3: Here We Go ... Onsite Labour

The next morning, we started our labour. Our co-workers and people around were astonished to see three fair-skinned young men joining them to work. To the series of queries as to who we were, we gave our pre-meditated answers: “We are students of Christ College and we are working during vacation so that we can pay our fees.” Fortunately, all of them believed our words.

The Mesthiri (the main worker) Chinnayan’s first question to us was, “Ella velayum pannumaa?” (Will you do any work?) Our answer was an enthusiastic yes! He handed a hammer and other instruments to Bro. Juby and Bro. Libin and asked them to demolish the wall that was behind the building. He asked me to carry bricks. Our work was very strenuous, and after a few hours, our legs began to shiver and the scorching heat of the sun made us further weary and exhausted. Still, we continued working, and “The man who fell down with the cross for you and me did not make us fall down a single time.”

We ate lunch at the work place. It was the first time that the lunch tasted so good.

At the end of the day, we had swollen hands, aching necks, and paining and worn out bodies.

"Should We Continue?"

In the night, we three had a chat: “Should we continue this work?” We decided to say the rosary; each one shared the reflection of the first Sorrowful mystery - Jesus condemned to be crucified. Initially we thought we would be crucified - better to discontinue this work and search for an easier task. But as we meditated, we realized: Crucifixion is not the end but resurrection. At the end of the labour, we will be resurrected with new experiences. And finally, we surrendered ourselves to the Lord: “My Lord, let your will be done.” Thus we decided to continue the hard and tiring work. The rosary was indeed the powerhouse during these days of labour. The Blessed Virgin’s intercession had a great role to play in strengthening us during our challenging task. The Holy Mass in the night at 9:45 provided us with the spiritual nourishment we needed. Walking with Jesus from His birth to resurrection during the mass gave us the much-needed confidence and grace to continue our work. It also made us understand the need for the Holy Mass at odd timings for the youth who are working in Call Centres, IT firms, etc.

A Loving Jesus Near Us

On these days, we experienced the love and care of Jesus through our friends namely Vijay chettan, Sunsun chettan, Jiji chettan, Anto chettan, and Joshy chettan. We stayed with them during these days. Though all were busy with their work, they would spend some of their valuable time to hear our daily experiences and encouraged us to move forward. Their prayer life was indeed a great support and we could experience the way these young guys blended prayer and work harmoniously.

Modern men living in the techno savvy world may lack the presence of a friend to share their joys and sorrows. Sharing can make a lot of changes in everyone’s life, just as it happened to us over these days. Blending of prayer and work is the ‘need of the hour’.

The Sun - A Much Better Watch Than Casio?

While we were working, there was no means to know the time as our watches were in our bags. So the only way out was the sun. I’ve heard that before the arrival of watches people used to look at the sun and say the time; here we had a golden opportunity to try this. At first we started from 12:00 noon because we knew that the shadow would be shortest when the sun was right above our heads. Towards the end of the second week, we became experts in saying the time by observing the sun.

Carrying the Cross with Jesus

When I was asked to carry poles for moulding to the third floor, I felt how difficult the task was going to be. But I caught the pole in the manner Jesus carried the cross. It was just to feel how He felt while carrying the cross that must have been much heavier than the pole.

Educated, Still...

We talk volumes about abolishing child labour and sending children to schools but we don’t care to find what happens to the educated children. All three of us were really astonished to find out that some of our young co-labourers were educated. Satish, who completed Bachelor in Pharmacy, was unable to find a job and ended up here. Ashok completed Pre University course, but his father did not allow him to study further. Ramarajan completed first year PU this year and won’t be returning to studies. We asked the elders who were there about their studies and the reason they told was interesting: “If they go to study, the chance of getting a job was less. At the time of marriage, the bride’s family will look only for a job and once it is not there his market value for receiving dowry will go down!” We could see just three educated workers there but in our country there should be still thousands more. Machines can substitute muscle power but can they substitute intelligence?

Heavenly Insurance

One fine morning Chinnayan mesthiri, holding a card in his hand, was discussing something with Shekhar mesthiri. They told us that it was the card issued by the worker’s party and the benefit was that if a card holder met with an accident during labour, he would receive benefits. This made me think: "We have no earthly card with us in case of an emergency, but what to fear Oh! Lord, when we have your heavenly insurance with guardian angels protecting us."

Sleeping in the Woods

At the noon break, we used to get hardly fifteen minutes to sleep in which time we used to lie down between the poles that supported the moulding. While lying down, I used to think of the days I used to sleep in the woods enjoying nature when I was in my hometown. But Jesus was loving and kind enough to let me sleep in the woods on the last day – we were taken to a new site on the last day of our programme. We had to dig the foundation of a building; though it was a tiresome work, we were glad that the place was full of coconut trees and other plants, resembling Kerala. During the noon break, I slept peacefully in the woods and could not help praising Jesus for His love and care.

Babel Experience to Tabor Experience

It is said that God created diverse languages while men started building the tower of Babel. Language was a problem at our construction site too. We couldn’t understand Tamil and Kannada, which the workers were speaking, and we realized why the tower of Babel could not be completed. When they asked us to bring bricks, we used to bring sand, and so on. When they shouted at us and used abusive language, we felt like crying but Jesus gave us the strength to remain calm. It was a time we underwent the test of patience and an occasion to practice humility. It was like moving from the tower of Babel to the zenith of Tabor, transforming us completely.

"Hey… Your Parents Are Cruel…"

Seeing our pathetic condition, the workers asked us, "Why do you work like this? You are all Christians and if you ask some priests they will surely help you." We agreed with them and laughed in our minds. Then they told something that really hurt us: "Your parents are so cruel, otherwise they would not have sent you to this kind of work." We looked at one another and down. I prayed, "Lord Jesus, bless my parents for they are so loving and caring to me. If ever a need arose, they would have gone to work first and I’m sure that they would not have let me do this work."