While coming to work this morning, an oxen (castrated male) cart carrying sugar canes caught my attention. It is not a common sight to see a bullock cart or hand-pulled cart (pulled or pushed by a man) at the heart of Mumbai city next to VT Station.
They are not allowed on the main roads of the city but can only move on the peripheral roads. These slow-moving objects often cause notorious traffic jams in India. However, for poor villagers, these carts are the only way to meet their daily needs and feed a few hungry stomachs, revealing the very true fact of economic and emotional hardship that these low-wage workers face on a day-to-day basis.
Carts have been used for ages and still continue to be an important mode of carrying goods, mostly agrarian goods, even in this modern age. Although their popularity has declined considerably, they are much cheaper than any other mode of transportation.
Carts come in many shapes, but the basic idea of transporting material remains the same. They usually have two or four wheels, and this particular cart is made entirely of bamboo, with wooden wheels. It is also a very eco-friendly vehicle. The number of men or animals required to push or pull depends on what is being hauled.