Know your Helpers
A group of students decided to meet people and learn about society. So they people and learn about society. So they set out and started walking and observing. Here are few of their experiences. The students went a little farther and they came to a colony, where the residents were lower middle class people. They were skilled and semi-skilled workers. So the students decided to talk to them first in a group and then to each type of worker separately.
The group of students found their leader and told him that they would like to talk to the residents. He arranged for a meeting. Students : We are happy to be with you and would like to discuss with you some of the things we have observed. There are open drains around. Why don’t you get them closed? Leader : We have repeatedly contacted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)but they have not done anything about it. As a result, our children often fall into the drains and get hurt. We do not have proper toilet facilities. So the public toilet is the only alternative for us. It is dirty. So our children and we often get sick. Students : Where do you all work? Leader : We work for the big builders in the neighborhood on contract basis and on daily wages. Students : Do they not help you to get better facilities? Leader : What will they do for us? They think we are backward and poor. Even when they have to pass through our colony, they do not like it.
They look down upon us. In this colony there are all workmen required for construction and maintenance of buildings. (The leader introduces the workmen and the students start talking to them one by one. They start with the mason.) Students : We would like to discuss with you and know more about work. Our work is mainly plastering the ceilings and walls and constructing kitchen platforms. We work w2ith the lime, cement, bricks and mortar .We have to mix the material with great care, as any mistake in the proportion spoils the whole thing.
We have to climb and work at great heights. The residents of the flats don’ts like to be there when we are working because they get cough and cold and other problems. We have no option, whatever the case may be. It, sometimes, affects us in the long run. One of the major problems is that people forget that if we are not there to patch up and repair, buildings will collapse. Contractors give us little, compared to what they get for the whole contract. (Next the students start talking to the plumber.) Plumber : Our work is mainly to provide pipe connections for the water to flow and to repair leakages of taps. Our work requires a lot of accuracy, understanding and foresight. People run to us when their taps leak. Students : Yet we find public taps open and all the water getting wasted. Plumber : If we are informed and given the authority, we always ensure that they are repaired but nobody wants to take the responsibility, even if it means just going to the tap and closing it.
Some careless people leave it open and some irresponsible persons walk away without informing the authorities. Students : People realise the value of water only when they do not have water to drink. When there is scarcity of water in so many areas, it is a sheer waste to keep the tap open when you are doing something where water is not necessary for the whole time like brushing your teeth, when rinsing the clothes. Plumber : Students like you should tell them, when you see water getting wasted. Students : Here comes the electrician. Let us have a chat with him. (To the electrician) Every home has a number of electric gadgets. When constructing a building and for maintaining gadgets, your services are of great value. Electrician : You all are saying this but the people who call us do not realise it. They call us when there is no light, when there are loose connections and when gadgets don’t work.
There are many things about electricity everyone should know. Many people are afraid of electric shock and avoid handling electricity, but if proper care is taken, there is no problem. We work the whole day with wires, switch boards and plugs. The main precautions to be taken are: Do not touch electric wires with wet hands, when the current is on. Always use wooden stool or rubber sandals while handling electric wires when the current is on. Students : (to one another) It is a pity that even though we learn we learn about electricity, many of us depend on others for simple things. Now those who give final touches to the house are the carpenter and the painter .Let us talk to them. (They first talk to the carpenter.) Students : We sit and work on chairs and tables, keep things in wooden cupboards and sleep on wooden cots but we would like to know more about you, the carpenter, who makes all these things. Carpenter : Our work gives us a lot of creative pleasure, especially when the furniture is ready. However, till we finish, we have to work very hard and with great care, as we handle all sharp in measurement, tenacity and ability to imagine what the finished product would look like. Our greatest problem understands what our customers want as sometimes they are not clear in their ideas. Besides some customers create a lot of problems as they think our charges are too high. They do not realize the amount of hard labour we have to put in. In this work practical skills are important.
Cutting exactly to size is necessary for proper fitting and proper utilization of space. Students: It was interesting to learn so many things from the carpenter. Now we will talk to the painter (to the painter). It is interesting to watch a house being painted, though everything is in a mess and everything gets misplaced. Tell us something about your work. Painter: Our work is the final stage of construction. It involves quite an amount of risk, as we have to climb, stand precariously for painting windows and external walls etc. But once the painting is completed it gives real satisfaction.
The hardest tasks in our work are scrubbing and removing the old paint, selecting the proper paint and shade according to our customer’s taste and the type of walls to be paint. Another problem is getting proper payment for our work. Students: We had a nice time talking to all of you. It is only when we meet people and discuss, we learn about them and their jobs. We never had an idea that each one of you has so much talent, capacity and skills. We had never given a serious thought to this type of work. There is so much to learn from you. Leader: (representing all the workers) we thank you all for coming and spending time with us. It was a pleasure to share our experiences with you. You can come at any time and we can give you basic hints regarding things which you can do by yourself to maintain your homes. For example, putting the washer for your tap, using basic tools like screw drivers, saw etc and polishing your furniture.
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