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| Sunday, 15 August 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Living on the fringe: Pain is his constant companion by Umangi de mel
He limps across the street with a bundle of jossticks safely wrapped in his hands, and goes places to earn a day's living.... In the back of his mind, he's accumulated thousands of questions that don't have answers. In his heart, he carries a heavy load of pain and sorrow. And in his eyes, fate has written a story about his life and family so that the privileged won't close their eyes to him. Nishantha 35 began his adult life as, driver at the Ceylon Transport Board (CTB) in 1986. Having earned a sufficient living there, he's decided to have a family. "We were just fine then..., My wife and the small ones were happy," he says adding that though they couldn't dwell in marble halls, the four of them lived their lives the way they pleased. Since good things merely have a short life span, their happiness too come to an abrupt halt. "Tragedy struck when I met with an accident in '95. I was hit by a lorry which got away as soon as it happened. It made me a cripple for life. My arm was broken and my leg wouldn't function. Now I walk with the greatest difficult because the doctors fixed it with the help of a pin. I lost my job at the CTB and I lost everything else, I had too. My wife and I were left with no option and she started work at a garment factory," he says adding that the kids are still too small. The accident had stolen all the good things from them and taken the colour out of their lives, "It made me stay at home for two years. But life wouldn't give us much time to heal I had to do something to make the ends meet as my daughter and son started schooling, says Nishantha explaining now he started selling jossticks. "I go to companies that allow me to come in and do my business. I earn about Rs. 200 per day but it's barely enough to cover all the expenses. On rainy days, I don't sell anything because I find it difficult to go places on those days." He sells small packets of jossticks and practically begs to purchase at least as since their day depends on a tiny packet of jossticks. Wearing his heart on the sleeve, Nishantha says he has to go to the general hospital thrice a week to receive treatment for his arm and leg, "Even though I still take treatment, I'm just like anybody else, I still can work and I'm getting tired of the jossticks business because it's hardly selling. All I want is some kind of a job where I'll be made permanent... I don't mind even if I have to clean and sweep the place if it means a regular salary. What I earn at the moment don't help us at all. We have no electricity or water. We use the road side tap for washing and drinking. I hope somebody out there will understand what the four of us have to go through every living day of our lives and offer us a hand to overcome the situation." Nishantha practically pleads to have a job elsewhere as a permanent employee, where he'll be able to support his family better. He fights back tears when he says that he wants to be able to help his family and be a better husband and a father, "My daughter attends a computer class which charges only Rs. 400 per month but I can't even afford that to make her happy. It's my wife who spends for their education and I can't even protest out of love, because somethings can't be stopped just because I feel bad to watch my wife struggle instead of to make ends meet." |
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