-Brian Mendonça
The service-oriented cadre of unreplaceable migrants viz. the
SCUM of Goa have done yeoman service to the people of Goa and have not really
got due credit for anything.
Let me spell out the word for some of our worthy readers who
can commiserate with the lot of these despised and disparaged, but who
nevertheless extract the most labour from them for the smallest price.
Service-oriented. The
SCUM are service-oriented. Their altruistic bent of mind keeps them looking for
odd jobs. They may be labourers at a construction site, mixing asphalt on a
road-widening project, or unloading goods from trucks.
I came across Bhima from Ilkal (near Belgaum) and his men looking
for work. I gratefully recruited them to carry my father down the steps from
the second floor whenever he needed to be rushed to hospital. They never failed
us. Even on the day of the funeral five of them sorrowfully carried my dad down
to the waiting hearse for his final journey.
Cadre. Like
the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) the SCUM are a cadre of their own. They
have a fierce loyalty to each other and those like them who try to make a
living in hostile conditions. They do their often blue-collar jobs with pride
and are thankful for the menial wages they get.
Dipankar and his mates are from Guwahati. He and his bunch
are security guards at a housing complex. Early morning around 6 a.m. he
bounces up four floors switching off the night lights of the common areas.
Dipankar is one of a horde of security staff who get shunted across the country
at the whims of the agency they work for.
Unreplaceable. The
SCUM are unreplaceable. Because Goans will not touch their jobs by a barge
pole. So however much misguided voices may rant and rave about their
provenance, the fact is that if they were to be recalled, there would be no one
to take out the garbage.
‘Jara satak-ke laga
doh Sir,’ says Behera as I am grateful to him for watching my back as I
reverse into a parking slot. Behera has
come all the way from the East coast of India, viz. Odisha to make a living in
Goa. His eyes soften when I speak about
Konark but he hurries away to guide an incoming car.
Migrants. The
SCUM move from place to place in search of work. They are always on the run,
sometimes with their families, sometimes alone. Toddlers with faces full of
snot play gaily on the side of the road as their mothers break their backs
carrying stones. Having nowhere to stay they cook their frugal meals by the side
of the heavy machinery and huddle together under the night sky.
Rehan is a
barber from Haryana. When I went for my summer crop he greeted me with a big
smile. ‘Jannat ka phool’ he offers, when I ask the meaning of his
name. It translates as ‘Fragrant flower of Paradise.’
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday 4 March 2018
Comments