Whenever we visit Goa, we go directly to the hotel of Srivastava for our stay. He is from Uttar Pradesh, and his staff is from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, and many other places. Just as Goa has welcomed him, he is not particular about the place of origin of his staff members. Likewise, his guests are concerned only about the services they get, and not about the place from where he or his staff come. “My motto, like that of many others in the profession, is to get satisfied repeat guests,” Srivastava says.
Go to a city like Mumbai, one finds people from all corners of the country happily settled there. Though some political outfits had tried in the past to become popular by driving away people from other states, it had no takers in the long run.
My home State of Kerala is no exception. I find workers from other States doing jobs once monopolised by particular local families. For instance, there used to be a family of coconut tree climbers in my village, on whom the whole village depended for harvesting coconuts every two months or so. This job had been the monopoly of this family for generations. The tree-climber would pluck all mature coconuts along with dry leaves and other parts that provide fuel in the kitchen. The youngsters of this family are now educated and have opted out of their traditional job. Fortunately, workers from other States have smoothly taken over. The only change is that while a part of the harvested nuts used to be the wages in the past, the charges now depend on the number of trees they climb, irrespective of the harvest. They have even started using mechanical devices to help them climb the trees safely.
Hotels, mainly those in the cities, are no exception. Most of the cooks are from other States. The customers of some hotels that serve ‘only traditional Kerala food’ are blissfully unaware that the food is not prepared by the natives. Wages in Kerala being much higher than those in other states, many of the ‘guest workers’, as they are called officially, consider the state a substitute for gulf countries.
The initial period of the lockdown caused by the corona virus brought to light the dependence of many states on migrant workers. Since workplaces were shut and regular air, rail and road transport came to a grinding halt, they gathered on roads demanding transport to their native states. Some even ventured to travel by road, not waiting for the government response. Visuals of men, women and children, walking along roads and railway tracks, carrying their meagre possessions on their head, were repeatedly shown by news channels. Babies were delivered on the road, unassisted. Some lost their lives under speeding trains while sleeping on railway tracks. The government was forced to start special ‘Shramik Express’ trains for them. When the lockdown was lifted in phases, many work places were unable to start functioning in the absence of these workers. Those who went to their native States wanted to return, but they had to face the same problem again. Employers were so desperate that some offered higher wages and even brought them back by chartered flights.
The founding fathers of our nation must be happy that the people, by and large, have accepted their dream of one united India.
