Kapil Dev carries his black tattered bag on his right shoulder and comes
to his ‘shop’ -- a shop which he sets up daily at a corner in Tikona Park in
busy Jamia Nagar. Adjacent to a small wooden slab in the corner hand shoe laces
and soles of different shapes and sizes. On other side of the wall is a rusted
box, in which Kapil keeps the tools of his trade such as needles, sticking gum
and threads.
While he is still arranging his shop, his first
customer of the day arrives; a man in his 40s, who needs his shoes polished.
Kapil instantly leaves all his work and gets ready to serve the customer. He
says “ho gaya , ho gaya”, after shining the shoes of the customer. It is 7.30 am and Kapil’s hands are already black with the
polish.
He charges Rs. 10 for a polish and between Rs 15 to
Rs 20 for mending or sewing a damaged shoe. Hailing from West Bengal, Kapil has
been in this profession for almost 14 years. For Kapil, this is his paternal
profession.
Though he has himself studies only till class
5, four of his five children go the government school. The youngest is
attending pre-school classes before his nursery admission. His views are progressive
when he talks about educating all his children equally, he says “no matter
whether its boy or girl, I will educate them well.”
He earns around 200-7000 a day like his
counterparts depending upon the locality the cobbler has his shop. His wife
works as a domestic help and together they are able to afford a single rented
room.
Most cobblers have one major grouse -- their
earnings have declined over the years. Raw materials have become costlier, but
people continue to pay a pittance for getting their shoes mended. With shoes
getting cheaper and easily available, people’s reliance on cobblers has decreased,
thereby making them insignificant.
Today, their business suffers from the temporary
state of the shop. Rain, sun and wind are the spoilers for them. Their tools of
trade are vulnerable to these natural circumstances but they can’t help. They
work for almost twelve hours of the day from 7 am to 7 pm. For elderly
cobblers, their fading sight is a major hurdle since the work requires
meticulous stitching. Elderly are reluctant to shift
from this age old profession, as their body can no longer adapt to other jobs, while
their younger counter parts are open to change their profession if better
opportunity comes to them.
As Kapil talks, he mends the intricately embroidered
kohlapuri of a young woman, his deft hand movements show, how over the period
of time his skill has become his practice.
Kapil does not want his
children to follow in his footsteps. As for himself, he is content with his
job. If you ask him, would you like to change it, he says matter-of-factly,
“aur kya kareinge iske alawa.’ ‘What else I can do except this?”
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