My Story: Conversation With A 14-Year-Old Rickshaw Puller

I was waiting for my friend at Dwarka Sec-9 metro station. Since I reached early, I had to wait over there for more than half an hour.

In that duration, I noticed one 14 year old kid, who was a rickshaw puller. He was asking everyone to sit on his rickshaw, but because of his age, everybody ignored him. No one was thinking to hire him. After half an hour, I received a call from my friend to reach sec 7.

Since I was observing that kid for last half an hour, so I took his rickshaw to reach sec 7. I asked him “chotu Ramphal chalega?” and after hearing this he just said “haa chalunga bhaiya, baitho”. After that I had small conversation with him. His name was Raja.

Me- Itti kam umar me rikshaw kyu chalate ho. (You are so young, why do you drive a Rickshaw.)

Raja- Kya karu bhaiya, paise milte hain tbhi to khane ko milega. (This helps me get my basic needs.)

Me- Ghar me aur koi nhi hai? (Who all are there in your family.)

Raja-hain, mummy aur papa. (yes, Mother and father.)

Me- To papa kaam nhi krte? (So doesn’t your father work?)

Raja- Wo v rikshaw chalate hain, bt jitta wo kamate hain uski daaru pi jate hain. (He also drives a Rickshaw but what he earns only suffices for his daily liquor.)

Me- To tum din bhar rikshaw chalate ho? (So do you drive a Rickshaw whole day?)

Raja- Nahi school v jata hu. (No, I go to school as well.)

Me- Kis class me ho tum n tyming kya hai school ki? (What standard are you in, what’s your school timing?)

Raja- 4th me hu, aur school subah 7 bje se dophar 1 bje tak hota hai. (I am in 4th standard and my school timing is from 7 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon.)

Me- To tum uske baad rikshaw chalate ho. (So after school you drive Rickshaw.)

Raja- Haa, dophar k baad raat 12 bje tk mai rikshaw. (Yes, I drive Rickshaw till 12 in the night after my school gets over.)

While listening to all this, I didn’t realize when I reached sec 7. I gave him 40 rupees and got down. During the discussion I realized that how much blessed we are, that we have everything to live happily, even after that we so many complains. And this boy, just at an age of 14 is feeding himself and his family. From that moment I hired him, to the moment I got down the journey of 10 minutes made me understand that we should value what we have, rather than cribbing for what we don’t. That 40 rupees did not make a difference to me, but it did change something in someone’s life.

Submitted By – Sandeep Yadav