A street hawker is a common sight in our towns and
villages. A street hawker goes from one street to another and from one Mohalla to
another Mohalla for selling his articles or food-stuffs.
A Street hawker usually comes with a basket full of
articles placed on his head. He hawks his articles. Every street hawker brings
articles and eatables of different kinds. Usually in the morning, street hawkers
come with vegetables and fruits in their baskets. They hawk the things and vegetables
which they bring in baskets.
The people who live in villages and towns hear the
calls of the street hawker early in the morning. He brings with him fresh fruits
and vegetables. On hearing his voice, housewives’ flock around him. They take
from him the things which they need. Street hawkers have to face sometime very
odd customers who go for arguing (bargaining) about the prices of various
commodities. Sometimes he has to bow to the customers by reducing his rates.
Then there are other street hawkers who come on
bicycles loaded with clothes, utensils and other articles of daily need and consumption.
All these are, no doubt, tough jobs. He has to labor a lot in order to earn his
living. His profits are very small. His clothes are also dirty. But with this
small income he makes his both ends meet. The way he lifts the heavy load on
his head or carries it on a bicycle is really a difficult job.
Some of the street hawkers carry on their heads cry
cheap things. By selling their complete stock they just earn a rupee or so.
This shows the poor condition of these street hawkers. If a hawker is a little
innocent he is teased by the street urchins. These clever urchins sometimes
steal away his petty articles and things while the poor fellow has to hear the
loss.
On the hole, a street hawker’s condition is
pitiable because he wanders from morning till evening from place to place in
order to earn his daily living. In Pakistan, the hawkers are innumerable
because, by investing less amount of money they start this business. But there
is no harm in earning one’s living with hard labor. Every individual should
earn his own living instead of becoming a burden upon others. It is dignity of labor
which we all should respect.