Girls dump rag-picking, pick up flowers to earn a living

Over 20 women and girls work with Gulmeher Green Producer Company in Ghazipur. (Abhinav Saha)

As a 10-year-old working atop the Ghazipur landfill five years ago, Marjeena had seen her share of rotting bodies of dogs and humans, used diapers and sanitary napkins and animal carcass.

Now, the 15-year-old is surrounded by dried rose petals, handmade paper, some glue, a pair of scissors, and hope. One of the 20-plus women and girls who work at Gulmeher Green Producer Company in Gali number 6 in Ghazipur, Marjeena gave up rag-picking to become an “artisan” in 2013.

“What I like best is that I am no longer falling sick frequently and there is no foul smell… it’s gone,” said Marjeena, as she gently cut dried rose petals and pasted them on the upcoming 2018 table calendar.

On the third floor of the building, over giggles and cups of tea, the group — bound by their rag-picking past — create New Year greeting cards, card holders, diaries, folders, pen stands, photo frames and wall paintings, priced between Rs 30 and a few hundreds.

“My father, too, was a rag-picker. When he died, I left school and started working at the landfill. I have nine siblings, and they had to be taken care of. I have seen people fall off the garbage dump and die. I earned more as a rag-picker than I do now but I would never go back,” said Salma (25), as her six-year-old daughter, Ameena, sat beside her with her school bag. Salma earns Rs 5,000 a month.

On the second floor of the building is an informal set-up of a school for children of former and current rag-pickers. That’s where Ameena learns how to write alphabets and numbers. “Apart from learning how to make these beautiful things, I have learnt the importance of education and cleanliness. I won’t let my daughter have the same childhood ridden with filth,” Salma said.

Vidwata Singh, a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) graduate, who is now the chief designer at Gulmeher, recalled the first few months of training and convincing the women to take up this job.

“There was lack of trust, and belief, that it was possible to take up an art form, as most of them had never envisioned a future like this,” she said.

Barring Sunday, the group works at the centre from 10 am to 4 pm, and eagerly awaits the arrival of 45-year-old Ansar Begum, who brings the discarded petals in kilos for the women to turn them into deers, tigers, camels and abstract floral designs.