Some people work in offices. Some others work from home. The latter kind are the people we are focusing on today. But we are making a distinction -- we are not going to talk about those people who work from home because they have a computer and an Internet connection.

Instead, we will talk about women who work from their homes because they have to do their household chores and earn money to supplement the family income. Some of these women -- we will only look at those who live in the Tuticorin district of Tamil Nadu -- actually started working at the tender age of 10.

The luckier ones weave coconut mats or make matchboxes. The others roll beedis to earn a living. They are supplied with the necessary ingredients -- the tendu leaves and the tobacco -- by agents who work for the beedi companies...

The house was small. Her husband was fast asleep on the floor, blissfully unaware of the two young children playing around him. "He has just come back from work," explains Rajendran's wife, Rajeshwari. They have four children. He earns Rs 40 to Rs 50 a day by selling fruit juice and doing other odd jobs.

Rajeshwari has been rolling beedis since she was 14. "At that time, we would get Rs 12 for every 1,000 beedis we rolled. They used to retain part of our wages as savings. When I got married, they gave me my savings -- Rs 4,000. But they did not pay any interest."

For a year after her marriage, she concentrated only on her housework. Then, she started making beedis again. "Now we get Rs 50 for every 1,000 beedis that we roll. Of this, the company keeps Rs 5 as my savings. They'll return it when I stop working for them. I have been working for their company for three years."

She doesn't know how much she has saved, though she does have a pass book in which the tobacco and the leaves she receives, the beedis she delivers and the payment she collects is duly recorded.

On an average, she rolls 500 beedis every day. She was aghast when I asked her if her elder children -- boys aged 11 and nine -- helped her in her work. "They are boys," she says. "They would have helped if they were girls."

In the village where she was born, young girls aged five and six help their mothers to roll beedis. "My daughter," she says, "will go to school. She can help me if she wants, I will not force her."

She says she is healthy, but admits "some women say they have health problems because of this work."

The agent gives her the leaves and the tobacco. When the quantity is not enough, she buys more raw material from the market and delivers the goods. "We take the loss because sometimes we are given more material," she says. "On the whole, though, I make a profit."

For Diwali, she was given a bonus of Rs 700. "That happened during Pongal (the Tamil harvest festival)," she says. "They have also promised us loans." She does not know the loan amount -- "Whatever they give us" -- but has applied for it anyway. "It hasn't come yet." She has never asked for a raise. 'They always raise it themselves," she says.

She had introduced another girl, Vasanti, to this work. Though Vasanti is now getting married, Rajeshwari says, "she will get her savings back in three months. But, in those three months, she cannot roll beedis."

Rajeshwari goes to the beedi company's office on alternate days. There are two people who count the beedis. They reject and break the bad ones. You can take it back to retrieve the tobacco. Some do; some don't. Rajeshwari delivers 1,500 beedis on alternate days. She gets paid every Friday. This week she earned Rs 180.

Kasakathaperumal has a bullock-cart. On some days, he earns Rs 50 to Rs 100. On other days, he earns nothing. His wife, Pechiamma, rolls beedis. They have one daughter who studies in the third standard.

When we went to meet Pechiamma, there were two other women and a young girl in the room -- they were busy making match boxes. Throughout our conversation, not once were her hands still -- they continuously rolled beedis as she answered my questions.

"I studied till the third standard. When I started rolling beedis at the age of 13, we used to be paid Rs 2.50 per 1,000 beedis. Now we get Rs 50. They deduct Rs 5 as savings and Rs 3 as commission. Once a year, they give the commission back to us. But I will get my savings back only when I stop working."

In a week, she makes between Rs 200 and Rs 250.

At the moment, she doesn't give work to her daughter. She said she will teach her to roll beedis only if she stops studying. Otherwise, she will teach her only after she becomes 10 or 11 years old. "But," insists Pechiamma, "she can study as much as she wants to."

The beedi company gives her Rs 250 each year towards her child's education. They have promised her a loan so that she can build her own house. But, so far, nothing has happened. She has asked for a raise, but does not know when she will get it.

She added that new entrants now have to get a doctor's certificate before joining the company. But the company did not ask her for one since she has been with them for a long time. She said her health had not been affected by her work.

"The leaves that they give me for 1,000 beedis are always less," she says. "I make up by buying 250 grams of leaves from outside. That costs me Rs 15. I adjust the tobacco."

She says it is a easy job, but one has to be disciplined, "I have to do my housework and this." She is proud of the fact that they take all her beedis, "No rejects."

Yesaki works in a chemical factory. He earns Rs 50 a day. His wife Chandra rolls beedis for another beedi company. They have three children, the youngest is just a year old. She learnt to roll beedis when she was just 11 years old. "I was with my parents in Pattamadai then. We used to be paid Rs 8 per 1,000 beedis. Now we get Rs 50."

She is upset because "others are getting money for their children's study. But the school where my son studies didn't fill up the form properly, so I didn't get it."

She is too scared to ask for a rise. "If I ask alone, they will tell me to work or leave. If everybody is united, we can ask for it. But there is no unity among us."

She too believes that rolling beedis is only for women. "I have sons, they will not roll beedis. My brother-in-law's daughter is eight years old. She'll start at 10. But she does not have to do this if she studies well."

For every 1,000 beedis that she makes, Chandra says she has to buy 250 grams of leaves and 100 grams of tobacco from outside. This works out to Rs 19. She spends Rs 10 on the bus fare to the company. Which means she is left with only Rs 16 per 1,000 beedis.

"Once my baby wasn't well, so I gave the beedis late. So they refused to give me raw material. They said, 'We don't care if you are not well, your baby not well. We want the beedis on time if you take the material.' " Yet, she says she will roll beedis for the rest of her life.

She has a yearning regret. "Our family profession was pottery. My father-in-law knew it, but my husband does not."

Mariappan is a construction worker who earns Rs 100 every day. On most days, he manages to get work. His young wife Mariamma started rolling beedis in her village, Alangulam, when she was 15 years old. She has studied up to the second standard. "I used to help my mother, so I don't know how much they paid. Here, my mother-in-law cooks so I might as well do something. I like the work and I don't have to go out to do it."

Sankaran Asari is a carpenter. He earns Rs 120 a day. He works around 20 days work in a month. His wife, Sudali, rolls 500 beedis a day. Her husband smokes and she doesn't like it. I asked her why she rolls beedis if she objects to her husband smoking. "This is a profession," she says matter-of-factly.

She also complains that both the leaves and tobacco are less, but adds that "something is better than nothing." She has never asked for a loan because she is sure they won't give it. When she stopped working the last time, she got Rs 1,100 from the company as her savings from four years of labour.

Rechimuttu, another carpenter, gets about 15 days of work in a month. The reason, his wife, Sivakami, explains is because "wood is costly, so people buy metal furniture."

She has studied up to the fifth standard. "I was 10 years old when I started rolling beedis in Palayamcottai. I worked for 10 years. I knew I had some savings, but I did not know I had to claim it. So I lost that amount."

She has five children. Her 15-year-old daughter knows how to roll beedis but isn't working because her mother doesn't get enough raw material. So Sivakami sends her for tailoring classes.

She applied thrice for a stipend for her children's education. 'I didn't get it," she says, "so I have stopped applying now." She complains that, during the monsoon, the leaves are bad so many are wasted. She has decided she will teach her children this work only if they stop going to school.

Thangaval is also a carpenter. His wife Thangam started making beedis when she was 15. They have one son who is studying in the first standard. She plans to ask for a stipend for her son's education.

Thangam has studied up to the fourth standard. When she started rolling beedis, the labour rate was Rs 9.60 per 1,000 beedis. Now, it is Rs 50. "It is a good way to pass the time," she says. "I am not going to teach anybody. I don't have the time or the inclination."

Vellammal's husband is a carpenter. They have five children. "My eldest daughter studied up to the sixth standard. After that, she used to help me make beedis. Now, though, now she is married and gone. I roll about 400 beedis a day. The agent always screams at me for late delivery, but there is so much work in the house. My other daughter is in the eighth standard. If she studies well, she'll go to the ninth standard. Otherwise, I'll teach her to roll beedis. Now that she is studying, I never ask her to help me."

Vellammal is the only one who admits her health has been affected by the work she does. "Sometimes," she says, "my chest pains. Then I buy medicines from the local medical shop. If that does not work, I go to the doctor. But I have never told him that I make beedis. He'll tell me to stop; I can't do that. I have to see my expenses." When her chest pains, she stops working for a week, then starts again. "I will roll beedis till I can; till I need the money."

Sankara Asari and Yesakiamma are an old couple. He has a small shop in the verandah of his house. He says he earns around Rs 10 from his shop every day.

"I used to roll 250 beedis daily," says Yesakiamma slowly. "Now I can't. My legs pain. Yesterday, I went and gave 500 beedis. I earn about Rs 90 per week. Yesterday, they didn't give me leaves or tobacco. They said they'll give it after the sun shines (The monsoon is vigorous here). I don't know when that will happen. My life is going on with great difficulty."

"We can't talk to them about health," says her husband. "We don't have much choice in the matter."

She has never withdrawn her savings. "I will do that when I stop working. I am not planning to quit now. I can't. I will continue to roll beedis till I can."

None of the women I spoke to agreed to be photographed.

Most of them learnt to roll beedis when they were in their teens. Some of them learnt it at the tender age of 10. It was, obviously, child labour. But it is also a tradition -- their mothers taught them and many of them will teach their children. Besides, almost everyone I spoke to said they liked the work.

The culprit, in this case, is not the beedi company. They do not compel parents to teach their children this trade.

The culprit here is poverty. There are schools in the area -- free schools that give midday meals. But sending a child to school -- a free school even -- means buying books, wearing clean clothes or uniforms and other related expenses. They cannot afford it.

So they continue rolling beedis -- first the parents, then the children. You do not need to go through medical college to know that prolonged exposure to tobacco -- even if you do not smoke -- will destroy your health.

In Andhra Pradesh, tobacco farmers commit suicide because there is nobody to buy their tobacco. Beedi smokers round the world are slowly destroying their health. And, in Tamil Nadu, the beedi workers toil ceaselessly and voluntarily.

Do they have a choice?

Illustrations: Uttam Ghosh

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