The first boy mentioned in the chapter is Saheb-E-Alam. He was a rag-picker who lived in Seemapuri. His family had migrated from Dhaka, Bangla Desh to India in 1971 with the hope of finding better life conditions. Every morning he roamed about streets collecting garbage. Many other boys also accompanied him. His family lived in miserable conditions. He could not afford to go to school. He did not have even a pair of slippers to wear. He wished to play lawn tennis which was beyond his reach. He also found a job at a tea-stall where he ran various errands for the tea-stall owner. Though he earned rupees eight hundred monthly along with meals every day, yet he was not happy working there. His rag-picking bag was lighter than the canister. He was his own master; but now he had to work under someone.
The first boy mentioned in the chapter is Saheb-E-Alam. He was a rag-picker who lived in Seemapuri. His family had migrated from Dhaka, Bangla Desh to India in 1971 with the hope of finding better life conditions. Every morning he roamed about streets collecting garbage. Many other boys also accompanied him. His family lived in miserable conditions. He could not afford to go to school. He did not have even a pair of slippers to wear. He wished to play lawn tennis which was beyond his reach. He also found a job at a tea-stall where he ran various errands for the tea-stall owner. Though he earned rupees eight hundred monthly along with meals every day, yet he was not happy working there. His rag-picking bag was lighter than the canister. He was his own master; but now he had to work under someone. The second boy mentioned in the chapter is Mukesh. His family lived in Firozabad. Mukesh’s family was trapped in this vicious circle. In fact every family involved in the bangle making is trapped in a vicious circle of the shahukars , the middlemen, the policemen, the keepers of law, the bureaucrats and the politicians. Their evil nexus did not let them be free. Approximately 20,000 children worked in the glass furnaces with high temperatures, in dingy cells without air and light, often losing the brightness of their eyes. Thus the angle-makers of Firozabad lived in a state of perpetual poverty and exploitation.
