Starting life in a new city (Kolkata)

My nickname is Bado-babu. In my family, we are husband, wife, and two kids. We stay here in Kolkata. My mom and dad stay in my village. Over there, there are no jobs, so I had to come here for work. Maybe the only job we can secure in my village is that of farming. So, I moved from my village to Kolkata, built a hut near the canal, and started living here.

There are some advantages of staying here. There are schools here, which my children go to. The market is nearby, so groceries and vegetables are accessible anytime. But then we face a lot of difficulty with the water supply. The walls of my house are built with bamboo and the roof with plastic sheets. When there is a storm, plastic flies off someplace. Our house gets damaged. Using the toilet and taking bath is also very challenging. One day someone threw a burning cigarette into our slum. As the houses are made of plastic, they immediately caught fire. All of us rushed to help and with water put the fire out.

I have been working here (at Joyya) for two years. The company took us to Puri (a beach in a neighbouring state) for vacation. I never imagined we would ever go to Puri. But our company made it possible. My family also accompanied me. We spent the days there very happily. All of us were together. My wife was with me. We had a lot of fun.

I work here as a van cycle driver. I take mal (our products) from one building to another (we have three facilities in Kolkata). My dream is to build a house so that I can live comfortably with my family. And I believe from here my dream will come true. I want more people to buy goods from our company, we get lots of orders.

Everyone talks well and praises me because I work in a company. Working at a company is a great deal for us. What I like most about the company is we spend time together and everyone talks with one another. Plus, there is no bias here, we are all the same.