By IANS,
New Delhi : Punit Singh has taken a 10-day leave from his job as he visits the Ramlila Maidan daily, not to participate in Anna Hazare’s agitation but to make a quick buck — by painting the tricolour on people’s faces. He wants the social activist to end his fast but not the protest at the venue.
Armed with a tray with small bottles of saffron, white and green, the colours constituting the Indian flag, and a paint brush, the 28-year-old who works in an import-export firm paints the faces of hundreds of supporters thronging the ground.
“I work here every day for around 12 hours and the business is roaring,” Singh told IANS while painting the tricolour on a supporter’s forehead.
“I’ve told my boss that I am down with viral, so he gave me a week off,” he chuckled.
Singh earns Rs.4,500 every month but that is peanuts compared to what he is earning at the Ramlila Maidan.
“I make an average of Rs.600 daily. Till now I’ve already earned Rs.3,000 which is amazing,” he said.
But he said: “I know this is not forever but still I pray that it stretches as long as possible as the money is good. However, Anna should end his fast immediately.”
There were many others like Singh who too were making hay while the sun shone.
“I work in a binding factory in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) with my father and he has sent me here as the money is good and the work is not much tiring,” said 15-year-old Sanjeev Rana who earned around Rs.1,000 per day.
“I use better quality paints than others so I have more customers,” added Rana whose family’s monthly income is around Rs.10,000.
According to the painters, the trend of painting faces has slowly caught on, especially with youngsters, and the customers have been increasing by the day.
“Initially, only school and college kids visited us but now our customers are from all age groups. A septuagenarian lady visited me with her grandson,” Rana said.
When asked whether they wanted the agitation to end as it will also bring the curtains down on their business, the painters unequivocally said the anti-corruption campaigner should end his fast but desired that the agitation continue.
“We support Anna but want him to end his fast. However, as the government has not made its stand clear, the protests should continue here,” said Aalim Mohammad, a mechanic from nearby Turkman Gate whose brother is looking after his shop while he paints faces.
(Names have been changed on request)