By Aliya Abreu
I can’t remember the first time I saw the Lamani woman who sits sifting through recyclable waste in front of the white-walled house just opposite the Panjim municipal market. It must have been several years ago, but who gives more than a passing thought to a Lamani? I didn’t think to ask her name, or find out exactly what she does there every day. Her style (long earrings, gigantic nose-ring, and really colourful get up) didn’t impress me much either.
I was forced to train my thoughts on her however, when we were told to go talk to ragpickers who collect recyclables in the city. I immediately thought “that Lamani woman” outside the market would be perfect to talk to. But never having spoken to her in my life, I felt guilty approaching her just because I needed to for a story. I did it anyway, and had a little help from a friend with the Hindi translation.
Iravwa Lamani (lovingly called “Mami”) was more than excited to talk to me. Living hand-to-mouth for decades on end meant that Iravwa was not very clear about dates - like when she moved to Goa, and for how many years she’d been a ragpicker.
To help me get a little more perspective about her life, Iravwa drew out two voting ID cards from a purse she keeps around her neck - hers, and her husband Shivappa’s. He died years back, but she can’t remember when. Her ID shows she was born in the early 1970s, and the two hail from Karnataka. They had five children, but two passed away, and Iravwa’s daughter now has three children of her own making Iravwa a grandma.
But for Iravwa, being a grandma doesn’t change her life of toil. She travels to Panjim from Betim daily by ferry and works between 11 am and 8 pm going from shop to shop, right up to Miramar and back collecting recyclables, sorting them out in her “space” opposite the market, and then selling them to the bigger recycler every evening.
We ask Iravwa how much she earns a day, and she proudly says “Rs 200.” A quick look at her small notebook where she keeps accounts reveals however, that she earns far less than that, making it an average of around Rs 150 a day.
During the conversation, Iravwa mentions about having to save up for her son’s wedding, which she seems a little panicky about, but other than that, she’s quite chill about life, sustaining herself and her family with the money she earns from sorting recyclables.
The occupants of the house in front of which Iravwa does her sorting have only positive things to say about “Mami” and her contribution to society. “I get asked by a lot of my friends why I don’t object to her sorting stuff in front of my house. It saddens me because these are educated people, who don’t understand the value of ragpickers who are helping the city,” the gentleman says. Theirs is an open house for Iravwa, and her family, who often drop in for a meal.
Before I leave, I whip out my phone to get some pictures of Iravwa and her big bags full of recyclables. But she draws me in for a selfie, least bothered about the pictures I need.
She is really excited about her story being told to the world.
