Thirteen-year-old Deepika Das was born at Kultali in the far away Sunderbans.
When circumstances forced her and her family to move to Kolkata, she hated it.
"There are no trees here, no birds, only houses and people. I don't like it here at all," she told rediff.com while catering to customers at a roadside dhaba that she works in.
Clad in a resplendent pink frock that the dhaba owner's wife got for her, Deepika was all smiles as she recollected her village days.
"I was 8 when poverty forced my parents to sell off the small piece of land we owned at Kultali to marry off two of my elder sisters and moved to a rented kholi near Garia in South 24-Parganas.
"When I came to know about their decision, I did not get a wink of sleep for nights," she says. "However, I never let my parents know about my mental state. That would have made them sad, you know," she said, wiping one of the six tables that the dhaba houses.
Deepika studied till Class V at the village school itself.
"I had to discontinue my studies as my parents wanted me to earn. They were not too happy about the arrangement but then they had no choice."
She does not miss her books too much, Deepika confessed. "I was not too good in studies. But I miss my friends and the games that we played. It used to be fun," she said, her eyes wandering.
Deepika puts in about 10 hours daily at the dhaba and earns Rs 600 a month. She hands over the entire sum to her parents.
"The dhaba owner is very nice. He gives me four meals a day -- something my parents cannot afford," she said.
Her father works as a store-keeper, while her mother earns her bread working as a housemaid. Her elder brother works at a local hotel.
At the end of the day's work, before dropping off to sleep, Deepika does not forget to pray.
"I pray to God so that He grants a long life to my parents and my siblings and me a life bereft of hard toil. I want to just while away my time with friends. Don't like working so hard everyday," she said.
We forgot to shoot the next question.
Image: Deepika Das. | Photograph: Dipak Chakraborty
Child labour is a dagger through India's soul. The country has the dubious distinction of being home to the largest child labour force in the world, with an estimated 30 per cent of the world's working kids living here.
