Out for a morning walk in search of an American style cup of coffee, I was soon shadowed by a shoeshine boy. He was most persistent that I should be his first customer of the day. He followed me, requesting again and again to shine my shoes, for several blocks. I went into the restaurant for my coffee and to read the paper. When I came out, he was waiting for me. So, we walked together back to the hotel where I was expecting to meet the rest of group and go out for breakfast. He had very limited English but he started to tell me a bit more about himself (this was very smart from a business perspective and I started to like him…). He was without parents and supporting his younger brother from his meager shoeshine earnings, from what I could make out. His name was Raj. He had softened me up by now and I was ready to have him shine my shoes but I really didn’t have time. So, I told him that if he was still in the area he could do my shoes after I finished breakfast with group.
We had a leisurely breakfast together with our tour group and Ivan, Minha an Anand from Asha Handicrafts. After breakfast we walked back onto the street and there he was waiting for me. It had now been about three hours since he first met me on the street. I’ve no idea why he was so persistent. Surely there must have been many other customers for him to pursue but for some reason he remained fixed with certainty that I needed to be his first customer that day. I learned later that the first customer of the day was an important Hindu ritual and considered to be an indication of the blessings that where to follow for the rest of day. I watched him do a quick little prayer of thanks right at my feet as he closed up his shoeshine box and thanked God for my business.
He gave me a terrific shoeshine (I don’t know if he transformed me into a “movie star” like he said he would, but the shoes looked great) and with Ivan and Anand as interpreters I was able to learn more about his family life as he worked on my shoes. He is 19 years old and has been the sole supporter of his only sibling, a younger brother around 12 years old, for the last 6 or 7 years. His Mother died in child birth and the circumstances around his Father’s death were a little unclear although he seemed to indicated illness was the reason. He indicated that he had struggled with many types of jobs to earn a living to support himself and his brother. Recently he had “rented” his shoeshine box for 30 rupees a day (about 80 cents Canadian). Anything above that was his profit. He was badly wanting to own his own box and he told me that a new one was about 550 rupees (maybe $12). The price was huge for him, but the daily rent was also the difference between indenture and independence. I was ready to just give him the 550 rupees but how could I be sure he was telling the truth? I could only speak to him in very broken English and had only known him for a few hours.
Ivan and Anand agreed with me that Raj seemed to be a very sincere fellow and they also wanted to help him. So, there on the street in Delhi, we possibly planted a mustard seed (see Jesus’ parable in Matthew ). I asked Raj to walk us back to the hotel. I went up to my room and retrieved my Nike baseball cap for a gift. I gave it Raj and then paid him 200 rupees (about 10 or 20 times the street rate) for the shoeshine (in the meantime he had also done Luke’s shoes) and Ivan and Anand explained to him that it was for the purposes of purchases his own shoeshine box. They then told him that on Feb 28th they would be back in Delhi on another Asha visit and, if he had added 50 rupees to the 200, they would give him another 100 rupees towards his goal. It wasn’t about the $12 for us (we spent more than that minutes later in the market), it was about how to help Raj and to maintain his dignity and provide sustainability in his life. I later discussed with Ivan and Anand the possibility of setting up a loan fund for shoeshine boys that would borrow them the 550 rupees for boxes (perhaps even built by other Asha artisans) and manage their loan payments. They were intrigued about the idea and said they would explore it. I could imagine a Ten Thousand Villages “Living Gift” campaign of buy a shoeshine box! Think of it, just $12 to put a young man into business and the building of the boxes sustains other Artisans (and the idea is hatched on a “learning tour”)!
This is a picture of Raj standing with Luke and wearing the baseball cap I gave him . When we were done with the whole thing he was calling me father and Luke his brother. The contradiction that is India once again hits me squarely in the chest. Two son’s, both 19, one educated, employed, going to university, strong and healthy. One impoverished, unemployed, hungry, dirty and quite possibly (though I don’t know) homeless. Both of them intelligent, kind, hard working and worthy of the best father possible. And India was again melting my heart and I was trying to swallow the ever present lump in my throat. The night we left Raj waited outside the hotel door for quite awhile because he wanted my cell number. I never gave it to him. I tried to explain to him that his relationship needed to be with Ivan, Anand and Asha Handicrafts. That felt lousy. So why, on this last day in Delhi, with only a few hours remaining till we go home, did I connect with Raj? Did God send me & Luke to India to be a part of planting a new seed of fair trade? We don’t know, but the trip has been a powerful blessing to both of us.
We went went to the market to browse and I bought a bag of pataki (sort of like chips). I lingered on the sidewalk outside the bakery munching my snack while the rest of group shopped. Pretty soon someone gently tugged my sleeve. It was a mother holding her child and begging me for a handout. I gave her my bag of chips and she immediately walked across the street sat down and began to eat them (I noticed she actually dug in herself before giving them to her child..). It was obvious that they were very hungry.
