the "bhel" experience

there is this street hawker (thela) where we live, where Amit and i generally go to eat "bhelpuri". both of us like to engage in conversation with street vendors and while chatting with this guy, it came to our knowledge that one of the biggest issue these hawkers face is harassment from the local municipal corporation (MC). since the hawkers are not provided with any license to sell their wares, they are at the mercy of these MC officials. the MC personnel come anytime, confiscate the hawker's stuff and then usually demand a bribe to give them back their belongings. the MC officials obviously don't expect the street vendors to leave their spots once they leave – their only motivation is to make a quick buck. Which sadly, is what usually happens.

anyways, we have had bhelpuri from this vendor (thela) a couple of times and whenever it came to throwing the used paper plate - he used to ask us to discard it in the open – right next to the steel railing where he stands. It was not acceptable to us to throw trash there, so we would generally take it with us and throw it whenever we had access to a trash can. on this particular visit again the same thing happened but this time in the spirit of being the change we wish to see, we went to a store nearby and brought a small trashcan and took it to the hawker - urging him to use it.

We had hoped that the hawker would be happy seeing a solution to his littering problem, instead, he got a little edgy on seeing the trashcan and said that he would not be able to keep it because:

- if he keeps it next to his “thela” the chances are very high that somebody would steal it (since it is of good quality) when he is not around.

- he does not want to own it or tie it to his thela because that would mean extra load for him, which in turn would make it very difficult for him to run when the MC official come for their sudden raids.

at the same time, this guy did understand our sentiment and was ready to take the trash can only if we would accept the money we had spent on it ...we obviously didn't want him to pay for something that he does not want. so there we were ---trying to find a solution to a simple issue like throwing used paper plates, but we had failed. at the end of it, the "bhelpuri" guy proposed a solution – he would tie a "teen ka dibba"(can of tin) with a chain to the railing next to his “thela”. It will be something that he will not have to carry around and the “tin ka dibba” is not good enough for people to steal. we had no option but to take the extra trashcan home.



***we had read and heard a lot that no change is possible (or sustainable) till it is chalked in participation with the people who will be affected by the change. We also thought we understood this. But i guess, we did not realize that it has to be practiced in every little thing that comes our way....hopefully, this small incident serves as a lesson to remember:-)