On 18th and 19th August I was in Kolkata to attend the Central Executive Committee meeting of the All India BSNL-DOT Pensioners Association, of which I am the Advisor. The meeting was held in KG Bose Smritee Bhawan, which is the office of the BSNL Employees Union, W.Bengal Circle. It is a four-storied building in the centre of the city in Adwaita Mullick Lane, Kolkata – 700 006, which was purchased by the union a few years back. There is a conference hall. The delegates stayed there. Circle Secretary, Comrade Animesh Mitra, stays there, far away from his Asansol home. The CEC members stayed there comfortably.
The side street leading to the union building is narrow and about 50 -60 metres. When I along with Comrade K.G.Jayaraj, General Secretary and other comrades went there in the morning, I was surprised to see that the whole lane was just like a market. Vegetable or fish market? No. It was a market selling old clothes. At least some 20-25 women were sitting on both sides of the lane displaying old clothes for sale. Many people, men and women, were bargaining and purchasing these clothes. Our local comrades told that this is not the only lane selling old clothes. A lot of lanes nearby are also old-clothes-selling markets. The women go house-to-house and collect the old clothes and bring the same to this market to sell. Many people select and buy the good ones, while unusable clothes are purchased by business people who will use it for cleaning and other purposes by recycling.
In the evening when I was returning through the same lane along with Comrade Mihir Dasgupta, Joint Secretary of the Reception Committee, it has been transformed in to almost like a work area. Men were constructing the pandals for the Puja Festival, which is fast approaching. With bamboo pieces, they were making many designs for pandals, stages and so on. It was very interesting to see even children doing expert work with great speed. I was told by Dasgupta that almost the whole year, this kind of work with bamboo pieces will continue.
At this jucture, the memory of another market came to my mind. It is the leather market near the Telephone Exchange in Agra. It is very difficult to find such a market any where else. About half a kilometre on both sides of the roads are people sitting with their merchandise. What is the merchandise? Ready-made parts of chappals, shoes etc. Some sell the soles, some, the upper portion, some decorative part, some the heel, some the front portion etc. There is heavy rush. The local cobblers come here and buy whatever parts they want to make the shoes, chappals etc. It was very interesting to watch the business going on.
Yes, people are geniuses. They find new kind of work and busineses to eke out a living. They have to somehow look after their family. They may be getting only a few rupees for their work. But they are working and that itself is the most respectable thing. I salute them for their hard work and initiative.
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