Let’s do something different this Independence Day, writes Disney Brar

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Chandigarh, August 14

When I discover who I am, I’ll be free- Ralph Ellison 

Chandigarh has taken on the spirit of Independence with our tiranga flowing proud everywhere and the city decked up like a bride, wearing the colours of our hard-earned freedom as the country gears up to celebrate the 80th Independence Day on Saturday, August 15. The Independence Day celebrations have already begun everywhere. There is festivity in the air, with the city traffic intersections, road rotaries, and markets all glittering with strings of fairy lights; the decorations also include our national flags, saffron, white, and green balloons forming beautiful patterns, and fresh flowers drenched in the hues of our national flag spreading the patriotic fragrance all around. 

But amongst the excited lot of people thronging the markets to purchase the Independence Day paraphernalia available in the city are these less privileged Indians, amongst whom are women and children as young as can be, selling these patriotic-themed merchandise to people like us. They are trying to make the most of these last days left before Independence Day to sell the goods in hand, which include tiranga flags, tri-color hued wearables, and stationery items like notebooks and pen sets in the colours of our flag for a meager amount of money. Small hand-held or car dashboard flags sell for Rs 10-30, while larger cloth flags range from Rs100-250. If they are unable to sell their collection in these days, then they will have to hoard all this patriotic merchandise for a whole year until the next Independence Day, and storage is a problem for them because most of them take refuge in temporary shelters like bus stands and market corridors where they spend the night and bundle up their scanty belongings for storage during the daytime.

Be it marketplaces or traffic intersections, these migrant street vendors quickly weave and comb through the stopped cars at the signals to knock on the car windows, frantically waving to the ones inside, signaling them to buy something from the collection in their hands, crammed with flag pins, awnings, badges, caps, dashboard flags, buntings, head and wrist bands. The big cloth flags sit pretty on display on the side pavements with someone from their family watching over them. 

Around these peak August days, these seasonal vendors who trickle into the city from the neighbouring states to earn a livelihood take a sabbatical from their normal means of earning their livelihood, like working as labourers on dihari or selling other knick-knacks in the city. They work overtime on festive days, starting from Independence Day and continuing through Diwali, selling goods at traffic signals to make the most of people’s festive budgets and mindsets. They buy goods from large wholesalers in Delhi and bring them to the city to sell on these special days, hoping to make a profit and save something for a rainy day. 

Reshma Kumari, a native of Jaisalmer, Rajasthan comes to the city every year in August, hoping to make the most of these festive days, she chuckles on an excited note as she shares, “I come to Chandigarh every year with my three children in August after buying all our tiranga coloured merchandise from Delhi and put up a makeshift stall here by the side of the city’s big signals. We often end up making a good amount of money. We stay back in Chandigarh till Diwali, when we put up our rehri outside the city markets.” Reshma says she enjoys being in the city, as it is a refreshing change for some months each year, which are otherwise spent at home in Jaisalmer. Ask her how she intends to spend her Independence Day, and she quips, “I will take my kids to eat burgers along with Pepsi from these big showrooms in Sector 35 which we see every day while going to work, then we will visit the city lake where my son wants to click our photographs.” 

While Anuja Prasad, another migrant who comes from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, says, “I work as a cleaner in city showrooms in Sector 16, while my husband works as a gardener in private houses there. But during these festive days, we take a break from our regular work and sell the Independence Day merchandise by putting up stalls in Sector 22 Shastri Market. We buy stuff from wholesale dealers in Sector 20 and sell them for a profit. We often end up making good sales and send the money home to our ailing parents. After which we get back to our regular work, we do the same during every festival, which helps us make some extra money.” 

Another heart-wrenching story is that of 8-year-old Ramesh Manjhi, who sits waiting at the Sector 8 signals for the lights to turn red before he can plead with the big babus in plush cars to have a dekho at his humble collection, hoping some generous soul might end up buying something from him and make his Independence special too.  As we sit talking to him, we realize that little Ramesh has never enjoyed a plateful of food. He yearns to have momos and chowmein, sharing his little dreams. Ramesh says, “I want to work hard and sell all my flags, badges, and caps so that I can keep some money out of my earnings to eat Chowmein and Chinese momos. ”  

Professor Amartya Sen once said that poverty is not just the lack of money, but it is not having the capability to realise one’s full potential as a human being. As a country, we have all enjoyed our freedom for 79 years now, but what about these people who live under the poverty line, struggling hard to make ends meet? Many of them do not even enjoy a hearty meal in months. 

While we all have our special plans to celebrate this Independence Day, stepping out in the best of our clothes to watch a film in a luxury multiplex or to dine out in a fancy fine-dining restaurant, let’s just think of these less privileged souls moving in and about the city, doing their work as usual. No day is a holiday for them. Can we do our bit and make this Independence Day special for even one of them? Yes! We can, in our own ways and means, get together and create a world of difference for them. Let’s do it this Independence Day and make it special for a Ramesh sitting glumly at a traffic signal, thinking about having a plateful of chowmein, or for a Reshma who wants to take her children out for burgers.