“Memsaab ham par to double maar padhi hai (Madam, we have been doubly hit),” says a distressed Abdul Rashid. From Danosar village in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, Rashid is part of the army of porters in Shimla that literally carries the town's economy on its back.

He is one among the hundreds of ‘Khans’ (as they are popularly called here) who are seen scurrying up or rushing down steep, non accessible hilly paths with heavy loads on their backs come rain, snow or shine. Whether it is home appliances like refrigerators, TV sets, washing machines or heavy furniture including almirahs, sofas, beds, dining tables, it is these sturdy Khans who are trusted to deliver without damage

With business drastically down after demonetisation, Rashid says his earnings have come down from Rs 400- Rs 500 a day to less than Rs 150 and sometimes nothing. “How will I be able to send money home for my family, if things don’t improve?” Rashid has four children to feed and educate back home in Kashmir.

“If times were better in the valley, we would have gone back for some time to earn a bit, but that is not the case. Dono taraf mamla dhap hai (In both places the economy is in a shambles).”

Ghulam Nabi from Verinag, Anantnag district, who has been working in Shimla for over a century, uses a metaphor to describe his condition: “Amdani athani kharcha rupaya (earning 50 paise to meet expenses that need a rupee)”. Nabi's daily earnings have come down drastically because of the cash crunch and ‘note bandi. He says when shopkeepers themselves have no business, no sales are happening, how are they to give work to porters.

“I am the sole breadwinner in my family. All my three children are studying. As the schools were closed in Kashmir valley I had to shell out money on tuitions as well.”

Surviving on subsistence wages this month, porter Mohammed Ramzan says he has been coming to Shimla since 1982. He is not even earning half of what he used to in earlier years. Worse still, his son back in Kashmir is not getting a job despite the fact that he has an M.Sc. Degree. His daughter is studying and hopes to take up medicine.

Ramzan owns just two bighas of land in Kulgam. “We grow dhan (paddy) which lasts only for four to five months. For the rest of the year we have to buy rice from the market.”

Mohammed Amin, who works as a kabadiwala (waste merchant) has his own story to tell. “Things are down and out completely as I can’t get small currency from banks to buy ‘raddi’ (waste). In any case as of now the dealers in kabaadi (waste) can’t pay us. I don’t know what I will do if things don’t improve.”

Many of the Khans who work as porters at the railway station also work for hotels on commission basis for bringing in tourists. Now with the tourism and hotel industry hit hard by the currency crunch, their earnings have turned into a trickle. There are reports of a sharp decline in the hospitality business in tourist towns such as Shimla and Manali.

The Khans have been coming to Shimla from the Kashmir valley since the time of British rule, but their numbers swelled in the late Eighties following a spurt in terrorism.

These traditional porters prefer to work in Shimla which is peaceful and has a climate similar to their home. But more importantly, they are able to earn much more here than back home in Kashmir. With large scale unemployment and trouble in Kashmir, the young Kashmiris too now head for Shimla to earn a living.

Most of the Khans stay in the 'mussafir khana' ( traveller home) at a mosque in Lower Bazaar. Others share rented rooms or live in labour hostels.

For now, the Khans are hoping that things will improve by Christmas and New Year when thousands of tourists usually crowd Shimla and they will be able to make up for the losses.

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Delhi)

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