“The children do not know what is new or what is torn, what is clean or what is dirty. It does not matter to them. So I wash the few one or two pairs of clothes they have and they wear it. But they are always hungry. If there is no food, the crying starts. A kilo of rice has reached 55 rupees and our wages have remained the same for a long time. It is not right but do I just stay home and abandon the 300? I cannot do that. I am compelled to work knowing I am exploited by the Sahu. I am used to breaking stones and filtering sand. Sometimes I go to work in someone else’s fields.

My husband left home a year before the lockdown to a foreign country looking for a way to make money. He took a loan for that. Neither has he been able to repay the loan nor has he been able to send support home. How could he? Now with this virus, everything has been thrown out of place and he has lost his job too. The poor man has his own problems. For now, I have given up hope that he will send money. He is a good husband. After he left he sent me a phone and some money. He called me recently to ask how the children were doing. How I was doing. He expressed how he longed for us. He said the company only paid him a month’s salary. We are all waiting for him to return home. When he is back, I know things will improve. Together, we will take care of the children and we will keep them safe.”