A day in the life of Shivaji Ramchandra Kode Pothole repairer Routine: Shivaji Ramchandra Kode comes to Mumbai from his village in Jalgaon every monsoon for about four months to repair roads. His work,·which often begins at night,·involves pouring hot asphalt mix into potholes Heat boils,burns and blisters are not what you would expect to get in cold,lashing rains but for Shivaji Ramchandra Kode,these are occupational hazards as he handles hot tar while repairing Mumbais notorious potholes. Even as he fights sleep for the second day in a row on Friday,Kode isnt complaining as he goes about filling potholes in the city. A semi-skilled labourer,Kode who is in his early forties,knows this is not the time to complain. During the monsoon,we need to repair potholes whenever there is a dry spell, says Kode. With Mumbai on a pothole alert practically every monsoon,Kode who has been fixing Mumbais roads for over 15 years now,is accustomed to unending working hours. While he has no fixed working hours,Kodes shift usually starts at night since traffic is lean then. Once we are on the road we know we may not come home for a day or two. We catch up on our sleep for an hour or two between work, says Kode. As the sole earning member in a family of five,monsoons in Mumbai are the best time for Kode to make money. Kode works in Mumbai for about four months,earning about Rs 5,000 every month. For the rest of the year,he either goes back to farming in his village in Maharashtras Jalgaon district or to some other city to find work as a labourer. Sharing a match-box size room with five to six others at an asphalt factory site outside Mumbai where he is employed,Kodes day begins whenever there is a call to repair potholes. It can either be early morning or late at night. If it is the early morning shift,I get up by 5 a.m.,cook food and pack my tiffin. We need to leave the factory site early so that we can be in the city soon. Once we begin the repair work,it might take us a full day or two. Once the work of a contractor is over,I return home to the factory site. On the other hand,sometimes we end up working in the morning and sleep throughout the day, says Kode. On the payroll of the contractor who owns asphalt factories,his job is to accompany the dumper full of the hot-asphalt mix used to repair potholes. A team of six-seven people jointly work to repair a patch of potholes along the roads. Kodes job is to pour the hot asphalt mixusually singeing at 130-140 degree Celsius. First,the pothole has be lined and cut meticulously,after which an emulsion is poured to help the asphalt mecadam (thick metal used to fix potholes) and finer metal particles together to give the road a better surface. It is the final job of pouring the hot mix of asphalt thats the most difficult bit, says Kode. One cannot just pour the hot mix haphazardly. It has to be put at the right edges and surface in the right quantity and right time. It should not flow out of the pothole shape. It is like an art, he explains. We cannot panic if the hot mix falls on our hands or feet. A little mistake would mean using more tar and undergoing the whole process again. Some times we get burnt but now we are used to it, says Kode. For Kode,the biggest challenge is to work in the rains. For the past few days,he has worked continuously even as the city faced heavy and incessant rains. Despite the rains we have to do our work. We cannot always wait for dry weather. It has become difficult for me over the years to lift heavy containers and pour them into potholes. Not only do your hands need to be strong,you also have to stand for long hours to mix the tar and pour it, says Kode. His job is tough,and not one he wishes his children to pursue. His dream is to educate his children and he hopes they become teachers. I do not want my son to do what I do, says Kode.
