Who Do You Think You Are – Sunil Singh Kushwaha, Cricketer General by The Delhi Walla - June 16, 2010June 19, 201010 [Interview and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi] The Delhi Walla was climbing the stairs of an apartment complex in Hauz Khas Village when he approached a boy. Who are you? What are you doing here? I’m Sunil Singh Kushwaha. I’m collecting tiffins from these flats. What tiffins? We make food for people living in these flats. In evening, I home-deliver the tiffins. In morning, I come to collect the empty boxes. That’s your job? Yes. No. I’m actually a cook in Soni’s dhaba (eatery). I make rotis in the kitchen. You! How old are you? 12 years. How many rotis you make daily? Around 800. How much you get? Rs 2,000. I send it all to my parents through money order. Parents? Where is your home? My village, Bakapur, is in Madhya Pradesh, district Morena. My father has two-beegha of land. Anita and Longshri are my sisters. Rahul and Raju are my brothers. I’m the oldest. You are into books? No. I cannot read. Then what you do in your spare time? I don’t get spare time. I wake up at 7.30 am and I stay busy till night. Where do you sleep? In the kitchen. Your dream? I want to be a cricketer. I’m a good batsman. Back home in the village, I played in the fields all the time. I would hit the ball very hard and they would fly far into the jungle. We lost 5 balls because of my shots. Your wristwatch is very nice. I got it for Rs 35 from the Sunday Bazaar in Safdarjang Enclave. Do you miss home? Yes. Especially my maa. You cry? Never… Bhayya, can you arrange a cheap mobile phone for me? Since the time I’ve arrived in Delhi, I haven’t talked to my parents. They don’t have a mobile phone. If I get one for, say, Rs 400, I will give it to them when I visit the village later this month. Then I can call them whenever I want. Where’s my cricket ball? Just a job The bread earner FacebookX Related Related posts: Mission Delhi – Sunil Kumar Singh, Karawal Nagar Mission Delhi – Sunita Kushwaha, Wazirabad Julia Child in Delhi – Designer Payal Singh Makes Her 10-Minute Meal, Ghaziabad Mission Delhi – Soumya Singh, Auto Rickshaw City Culture – Notes from Khushwant Singh’s Drawing Room, Sujan Singh Park
Such a touching and sad writeup. But he is not alone. There are hundreds of thousands of kids like him. So much for the Shining India slogan.
This boy is fortunate enough to get a decent job many boys below his age are in still dangerous industries like glass, ceramics, fire works and diamond cutting… what the hell NHRC is doing in Air conditioned offices???
Whenever I read this type of news, I feel ashamed. Ashamed on me, government and each and every citizen for not doing anything and just reading the news, sharing it and carry on with usual work….
Hi Mayank, I read your blog regularly but have never commented. I would like to donate money for a cell phone for Sunil. Unfortunatly I don’t live in Delhi, do you think its possible?
Great coverage Mayank Bhai. I think the need of the hour though, would be to get such kids out of such dingy little child-abusing palaces and putting them into some place from where they can even think of achieving their dreams on a practical level. What about a government school?
while every one of us can donate money alas time ..lets institute a fund for street children of metros.any takers. let the fund be managed by these children only a piggy bank types thing to start with.