Hawking on the lines : tales of the railway hawkers and their everydays

Abstract

Hawking is a profession of the informal sector. It takes place in different forms. From pavement to a moving local train, hawking is a way of livelihood to many. Their everydays are patterned, routinized and bound by time and space. But their work is different in the sense that it is lived by both them and the passengers. The essence of their ‘social’ world is diffused in the sense that they are sellers of products of low price with very less capital. This article will focus on the life-world of hawkers in train running between Howrah and Bandel. This is a part of the main line of Eastern Division of Indian Railways. The researcher has undertaken an ethnographic research on hawkers of this section. The article will focus on how the hawkers create a life-world distinct and diffused, ordered yet haphazard. The peculiarity of this life-world is that the researcher is also part of it.