My name is Shekhar Shetty. I am 14 years old. I have been working in a government office canteen since a year ago, when I came to Bombay with my uncle. Since he left Bombay, I have lived alone. I have no father; my mother works as an agricultural labourer in Karkala village, S. Canara district, Karnataka.
I wake up every morning at 6.30; my bed is a wooden bench covered with cloth. Work begins immediately-there is no time even to clean myself. The kitchen tiles have to be washed and wiped, masala has to be ground. After that, by the time the stove is lit, it is almost 7.30 and the milk arrives. The tea is made in two separate vessels first for the officers, with more milk in it after that, for us, with more water than milk. I hardly finish the tea, when the malwalla calls me either to clean some vegetables, or to cut them, or any other work he likes. Whatever work he gives me has to be finished by 9.30, because office opens by that time, If I finish the work by then, I can manage to have a bath.
As soon as the officers come in, we start serving them tea and snacks. There are about 300 officers and employees in the office, and only eight of us so it is hardly possible to rest even for a moment. All the time, some one or the other keeps ordering tea and we run to fetch it. If I am late, the tea becomes cold, the officers won’t drink it and I have to fetch another cup. Also, the manager shouts at me for wasting the tea.
Tea is distributed until lunch time. Lunch begins at 1 p. m. All of them come to the canteen and order food. There are always so many of them that for one hour there is no time to think of anything else. They all leave by 2 p. m., leaving a pile of dirty plates and cups behind them. Then, we start washing the plates, scru bbing them with mud and stale flour. If a single plate stays greasy, some one may complain and I may get a scolding.
Sometimes, while we clean the cups and glasses, they slip and the glass cuts our hand. Some time ago, my hand was cut on some broken glass and began to bleed badly. I asked for medicine, but I was told to get it myself. Later, I bought some medicine and applied it to the cut myself. If they give us medicine, they cut its price from our wages. Who knows, perhaps even more than its price.
By 2.30, we finish cleaning the plates and we can have our food which is cooked separately for us. But there are only 15-20 minutes for eating, because the officers tea time begins once again. We start distribut-ing snacks and tea. This continues until 4 p. m., when we start collecting money from the officers. At the end of each day, I have to collect the officers dues. Finally, if they do not pay their dues to the canteen they are cut from my salary. My salary is Rs. 50 a month, and I get Re. I on every Rs. 50 of my sales. So, in all, I get Bs. 70 in hand at the end of each month. From this, almost Rs. 10 or 15 is cut, to pay the officers’ dues.
The collection work stops at 5 p. m., when the officers leave. Once again the cups and saucers and dirty plates have to be washed, which takes half an hour. After this, the malwalla sends me to fetch vegetables or to wash dal or to remove pebbles from the rice.
At 6.30 p.m., I leave the office to go to night school. I study in the first standard, because I had never studied in my village. I learn the alphabets and numbers up to 9.30 p.m. After returning to the canteen, I have my bath. If I am lucky, there may be some leftovers of the officers’ food for me to eat: but mostly, I get bhaji and chaval for dinner. This is. finished by 10.30. I wash up the plates and vessels, take a cloth and spread it on a wooden bench. I can now rest. Till 6.30 tomorrow.