National Institute of Bank Management and was part of the Rural EXCEN project that involved working with underprivileged people and destitute women in the jails of Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
He loves his job because it allows him to travel and feels emphatic towards the people he works with as their objective in life is to learn, study and grow.