As usual, we were stuck in a mini-jam at the red light near my office today morning. Me and my husband were looking around and making intellectual observations about things around while our car crawled through the traffic.
Down the road, some meters ahead of us, we noticed laborers pushing a cement-mixing machine on the side-walk. Those of you who know what I mean by a cement-mixing machine will picture it as a circular container suspended on bars with huge wheels. Cement along with other material is put inside this circular container and the container is rotated to mix the cement properly. It is not a light contraption; on the contrary, it seems quite heavy.
These laborers were moving quite fast. They were actually running behind the machine while pushing it with their hands. One laborer was pulling it from the front.
"I wonder why they are moving so fast," My husband wondered.
"They must be in a hurry," I suggested.
"But this machine must be heavy and difficult to move," he said, concerned.
"These guys do lead a tough life. After all this, they only earn a couple of thousand bucks in a month," I said.
"Yes. Sad, isn't it?"
"They work so hard to be able to provide two meals a day to their families." I said with pity.
I had already started sweating. It was a hot day. Mid of April was now much hotter than it used to be five years earlier. And we were still crawling.
The laborers were a bit farther now. They were still running with their checked dhotis* moving in tune with their running movements.
"It is so hot. They must be miserable," my husband carried on.
"Yes, true. No one does anything to help them. Their contractor does not provide an automobile that they can drive instead of pushing such a machinery," I mused.
"I feel so guilty of sitting in the car while people have to live such a life," my husband said, wiping sweat off his forehead.
It was getting stuffier inside the car now. It was hot and humid and the car was barely moving.
Then, gradually, the traffic started moving and our car also gained some speed. After a couple of minutes, we crossed the laborers and were forced to stop again as the traffic light turned red.
We turned around to look at them to be able to dwell on their misery.
The laborer pulling the contraption from the front was laughing at some joke that one of the laborers pushing the machine had obviously cracked. As we looked closely, we could see that all of them were laughing while still running and pushing the machine. They were oblivious to the people looking at them from their cars in wonder.
We turned around and sank into our sweaty world.
"It is so hot. I am glad we have the car." I grumbled.
* A long wrap-around garment for the lower body