AMONGST THE TALL: Mangal Singh (right) seen here working his trade. He refuses to beg. Rather, his joy and pride is his being able to make a hard, but honest living. (Morung Photo)
Dimapur | April 14 : Dignity of work has been preached, and continues to be preached, for long in the Naga society. Nagas take pride in talking of their “forefathers” being hard-working. Few are actually practising this sermon though.
Years after a local daily published the story of a crippled man who chose to sell newspapers along roadsides rather than take to begging, 41 year old Mangal Singh, a Manipuri originally from Nagaon in Assam, still refuses to beg on the streets even after his job as a newspaper vendor stopped for some reasons. Now, Mangal Singh makes forks of the catapult and bamboo sticks for bamboo seats (‘Moorah’) in one corner of the city near the Supermarket complex. Singh takes deep pride in the fact that he is not in the streets begging.
With his legs rendered useless by poliomyelitis while he was only one and a half year old, the life of Mangal Singh could be pictured crawling on the streets and floors with his hands holding on to two wooden supports. Though uneducated and with no knowledge of even the English alphabet, Mangal Singh would sell newspapers on pavements and earn his livelihood earlier. But due to the constraints of moving down from his house near the Dhansari Bridge to the rail gate area, he gave up selling newspapers, he said.
Now, with some iron knives, a small saw and some rubber strips, he engages time in making catapult forks while his wife goes to other places for daily wage. He sells the forks (which consist of two bamboo sticks joined by a strip of rubber) for Rs 15 each, while the sticks for making “Moorah”, he charges Rs 40 for 100 pieces.
“No, no, I cannot take to begging,” asserts Mangal Singh when queried why he does not beg like other handicapped persons. Though people would like to give him money, he says, they won’t be able to do so everyday. Besides, he asserted that he can do any work which can be done through sitting. He has some relatives in other places, but he told them not to bother about him, as he has taken to look after himself, Singh disclosed.
“One has to look after one’s own problem, isn’t it?” this man of dignity queries back.
Interestingly, Singh informed that he has not received any assistance from the government through various schemes meant to be provided to the crippled and disabled persons. He once attended a programme for the disabled and crippled persons held at Tourist Lodge, ‘a few years back’. After the programme, he was given “50 rupees”. “That is the only money I got so far,” he said though without any malice.
Frustration surely has not dampened the spirits of this polio victim, as he sits patiently working from 5 am in the morning till 5 pm. All he has is his wife to look after him and his crude implements that earn him some money for day-to-day survival. He married his wife ‘four’ years ago. Life surely is hard but not in vain for this truly hard-working couple.
While the Nagas talk of unemployment problems but while away waiting for government miracles, there is testimony out there that employment comes only for those who seek it and those who are determined to take it up no matter what. Mangal Singh’s story is one such testimony – a story with dignity that the protagonist finds joy and livelihood in his work, no matter how humble or small.
Morung Express News