Guest workers look forward with hope

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the basement of a supermarket building at Njandoorkonam in Thiruvananthapuram, Hasnain Mansoori, a 22-year-old tailor from Uttar Pradesh, is fanning himself vigorously with a folded newspaper for some relief from the searing afternoon heat. He, along with two other co-workers, also from UP, are staying in the building barely a few kilometres away from Pothencode. The small town had shot into prominence following the death of a person in a case of suspected community transmission of Covid-19.

Hasnain and his friends were till recently working at the Ann Jyothi Stitching Centre, a small-scale industrial unit run by the Sisters of St Anne, Luzern, near Pothencode. The unit in which Hasnain works, had been busy making face masks with the materials supplied by a voluntary group. The unit was shut down after tough restrictions were imposed following the lockdown. “Our unit had produced nearly 2,000 face masks, and guest workers like Hasnain have toiled a lot to make it happen. We thought Hasnain and friends would go away in the hour of crisis but he chose to stay and work for a noble cause,” said Sister Elsma, who manages the unit.

Hasnain says he has much more at stake than a steady income alone in Kerala. Leaving the state would have brought an abrupt end to his academic pursuits. Hasnain had recently enrolled for the Higher Secondary equivalency course. He was among the very few from North India who managed to pass the Class X equivalency exam conducted by the state literacy mission in Malayalam medium. “We go back to our hometown during the lean season and come back a few months before schools reopen. Two of my roommates had returned from Gorakhpur in February but I chose not go this time as I was focusing on my studies,” Hasnain said.

Shamila, Hasnain’s literacy instructor, calls him a real hard worker. “It was amazing how he took extra effort to read and write Malayalam. He would not miss a single class and we were sure he would emerge successful. Now, he has his eyes set on clearing the Plus Two course,” she said. Hasnain keeps in touch with his parents, three brothers and a sister back home on the phone regularly. “I’ve not told my family that I live so close to an area where there is so much scare over the viral infection. Why scare them unnecessarily? We are taking enough precautions and are also doing our bit to help people here tide over the crisis,” he said, exuding confidence that the tough times will soon be over.

Aiming for education
Hasnain, a tailor from Uttar Pradesh, says he has much more at stake than a steady income alone in Kerala. Leaving the state would have brought an abrupt end to his academic pursuits. Hasnain had recently enrolled for the Higher Secondary equivalency course.