Making a living out of a weighing machine

By Samikshya Thapa,Kathmandu, June 20: Every day, Ram Kumar Majhi, 35, from Khotang, stays in the Ratnapark area from 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM with a weighing machine. 

He came to Kathmandu 12 years ago for the treatment of Polio. In the course of treatment, he lost both his legs and now uses prosthetic legs. After being disabled, he started to sit by the roadside with a weighing machine. With the investment of Rs. 1,700, he is supporting his family of five -- wife, two sons and a daughter. He charges Rs. 10 to the people who check their weight. He earns Rs. 400-500 a day; he considers himself lucky if he earns Rs. 1,000 in a day, which is rare. His wife, Aasha Majhi, also works as a tailor. 

“Even after combining our earnings, it is difficult to pay rent and children’s school fees. If one of us falls ill and is unable to go to work, it becomes difficult to make ends meet. We are struggling for mere subsistence," said Majhi.

Similarly, Kanchha Ram, 75, from Sindhupalchok has a daily routine more or less like Majhi's. He wakes up around 5:00 AM and goes to Swoyambhu with his weighing machine. It has been his daily routine for the last seven years.

He came to Kathmandu 22 years ago. In his early days, he used to do business, carry loads and work as a mason, but as he got older, he couldn’t do physical work, so he started sitting on the roadside of Swoyambhu with a weighing machine. "I have eight grown-up children, but I have no one to take care of me, as all of them are busy with their lives," said Ram. 

He still works and makes a living from the money he earns from the weighing machine. He earns Rs. 400-500 a day and sometimes people give him some extra money out of sympathy. With the investment of 2,500, he has been supporting himself at his old age.

He said, “After coming to Kathmandu, I haven’t gone home. My first wife died and my second wife is still in Sindhupalchok. My children used to ask for money, but after I stopped giving it, they stopped contacting me. I have been on my own since then,” he said.

Likewise, Gyanu Tamang, a 55-year-old widowed woman from Ramechhap, stays in Patan Durbar Square with a weighing machine. She came to Lalitpur six years ago. Every day, she goes to Patan Durbar Square from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM and takes a two-hour break to work as a household help. It has been her daily routine for more than two years. She has three children, among them two are already married and she stays with her younger daughter. On Saturdays, she earns Rs. 400 to 500 while on other days Rs. 50 to 100 a day. She has been covering her and her daughter’s expenses alone.

She said, “My daughter works in a church, but her salary barely covers her college fees, so I have to take care of other expenses. I hope that she will take care of me after completing her studies.”

One common grievance among them was that the city police don’t allow them to sit by the roadside. Every time the city police come, they chase them away or even take away their weighing machine.

More than a dozen weighing machine operators are seen on the footpaths of Kathmandu and Lalitpur. 

Despite both the metropolitan cities having banned street vendors, people are seen making a living out of it. The weighing machine has been a means to earn a living for many.

(Thapa is an intern at TRN.)