'Chowkidar' sound and fury doesn't amuse guards
Joy Sengupta | TNN | Mar 25, 2019, 06:33 IST
Many security guards in the city are unfazed by the trend of BJP leaders prefixing the word “chowkidar” to the... Read MorePUNE: The war of words between the "main bhi chowkidar" and the "chowkidar chor hain" camps doesn't impress security guard Jyoti Prakash.
"It's a gimmick by the BJP and the Congress. It's all about getting votes. Nobody's bothered about the 'real chowkidars' like me," says the 40-year-old man from Bihar's Hajipur district who works at a housing society here.
"I work in two shifts - from 7am to 4pm at a housing society and from 5pm to 2am at a restaurant. I earn Rs12,000 a month, which is okay for me," says Prakash, who had fled his village after being pestered to get married. "I first went to Mumbai and came to Pune last year. People like us have to work hard for survival."
Prakash and many more like him are unfazed by the trend of BJP leaders prefixing the word "chowkidar" to their names on their respective Twitter handles in response to the Congress's "chowkidar chor hai" campaign.
" Chowkidar chor toh nahin hai, par pareshan hai (Chowkidar isn't a thief, but is troubled). But for me, what matters most is the 12-hour shift a day to earn Rs8,000 a month. And if I take even a day's leave, I suffer a salary cut," says Bablu Singh (35), who's from Hooghly district of West Bengal and working as a security guard at a housing society in Kondhwa.
"It's amusing that the word 'chowkidar' has suddenly become so important. Otherwise, who cares about the 'chowkidars'? Will anyone bother to think how I manage my family back home in Lucknow and ensure my two children's education with a monthly salary of Rs7,000?" asks Ramesh Yadav, who works as a watchman at an apartment in the same area.
Pankaj Shastri (45) works as a security guard from 6am to 8pm at a housing society in the Koregaon Park area. "At night, I work as a guard in another society. In between, I try to earn some extra money by washing vehicles of people living in the two societies," says the man from Ghaziabad, who has to take care of his ageing parents, wife and their 10-month-old child.
"With whatever I earn, I can't even afford to go home. My cousins usurped our land, and it's my responsibility to reclaim it. Elections don't really matter for me," says Shastri, who continues to toil almost 24x7, far away from the social media walls flooded by the feeds from the "main bhi chowkidar" and "chowkidar chor hain" camps.
"It's a gimmick by the BJP and the Congress. It's all about getting votes. Nobody's bothered about the 'real chowkidars' like me," says the 40-year-old man from Bihar's Hajipur district who works at a housing society here.
"I work in two shifts - from 7am to 4pm at a housing society and from 5pm to 2am at a restaurant. I earn Rs12,000 a month, which is okay for me," says Prakash, who had fled his village after being pestered to get married. "I first went to Mumbai and came to Pune last year. People like us have to work hard for survival."
Prakash and many more like him are unfazed by the trend of BJP leaders prefixing the word "chowkidar" to their names on their respective Twitter handles in response to the Congress's "chowkidar chor hai" campaign.
" Chowkidar chor toh nahin hai, par pareshan hai (Chowkidar isn't a thief, but is troubled). But for me, what matters most is the 12-hour shift a day to earn Rs8,000 a month. And if I take even a day's leave, I suffer a salary cut," says Bablu Singh (35), who's from Hooghly district of West Bengal and working as a security guard at a housing society in Kondhwa.
"It's amusing that the word 'chowkidar' has suddenly become so important. Otherwise, who cares about the 'chowkidars'? Will anyone bother to think how I manage my family back home in Lucknow and ensure my two children's education with a monthly salary of Rs7,000?" asks Ramesh Yadav, who works as a watchman at an apartment in the same area.
Pankaj Shastri (45) works as a security guard from 6am to 8pm at a housing society in the Koregaon Park area. "At night, I work as a guard in another society. In between, I try to earn some extra money by washing vehicles of people living in the two societies," says the man from Ghaziabad, who has to take care of his ageing parents, wife and their 10-month-old child.
"With whatever I earn, I can't even afford to go home. My cousins usurped our land, and it's my responsibility to reclaim it. Elections don't really matter for me," says Shastri, who continues to toil almost 24x7, far away from the social media walls flooded by the feeds from the "main bhi chowkidar" and "chowkidar chor hain" camps.
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