“I have been working as a sweeper for the past 15 years. I used to work as a construction worker before this but with age, I couldn’t lift weights like before. And also climbing up the steps took a toll on my health as well so I shifted here. Myself and my husband tried to educate our kids to the best of our ability. One of them drives an auto and the other is employed in a factory. They each have their own families to take care of so we are unable to reach out to them for help. I am 56 now and I have four more years of this job which has to help me sustain the rest of our life. My husband can’t go to work due to an illness and he remains bed ridden. We live in a rented house so the rent takes up the major portion of our expenses. But I wake up each day with the hope of doing some good work here. We sweep twice a day – first in the morning and then once in the evening. We sweep the entire stretch of the market road as well as inside the market. We take a break now and then and continue on our work like usual. Parents take everything they have to make a world for their children but kids turn their backs on their parents during times of need. This needs to change – as we age, we need more attention and care and it would be good if the kids took some part of the responsibility in supporting us.”