The Girls’ Factory of Morbi, Gujarat

"Please give me your mobile. I will take photographs for you," she said.

I was traveling from Rajkot to Morbi by Gujarat State Transport Corporation (GSTC) bus. Morbi is around 65 km from Rajkot. The bus started its journey at 1:15 PM. Almost in the middle of the route you see huge white fan blades comfortably rotating under glaring sun. The fans were driving wind turbines. The bus was crossing a landscape of a huge water body, it was sea water lake, with rows of elegant looking off-white wind energy fans.

"Many thanks," I said and gave my mobile to her. She was sitting in the middle seat. I was sitting on the aisle seat and her elder sister was sitting on the window seat.

While traveling in the GSTC buses I prefer a seat next to the emergency gate. It offers a large leg space. After reaching Rajkot, it took some time to locate the bus for Morbi. Rajkot's bus station is big. I was also hungry and thirsty. Suddenly, I read Rajkot - Morbi written on a bus standing on platform number 07 and I got into the bus. I started eating food sitting on the aisle seat. A girl came and she sat on the window seat. Another girl followed her. It was a family of four. Other two members sat on the last seat. I missed the opportunity to occupy the window seat.

"Where are you going?" I asked in Hindi.

"Morbi. I went to Rajkot to attend marriage of my relative," she said and asked, "Are you going to Morbi for the first time?"

"Yes. I have crossed through Morbi while travelling to Kutch but I have never visited the city," I said.

"What brings you to Morbi?"

"Tiles," I said.

"What is that?" she asked.

I indicated with my hands and said, "you make floors with it."

She still did not understand. I once again repeated," tiles," and gesticulated with hands saying, "you lay it on the ground to construct floors. Morbi has many factories of tiles." By the side of the road there were numerous huge advertisement boards but somehow it did not strike me to indicate one of them.

"Do you mean ceramic?" she said. [In Morbi city they use the word ceramic for the ceramic tiles.]

"Yes," I said.

"You will work in a ceramic factory? she asked.

"No," I said and after a very small pause I asked, "What do you do?"

"I work," she said with a smile.

"I do not believe you!," I said with surprise. The diminutive girl appeared more like a child than a worker.

"Believe me, I work and I also study," she emphasised.

"Your Hindi is good," I said.

"In Morbi, I live in a hostel. There are girls from other states also," she said.

"What course are you pursuing?"

"I am in Class 11," she said.

"What is the name of your school?" I asked.

"I am pursuing Class 11 as an external candidate," she said.

"Just now you mentioned you live in a hostel," I said.

"Yes, it is a hostel for the workers," she said.

"I am not able to understand. Please explain," I said.

"I work in a factory in Morbi. They employ only girls. There are 6000 girls working there. If any girl needs a job they provide her job. Men are not allowed there. Only supervisors are men but they cannot come alone in our work area. They have to be accompanied by a woman supervisor. There are less female supervisors and they are junior to the men supervisor. The company has constructed a hostel for the girls. I live there. Let the city come, I will show you the factory and the girls hostel. The factory is not very far off. They provide bus service. We are picked up at 7:00 AM and they drop us at 8:30 PM," she said.

A new kind of world was opening in front of me. In a GSTC bus. On an aisle seat next to the emergency door.

As I was thinking, the girl was doing something with her mobile.

"Watch this," she said and brought the mobile screen in front of my eyes.

It was a video of a company that engages women for work. It was a report from a Gujarati channel and the reporter was glorifying the company. The women workers were saying good things about the company.

"You keep saying girls. What about women? I mean girls who are married," I asked.

"No, married women workers are not allowed. Only unmarried girls are allowed to work," she said.

"So, once a girl worker marries she is asked to leave?" I asked.

"Yes. The company knows that married women take a lot of leave. They will have some problem or other," she said smiling.

"You also have to leave once you marry?"

"Yes," she said.

"What is the longest time period a girl can work?" I asked.

"Till she likes it," she said.

"I mean to ask if you have met any worker who has spent many years in the factory?" I asked.

"Yes, there are women who have been working for the last 10 years," she said.

"What work do you do?"

"I paint content on the boards of the clocks," the girl said.

"Do you paint by hand?"

"No," she said and started laughing. She added,"How can I paint so many clocks? It is done by machine. 1200 paintings in one hour. There is a screen and a machine spreads paint on it," she said,

"1200 paintings in one hour!!!"

"Yes," she said.

"How do you do your work?"

"I have to keep standing all the time. I cannot sit down. The work commences at 8AM and the night shift starts at 8 PM. From 8 AM to 12:00 Noon, we work. Between 12:00 to 1:00 PM, there is lunch and from 1:00 PM to 8 PM we work. At 4PM the company provides snacks," she said.

“For 12 hours you have to keep standing! I cannot believe this! How do you manage?” I almost shouted but the bus was too noisy and the warm breeze was blowing at speed and was making noise.

The girl very gently nodded her head and smiled. She said, “We have to do it. The work demands it. They pay money for doing the work.”

“Does your legs and body pain?”

“Yes, the body pains. I am too tired when I return. I sleep quickly,” she said.

"Please tell me about your day in the hostel," I said. The girl was talking to me while her sister was taking a rest with eyes closed. Her mobile phone rang almost continuously that she overlooked. The mother of the girl was sitting just behind me and she was listening to our conversation.

"I get up at 5:30 AM as you have to get ready to go to the factory. We are served breakfast and then we board the company bus. We return at 8:30 PM. We change clothes, eat dinner and sleep," she said.

"Ok," I said.

"Do you have to pay for the food?"

"They charge very less, Rs1500/- per month that is also for the accommodation," she said.

"Tell me about your accommodation?"

"There are rooms and there are halls. In my room there are four double storied beds," she said.

"Do you have A/c in your hostel room?"

"No, we have a common fan and a small fan is provided to all the beds," she said.

"Is it not hot?"

She smiled and said, "It is fine."

"You must be having A/c in the factory," I asked.

"No, there is a fan. They have A/c is those locations where it is need in the plant. In my area there is only fan," she said.

"Do you have a TV in the hostel?"

"Yes, there is one common TV but by the time you return you are too tired. I watch mobile," she said and mentioned about a soldier martyred in Kashmir by playing the video on the mobile.

"Do you have sports in the hostel?"

"Yes, carom board."

"Do you have a weekly leave?"

"Yes. It is on Sunday," she said.

"What do you do on Sunday?"

"I sleep and sleep all the time," she said and laughed once again.

"Do you go out on Sunday?"

"No. Going out is not allowed. They seek permission from the parents to go out. They are very strict. If my mother comes without her Adhar card they will not allow her to meet me," she said and looked back at her mother and smiled.

"When do you wash clothes?"

"The company provides us with uniforms. We clean it," she said.

"Do you have a washing machine?"

"No, I clean it with my hands," she said.

"What do you want to become?"

"At present, I am working. I have not thought about other things. My sister has been working in the factory for more than one year. Her salary is Rs22000/- per month. She does a lot of work," she said.

Her sister opened her eyes and she joined our conversation.

"What do you do?'' I asked.

"I install fans in the machine," she said and added "I work from longer duration. I work till 11:30 PM at night. I get overtime wages. My base wages is Rs15000/- per month and I earn Rs7500/- for the overtime wages," she said.

The elder sister of the girl was hardly older than the girl by more than 2-3 years. She was also diminutive but slightly, very slightly, more fed than the girl. Compared to the girl she appeared more matured, also because of her oily face and acne.

"How do they fix wages?"

"According to performance, how you work in the factory. In the first year they pay basic wages and then in the next year you get an increase based on the category in which you fall. There are four categories; A, B, C and D. A might get a 50% increase over the first year's salary," she said.

"Any other difference?"

"The night shift workers are paid more. Their daily wages are more compared to us. They also live separately in the hostel. Their building is separate from us," the girl said.

"How much wage do you earn?"

"Rs 10,000/- per month."

"How many leaves do you have in a year?"

"What leave? There is no leave."

"Leave such as paid leave, casual leave and sick leave," I said.

"There is no leave," the girl reiterated.

"What if you fall sick?"

"There is a doctor downstairs all the time. He provides medicine," she said.

"And what about weekly leave?"

"Yes, we get leave on Sunday," she said.

"Are you paid for the Sunday leave?"

"Why would they pay for Sunday? We get paid only for the days we work," she said.

By now, I understood the system. I asked directly, "What is your daily wage?"

"Teen sau nav," she said in Gujarati. She was constantly talking in Hindi and when she mentioned the figure in Gujarati I did not understand. For a non-native the figure appears as 309.

"Rs309/-?" I asked to confirm.

"No, Rs390/- per day," she confirmed.

"Are you paid for Sunday?"

"No," she said. I was correct. It is a daily wage arrangement. It is not a monthly arrangement.

"For 13 hours of work!!! I said.

"No, 12. We get one hour for lunch break," she corrected me.

"Even for 12 hours, it is less," I said.

"They also provide other things," she said.

I listened.

"Every year they provide one silver coin to all the workers. If you rent a room in Morbi you have to pay Rs2000/- per month," she could not complete further as her sister interrupted.

"Who would provide you accommodation for Rs2000/- in Morbi," she said and turning towards her mother she said, "Would anybody?" The mother shook head and said, "It will not be available for less than Rs3000/- per month."

I was listening.

"Ok, Rs3000/- per month for accommodation. They provide money at the time of marriage. The girl does not have to worry about marriage expenses," she added.

"How much money do they provide for marriage?" I asked.

"Every month from the wages they deduct Rs1000/- and keep it with themselves. At the time of marriage they offer the accumulated amount to the girl," she said.

"What if the girl leaves the job before marriage?"

"They pay her all the money including the amount deducted for the marriage. They pay everything even if a girl leaves job after two days," she said.

"Don't you think 12 hours of work is too long?"

"No, it is the norm in the company. In every company in Morbi the working hours are 12 hours. If you work more than 12 hours you get overtime. My sister gets overtime," she said.

Her sister was listening. She nodded head in affirmation.

"Do you know what the wage rate should be for overtime work?"

"I mentioned it earlier. I get Rs15000/- for normal work and Rs7500/- for overtime work of four hours," she said.

"The overtime wage rate is double the wage rate of the normal hours of work. Even if you consider 12 hours as normal working hours," I said.

The girl's sister did not say anything but she was not convinced. It showed on her face.

"When do you study?" I asked the girl.

"That is why I am an external student. I do not have to attend classes. I have opted for Arts instead of Science or Commerce. Art is easy to pass. All the girls who work there like me are also studying Arts. For Science and Commerce it is not possible," she said.

"I think you should study," I said.

"But, we are a family of five. If everyone works we can save money," she said.

"Where does your family live?"

"In a village near Morbi. Not very far, nearby. We are five members in the family. My father is a salesperson in a company. My mother runs a beauty parlour. My sister and I work in the company. My brother goes to school," she said.

The girl's mother said something from behind.

"You also speak working Hindi," I said.

"Yes, I speak Hindi with my clients. They are from UP and Bihar. The workers of the ceramic factory reside in my village. Their wife come to my parlour," she said.

"I also know parlour work," the girl interjected.

"Which one do you like more? The parlour work or the factory work," I asked.

She did not say anything. She smiled.

"In parlour work there is less money. The villagers do not pay like city people," the mother said.

"How much money do you earn in a month?"

"Sometimes Rs10,000/- and sometimes less," she said.

The bus entered Morbi city and it was crossing a multiplex and a mall.

The girl pointed her sister towards a movie poster.

"Do you get a chance to watch movies in cinema halls?"

"No," she said.

"What do you do for entertainment?"

"Mobile," she said and lifted it to show me.

"Is it allowed at the workplace?"

"No, not at all. I watch mobile once I return to the hostel. In the hostel there is no restriction," she said.

The bus was moving quickly towards the Morbi bus station. Unlike other cities of Gujarat the roads of Morbi town are narrower.

"What do you do with the money?"

"In the first year they provide money in cash and in the second year onward they deposit money directly into the worker's account so that nobody can take the money from the girls," she said.

"Do you take their money?" I asked, turning towards the mother.

The bus entered the bus stand of Morbi and stopped with a jerk. A waft of warm air with a generous mix of dry fish smell entered into my nostrils.

"No, I never take money from them," the mother reacted immediately.

The girls laughed. I also joined them.