“We have to work, otherwise we cannot meet our daily targets which means no money. If I start caring about the heat then how will we pay off the debt and what will we eat?

I have two children who are pursuing their high school education in our hometown in Odhisa. Our lives have been ruined because of lack of education. I don’t want the same thing happening to our children.

In companies, workers get a day off every Sunday. But here, there’s no holiday as such. Even if you have some work, there is nothing called a day off. We only get about five-six hours to complete everything. The rest of the time we will have to dedicate ourselves to working.

Talking about the process of our work, there are usually five categories of Brick klin workers. Khadkan, Nikasi, and Jalai workers work close to the kilns and are exposed to extreme heat. Paatla workers mold raw bricks from clay while Bharai workers use manual carts to transport the raw bricks to the firing kilns.

At first, the heat was difficult to bear, but now we have become accustomed to these harsh conditions over time. Even if it gets hot or it rains, we will continue working like this.”