Kids earners in strike town

Bindya sells simrayo in Darjeeling on Sunday. Picture by Suman Tamang

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Darjeeling, Aug. 11: Gaurav Tamang is a student of Class II at the Buddhist Primary School but today the 10-year-old sold watercress on the roads of Darjeeling town.

Gaurav was not the only kid selling watercress. With him was his friend Bindya Tamang, 12, of Bhakta Busty in Darjeeling. They were selling simrayo (watercress) in bundles, all kept in plastic shopping bags.

Gaurav and Bindya’s predicament is the picture of what is happening to hill families whose entire earning depends on tourism.

The kids’ earnings are the sole source of sustenance for their families.

Bindya, a Class IV student at Nepali Girls’ High School, is Gaurav’s guide and the one who conducts the business.

“Our simrayo sells fast. We cannot meet the demand. We finish our work within half an hour,” she says with a smile.

Gaurav and Bindya’s families are among those who are always hard hit by the strike in the hills.

“My father helps tourists find hotel rooms and the hotel then gives him money (a commission). Gaurav’s father does the same,” said Bindya.

Darjeeling receives around 3.5 lakh domestic tourists and another 40,000 foreigners annually. But now, there is not a single visitor.

“My parents go down to Sidrabong (an hour’s walk from Bhakta Busty) every morning and get simrayo from there. We help them make bundles and bring it to town,” said Bindya.

It takes around half-an-hour to reach the main square in Darjeeling from Bhakta Busty but sometimes they do not even reach town.

The children sell a bundle of simrayo for Rs 20. When Metro met them, they had already done business worth Rs 180.

“We finish selling our bundles of simrayo within 10-15 minutes. I keep all the money which I distribute later,” said Gaurav.

Such is the demand for thewatercress in the absence of operating grocery stores —the leaf is used as a curry or even for soups — that local people place orders in advance with the two children.

“They tell us they would be waiting for us at a certain spot but sometimes everything is sold even before we reach that place,” said Bindya.

Bindya has a sister and a brother who are both studying in Class VIII but she did not answer whether they too go around town selling watercress.

Given their age, they probably feel shy going about town, lest their friends see them selling.

Bindya and Gaurav, however, have been doing this job whenever there is a prolonged strike in the hills. “Whenever there is a strike, we come out and sell simrayo,” said Bindya, impatient that someone was not buying from them.