Coolie-Mercenaries of Globalization
A porter at Judge Bazar Darjeeling Porter, Coolie, Dai! We call them by different names. Without them, nothing will move...literally. Consumer goods from LPG (cooking gas cylinders), food items to construction materials; anything that needs loading, unloading and transporting-you name it! These Dai's or Coolies as we call them they are the ones who do the backbreaking work of lugging goods from one place to another with their Namlo. (Namlo is a sturdy string/harness used to carry things) They are people who have migrated from Nepal and its common to see both men and women working as porters in Darjeeling. Most of them are poor, often falling below the poverty line and it is only some who have gone on to make a fortune. Most of them confess that they have vast agricultural lands back at home. Isn't it sad that they who have acres and acres of agricultural land should now live as BPL (Below the Poverty Line) people? Many welfare and social organisations in Darjeeling