I had to write this. And share. I am truly tormented.
Our cook Subramaniam, who has been with us for nearly eight years, is a nice, quiet man. He lives with his mother, wife and three kids. The oldest, a girl, is starting her final year of B of Comp App degree program, and the second, also a girl, will start her 12th grade, come April.
Like a lot of people of his ilk, he struggles to make ends meet, primarily due to mounting school fees (about 1.8L this year). We do cover some of those fees, to relieve some of his financial burden. The second child is especially bright, and we would hate to see her drop out to take up some menial job.
The last couple of weeks have been particularly odd though. Shanthi noticed that Subramaniam was forgetful; his quality was inconsistent, and seemed too lost. So today, since I stayed back home first half to tend to my mother who has been somewhat under the weather, I met him after a very long time. As he was walking out, I enquired like I usually do, about his family, his kids and their school, and about how he was doing money wise. He started slowly and hesitantly, but then soon it was (somewhat of a controlled) a downpour, holding himself up with dignity, but the clearly spelling out that his struggles are getting tougher by the day, as his kids go through college.
He and his wife probably earn between them Rs 35K-Rs40K a month, serving up 9 households in the neighborhood, starting the day at 5.30 and finishing by 8pm. And this earning is expected to cover college fees of Rs 70K per year for the oldest, and Rs 65K for the second, with an additional 60K for CET coaching (he could not afford it and so asked her drop out) for her, as she wants to become a doctor. The second is particularly very bright and driven, and has a good chance of making the grade. Of course, he asked her to drop out not because of the 60K but the worry that he would have to figure out an even bigger payout if she managed to get into med school. What irony! And oh yes, the older daughter has been asked to buy a laptop for her final year projects. And if these were not tough enough, his father-in-law back in Mannargudi gets periodically sick and the old man’s only child has to help out financially if there is a shortfall. Talk about problems!
We will of course help him as much as we can in our personal capacity. I probably will check out scholarships given out by organizations for deserving or needy kids. Maybe some of you have ideas that I have not thought about. Hopefully, we will get him past the post this time, and for the next few years as well, till his kids are in the job market.
But this is the story of every lower middle-class or poor Indian family; income to just about keep food on the table and afford a meager shelter. Aspirations remain just that, and some of the forward thinking families somehow manage to provide some education. But their constant battle between surviving today and preparing for a better tomorrow gets tougher and tougher each year, with the odds of making it through a year unscathed stacked heavily against the Subramaniams of the world.
Comments