In 1856, Australian stonemasons in Victoria undertook a mass

stoppage, demanding the preliminary necessity of all workers around

the globe, an eight-hour work a day. This was the foundation of the
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY, which we are celebrating today.

May 1 or May day is celebrated throughout the world as International

Labour Day, but in India, we also celebrate this day as Maharashtra Day
and Gujarat Day, which makes it an even more special day for all
Indians. 

It was only today that Maharashtra and Gujarat were carved out from
the state of Bombay in 1960 making the day special. But while the
states got their freedoms and identities, the working class around the
globe is still fighting for their rights, about which I mulled a little more.

Over the years and even now, the contribution of our blue-collar
workers is underestimated abysmally. They have been exploited, had
been unheard of for years. Even for the basic 8 hours of work demand,
these workers were held for trials and even killed, which was called the
miscarriage of justice. Today most countries, commemorate the
struggles of the labour who died demanding a better life for the labour
class by declaring it a national holiday, but is that enough?

The push and pull between the two social classes had always been
existential, the royals and the commoners, the rich and the poor, the
industrialists and the labours. Aristotle once mentioned, "the nobles
will be dissatisfied because they think themselves worthy of more than
an equal share of honour's; this is often found to be a cause of sedition
and revolution." I find this undoubtedly true. 
The huge firms, industries, and factories often forget that it is the
labour that makes possible their businesses' growth and working. We
often forget that it's our maids, the cab drivers, the plumbers, the
sweepers, the electricians, the helpers, cleaners of hospitals, waiters
and waitresses of the big 5- star hotels we go to, who make our life
better and easier. Despite all this, why is the share of honour divided
unequally? Why should their rights be any less than ours? Why are our
working conditions always thought upon and not theirs? WHY?

Indore had been the cleanest city in India for 5 consecutive years and it
compelled me to think, who made it possible? And then I remembered
those cleaners and sweepers who worked all night made the cleanest
roads in the morning, the garbage trucks rolling over every morning to
make sure the dustbins aren't stacked up for days. The municipal
workers separating the garbage, by hand, made it possible for proper
waste disposal. And not only this, there's a lot more that happens
smoothly because these workers do their work properly.

Just the way all parts of a machine are important for a smooth
functioning, an equal amount of respect, attention and well-being of all
components of an economic system is required for the desired growth
and happiness of a nation. As Karl Marx mentioned "The circulation of
capital realizes value, while living labour creates value", we must learn
to honour and care for the creators of value!

So let's just not celebrate the day as Labour Day, let's take a step to
respect the works of our blue-collar population, let's take a moment to
appreciate their work and their importance in our life, let's show them
the gratitude, thank them for what they do. 
Also, I'm happy to share, that @deccan, the firm I am interning for
celebrates its 26th anniversary today. We too handle outsourcing
contract labours here and I'm super proud I am linked to a firm that
works with such ethical ways to protect and treat the labours just right.