[Survivor Series] To anyone who has been held in bondage, I tell them to stand up for their rights

I was born in a village in Kanakapura taluk of Ramanagara district, Karnataka. My family owned three cows, and my two sisters and I grew up helping my parents sell milk. We would also help them when they worked as daily wagers in the wheat fields surrounding our village. I dropped out of school quite early and continued to help my parents eke out a living.

Around that time, my father had started making bricks at our home for some extra income. While we never had enough money for all our needs, my father always managed to keep us happy, often taking us to watch movies or traditional dramas like Yakshagana. We loved to visit town fairs and market festivals as well.

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When I got older, my parents arranged my marriage to my cousin Venkatesh. A few years after my wedding, my father needed to take a loan of Rs 15,000 from a local brick kiln owner.

The owner had grown up in my own village, and we knew him very well. In fact, it was my father who would tell him to study hard as a child. Several of his businesses had failed before he started the brick kiln in Kanakapura. 

He suggested that my father come work at the kiln rather than struggle to pay back the loan. The owner also suggested that my mother join him so they could repay the loan fast and make a good income. My father and mother readily agreed, and my husband and I also decided to join them along with our little son since we were also struggling with no steady source of income.

That one decision changed all our lives drastically.

We were forced to work for 14 hours a day, and my husband and I had to make 1,000 bricks a day just as my parents had to. It was extremely hard work, and we had to work on all seven days.

Even when we were unwell, we had to work in the scorching heat. But we were only paid Rs 500 a family per week. So, my parents received Rs 500 per week, and so did my husband and me. However, this was not enough for us to even buy the required food provisions.

One day, when I protested the meagre wage, the owner kicked me on my waist and twisted my arm. He also purposely hit me while riding his motorbike. We soon realised that he was no longer the same person we grew up with within our village. 

We were not allowed to leave the brick kiln, apart from one person going out once a week to buy provisions for the family. We were threatened and abused and told that if we wanted to return home, we had to repay an amount of over Rs 1,00,000 with interest added to the initial loan.

When my grandfather passed away, the owner did not even allow my father to go back to the village to perform the last rites. 

We lived and worked in the brick kiln in this manner for over four years. Four other families were also working with us in the kiln under similar conditions. They all came to the kiln at different times over the years after taking advances just like us. 

Finally, in August 2014, we were rescued from the brick kiln by the district administration officials and the police. Since then, we have been working as daily wage workers, mostly in sugarcane fields. 

In March 2017, we heard that the owner was convicted in court. My son, who is living elsewhere, called us and told us that our photos had come in the newspaper along with the news that the owner has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment!

For yoking us in bondage for almost five years, he now faces a double penalty of 10 years for his misdeeds. To anyone else who may be held in bonded labour like we were, I would like to tell them to be bold and stand up for their rights.