An interview of common person

 

AN INTERVIEW WITH A COMMON person

-Ratan Rao

 

(1)Boisar teacher’s journey from school to hospital help desk

Rirma used to teach Class 2 students at a

 Dr.s.d vartak vidyalay . However, the lockdown turned her life upside down. Even though online classes began, the school, according to her, was not willing to pay her salary, and hence, she began to take tuitions to survive. Worse, her husband, who worked abroad, returned home after losing his job due to the pandemic.

 

Rirma found that the money she earned from tuitions was not enough to run her family. That is when she took up a part-time job, working at the help desk of a government hospital.

 

Over there, she guides people on Covid-related issues and also clears doubts regarding vaccination. “Sitting at home got me worried. One can get anyway. God is with us and his blessings will protect us,” she says.

 

Rirma intends to return to teaching once the situation gets back to normal. But henceforth, her life will revolve not only around teaching children, but also helping those in need, according to her.

 

 

 

 

(2) Helping hands, irregular jobs keep Mumbai going

 

Devendra Pardeshi (56) lost his job as showroom in-charge for a flooring dealer in April 2020. Since then, he has been looking for a job, but without success.

 

He has three children two daughters and one son. “My eldest daughter got married in January, for which I took Rs 50,000 from a relative. My second daughter is in college and I’m yet to pay her college fees. My son is in Class 10 and I was only able to pay his school fees after borrowing Rs 5,000 from my sister,” said Pardeshi. His sister, who stays in Madhya Pradesh, sends him Rs 2,000 every month for family expenses. Pardeshi said his family is surviving on lentils and rice. “It’s expensive to buy vegetables these days. We are barely able to afford cooking gas. He has been looking for a job, but back-to-back lockdowns have made things difficult,” he added.

 

(3)JANHAVI JOSHI PROBLEM

Janhavi Joshi has a similar story to tell. She lost her job as patient care executive with a private hospital in April 2020. Her husband Sameer (43) was not getting projects as a freelance photographer and all his bookings were cancelled due to the lockdown during Covid 1.0. With two daughters and other household expenses to take care of, the couple has tried small businesses since April last year.

 

Janhavi Joshi, who lost her job as patient care executive with a private hospital in April 2020, with her family.

 

They started out by delivering Alphonso mangoes last summer.They  then switched to vegetables and fish as people were not stepping out of their homes. As markets reopened, people started buying fish near their homes and we needed a stable source of income. I started selling saree through word of mouth and WhatsApp groups. Through these businesses, They earned enough to manage our household expenses and didn’t sacrifice on our savings and investments,” said Joshi.

 

As restrictions were eased, Sameer started getting projects, but the second wave ensured that those were cancelled too. “We resumed delivering mangoes and fish, but the business was not as good as last year. After a lot of struggle, we were able to pay school fees for our kids this year,”.