I’m just back from a work trip to Tirupur the ‘T-shirt’ capital of India. I had been there as part of a workplace wellness program targeting the health needs of garment workers stationed there. The travel itself was very eventful with a train full of people who journeyed with us- some with tickets some without all seated cramped in the small sleeper class coach. The apparent lack of discipline annoyed me just a bit but I kept my peace. A large group of working class people with unreserved tickets finally got off at a station midway between Bangalore and Tirupur. This was a welcome relief as we finally got to rightfully enjoy the rest of our train ride. These were probably people who did the daily commute for work or business everyday. Once I got off the train at Tirupur station, I was surprised and had to double check if I was in some other state in North India. What greeted me were a sea of people very noticeably from the North everywhere at the station. There were young men, young girls and a few families all sitting on the floor at the station waiting to go back ‘home’. Others had just alighted from their trains with their home and dreams all packed into one duffel bag thrown across their shoulders. Similar scenes were seen on the road with agents familiar with the place guiding youngsters to their new life at least for the next couple of months/years. This trip helped me to understand some key life lessons that is helpful for everyone in their day to day lives.
The next day at our session, I had the pleasure of meeting a group of such migrant garment workers. My close interactions with them spread over multiple sessions prompted me to ponder about the life of migrants and the hurdles they face on a day to day basis.
I’m not talking about the international migrants who have crossed borders in search of ‘greener pastures’. They have their own tribulations but today I wanted to speak up about the issues of our internal migrants and life lessons learned from them. Those for whom the greener pastures are just down south of the country. On an average there are at least 8000 garment factories in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu employing almost 6 lakh workers and by recent estimates around 20-30% of them are migrant workers. Many of them are natives of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and some were even from the Northeastern states as well. Close interaction with them opened my eyes to their unique plight. Here I outline a few of the concerns that they voiced out when interacting with me:
Major challenges
1. Ardous Journey– their homes are a good 2 days journey from Tamil Nadu and they spend it travelling in trains. I was told that sometimes the trains are so overcrowded that the only seat they get is on the western commodes! This reality made me never to complain about my second class seats on the train ever again!
2. Language barriers– landing in a foreign land not knowing the language is a sure shot recipe for disaster. I was given hilarious accounts of people who mistook certain words of Tamil for something totally different. The word ‘chumma’ means ‘simply’ in Tamil while it means ‘kiss’ in Hindi. Imagine a young girls horror when she was told to ‘simply’ carry on with work by her male supervisor! Being unable to converse with the shopkeepers, ‘taken for a ride’ in the autos for a much higher price or alighting at the wrong stops from the bus, these were some of the real life incidents recounted by the participants when they initially came here.
3. Myths about Hindi– now just like all South Indians are not ‘Madrasis’ all North Indians don’t really know Hindi. Many of our participants at the session were from Orissa and Hindi to them was familiar yet distant! We could see them struggle to form the words and many went into their shells when asked to speak in Hindi. However, when the time came to shake a leg they chose a popular Odiya song and I witnessed the whole room come alive.
4. Food fads– many of the people I spoke to had this common grouse. The food habits here are vastly different from what they have back home. They craved for their rotis and ‘dahi baiganas’, kechdi (the local khichadi of Orissa), the macha ghanta (Oriyan fish curry) and so many more delicacies! They in fact wondered how to eat rice with this watery curry(their description of rasam) which is in fact one of my comfort foods.
5. Uncomfortable stay– Usually a group of four to six girls rent a PG room and stay and cook in this place. The rooms are small, privacy is non existent and the only furniture they have here are their beds. A glorified hostel stay with very little amenities and no where else to go except the factory!
6. Wages and savings– the girls and boys who come here are mostly from underprivileged households. They take on the role of the sole breadwinner for their family while barely being out of their teens. This place is like ‘Dubai’ for them and they all come here with the hope of making it someday. One shy girl told me that she sends back around Rs 10,000 of her total salary of Rs. 11,000 back home. Imagine fulfilling all your monthly expenses with just Rs. 1000 and that too with a smile? This was like a slap on my face where I learnt to never again complain about being broke by the middle of the month!
7. Work is worship– I have seen migrant workers at other sectors too. I was acutely aware of their presence in the tea plantation sector which I had visited back in Feb. Here again, just like Tirupur I’m told they are very good at their work. Hardworking and more productive- plucking more tea leaves per day than the natives. Despite this they are not considered a very valuable resource, they are always seen as someone who can be easily replaced and rightly so! Every day we can witness a sea of people coming in and getting out of Tirupur. The attrition at these factories is enormous and a lot of times inevitable. They often do not get the benefits of leave and fair wages and are sometimes left ‘high and dry’.
8. Abuse– yes, lets discuss the elephant in the room. These young girls do face some form of physical abuse- shouting, cussing and ridicules and sometimes so much more at their workplace. They often have no where to go and no one to tell these to. Some locals already view the girls to be very ‘callous’ and have several preconceived ideas that they come here only to escape parental control and find romantic partners. So victim blaming is very real here and many of them just quietly leave instead of enduring shame.
9. Yearning for home– though technology and video calling has reduced their divide many of them still yearn to visit their families back home. One of the girls told us that she lost her elder brother to drunken driving just last week. She knew of it only when she had called her sister in law back home. Yet, there was nothing she could do and no way she could go home. She carried on like it was just another day!
Life lessons learned
Every migration story has its ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors. Every migrant has his own unique ‘push’ factors which forced him/her to step out of their comfort zone and travel all this way to a strange land with people talking a foreign language and adjust to the new culture and everything else. For some this may be better job opportunities, higher wages and amenities, for some its the new found freedom and financial independence especially among the women, for them its also an escape from the clutches of early/ forced marriages but for most its a sure shot way out of poverty! I was told by one girl that she does not want to go back home this year as she is worried her parents might get her married immediately. She is only 20 and at this tender age is supporting the higher education of her two brothers back home.Now, not everything is as bleak as it seems. Beyond all these hardships what I saw was sheer grit in their eyes to somehow make it come what may!If I have to take back some life lessons from this visit to Tirupur what would it be? What can I tell my ‘privileged friends’ back home?
Here I list down 8 key life lessons that everyone can learn from migrant workers.
1. Art of positivity– For starters, I loved how positive everyone was. Tirupur was their salvation, their answer to their prayers. They were unanimously felt that they had it much better here than at home. If they had to do it all over gain I’m sure most of them would.Please read here my earlier blog about uplifting your inner self when you are emotionally drained for another perspective about a similar concept.
2. Language a barrier no more– I met a seasoned veteran who had lived in Tirupur for more than, 8 years and fluently spoke Tamil to me. This was like music to my ears! He also could manage several other South Indian languages like Malayalam and Telugu. Surprisingly he learnt them on his many train journeys to and fro his home! This is in stark contrast to many of us city folks who can manage a lifetime in a new place conversing only in English.
3. ‘An attitude of gratitude’- every self love article talks about this but I truly witnessed this amongst the migrants of Tirupur. They were mighty grateful for the sessions that we conducted, the amazing food that they were served at the swanky hotel and just the opportunity for being chosen to come and attend from their factories. And they did not shy away from expressing it! Showered with hugs and appreciative words I was on cloud nine when I left the place.
4. Connectedness to the world– despite their humble surroundings they were digitally well connected with each other. One of the first things they do everyday is click selfies and post them on their social media platforms. They were active on Facebook and WhatsApp and even had an Instagram account. The WhatsApp group we created is filled with the photos and ‘reels’ that we made and everyone has access to it. Social media I feel has become an outlet of expression to get over their feeling of loneliness and truly connect with their peers.
5. Minimalism-In Tirupur a migrant worker is the epitome of minimalistic living with his/her material belongings easily fitting a single suitcase. Their wants and needs are few – a good place to work, food on the table and a little money to send back home. Nothing else mattered! Contrast this with our never ending needs nah greed, wants and aspirations to always have the very best in life! It doesn’t hurt to focus on the small things that truly mattered in life, doesn’t it?
6. Flamboyance– so many of them were such gifted artists. At the slightest nudge they were ready to perform elaborate dance moves to popular Bollywood songs, sing and act on stage. They were true performers with great hidden talent. This flair and flamboyance is something I truly miss from my childhood. Like little children who can truly enjoy every moment without a care in the world, I think it’s time to ‘loosen up’ just a bit.
7. Inclusivity– I saw inclusivity in both sides. I see that the people of Tirupur have welcomed the newcomers and have at least tried to make their stay here comfortable. Many of these factories have local guardians who take care of the needs of these workers and it was heart warming to hear them call these guardians “Mummy” endearingly. I also saw the migrants embracing the culture here. Imagine my surprise when I heard a worker tell me he loves Tamil movies and his favourite hero is Vijay! Unity in diversity at its best.
8. Dress to impress– despite their trials and hardships what we encountered were a bunch of happy people who came in their best attire and the most elaborate 80s style Bollywood hairstyles to the sessions. They were dressed to impress and broke into an impromptu song or dance at the drop of a hat. People who truly enjoyed being in the present and they did it in style!
The next time you purchase a T-shirt for yourself just spare a thought for the rugged hands that have sewn them together for you and the life lessons you can learn from them! What I shall take back from my visit to Tirupur is a deep appreciation of my privileges of life. For our worst job is some one else’s dream job and for every person ahead of us there are millions struggling to grapple with life’s hurdles. No matter what life throws at you lets be like the migrant workers of Tirupur to dream of somehow making it big one day!