THE PARADOX OF AN IRONED SHIRT Prasoon Reddy

He shares, “I migrated to the city in search of better livelihood opportunities. Back at my village, I was sent to graze cattle.”

Imagine lifting a weight of 8.5 kilograms with a single hand for about 8 hours each day for almost 15 years. That is what Mr Yerriah has been doing to produce crisp-ironed clothes for his customers. During rush hours even his wife lends him a helping hand With earnings of 10,000 rupees per month, he is barely able to meet his family’s needs. The financial state does not inhibit him from sending his children to school Having not had any education, Yerriah understands its importance more than anyone else. He believes “Education is the only gateway for poor people like us.”

Inching towards his 40’s, Yerriah looks worn out and pale. The ruggedness of his profession has made his health feeble.

During the conversation, we made him aware of the schemes like PM-MUDRA YOJANA which disburse loans at very nominal rates, which can be made use of by Yerriah to procure ironing machines of the modern age which weigh less and are far more efficient. To this, he laments “To access any such facility I need to be literate, which I am not but thankfully since my children are studying they do help read letters and other documents these days”

He points out, “The only upside of this profession is that I get to choose on which days to work and when to rest”.

Towards the end Yerriah’s wife too joins our chat and offers her a piece of insight, she goes on to say “We have kept up our name with our work and hence customers keep returning to us. Our work speaks for us”.

The resolute gleam in their eyes throughout the conversation made me realise how each story which is ordinary in the eyes of the world, holds a tale of extraordinariness.