Closure of Ganga might be a reason for frowns to the local traders, but for some children it is a matter of cheer for which they wait the whole year. Picking coins offered to Ganga Ma which the river again returns to its devotees is never so easy for the slum children when the river flows full stream. But spending the whole day in dried-up riverbed, these children collect these coins, striking sometimes even metal worth hundreds of rupees, which is sufficient to feed their families.
What is more the elderly ladies of these slum kids can be seen bringing lunch cooked for the boys while they are on their full-time duty, searching articles and valuables from the Ganga riverbed amidst sand and pebbles. They are at work, said a mother of a coin picker.
Kishen, a coin picker, says, “I have collected 50 coins since the morning and also a Ganesha idol. Yesterday, I hit on a brass chain. Ganga Ma fulfills our desires.”
Visit any ghat of Ganga during the days between Dushehra and Diwali and one can find these coin picking children busy hunting for the hidden treasure in the river. These children risk their lives many times not only to pick up valuables settled down in the gushing streams but also save tourists from drowning who accidentally get washed away on slippery ghats while taking holy dip.
With hard- earned money collected, these children are happy as the Diwali approaching fast. “I got a gold ring which was stuck in clutter of ashes tied in a cloth,” says Ramesh lal, another coin picker. In Hindu tradition, it is believed that during ‘Asthi Visarjan’ if some gold is added along with ashes of the deceased person, the departed soul gets re-birth in a rich family. So the people put some precious metals along with the ashes which these children hunt out.
