Question -
Answer -
Grinding poverty and the necessity for a life of subsistence have involved Saheb, in ragpicking. Rummaging through garbage does not provide him with a regular income but gives him freedom. He has all the liberty in the world to roam with his friends in the streets without any worries to bother him.
Also, he can hunt for ‘gold’ in the garbage dumps. It provides him a hope and a thrill everyday in the form of a rupee or a ten-rupee note. So, he looks forward to it. The job he takes up at a tea stall is one of his’ attempts to become his own master. Ironically this further enslaves him. He is now not free to roam aimlessly in the streets. His new occupation binds him to serve somebody else.