For some children in Bengaluru, Independence Day is not a holiday or a celebration but a chance to earn a little more. They run between traffic and approach tourists to sell flags and accessories, while dreams of school and a better life remain out of reach.
Published Aug 15, 2025 | 6:30 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 15, 2025 | 7:05 PM
Ashok and his mother selling tri-coloured flags along with other accessories for Independence Day on the road opposite to Vidhan Soudha in Bengaluru.
Synopsis: Ashok is one of many children who line the streets in the days leading up to Independence Day, selling flags and other tricolour-themed items. In a few weeks, many of them will shift to selling Ganesha idols for Ganesh Chaturthi. Back-to-back festivals present an opportunity for more earnings. But amidst the patriotic fervour, what does freedom mean to them?
It is Independence Day, and sitting on a footpath across from Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha is a 12-year-old boy. His name is Ashok, and he has studied until class 6.
He lays down a medium-sized cloth in front of him and carefully arranges tricolour flags, mini badges and wristbands on it.
Once everything is in place, he picks up a few items and darts across the street, approaching tourists and selfie-takers gathered in front of the grand building.
“Please take them,” he says, holding out the flags. A few pause and make a purchase, but most simply walk past.
Ashok is one of many children who line the streets in the days leading up to Independence Day, selling flags and other tricolour-themed items.
In a few weeks, many of them will shift to selling Ganesha idols for Ganesh Chaturthi. Back-to-back festivals present an opportunity for more earnings.
But amidst the patriotic fervour, what does freedom mean to them and what do they want this Independence Day? It is a question they have not been asked and do not know how to answer.
“I want to work there one day,” says Ashok, pointing to the Vidhana Soudha.
He does not know how to get there, but says that his mother tells him stories about how the people who work there can help them get better jobs.
Ashok and his mother sell these items together, but his mother is not able to run across roads when the traffic light turns red.
So Ashok does it instead and his mother handles the money they earn. They are a small team but a good one.
Waiting at the Sarakki Junction signal is another child, a 14-year-old girl. She regularly sells plastic flowers to people waiting in vehicles when the signal turns red.
This time she also has flags in one hand. She and her family migrated from Bihar to Bengaluru in search of work after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I hope I can go back to school one day. I miss it,” she tells South First.
She studied until class 5, but her parents could not afford to continue her education beyond that.
That is when they decided to move to Bengaluru to earn more money. While her mother works as a domestic help and her father at a construction site, she tries to help them by selling items at traffic signals.
“When I was in school, we used to get a holiday for 15 August. But I have to work today because I will be able to make the most money today out of other days,” she says. By 2 pm on Friday, she had earned ₹600.
When asked what kind of freedom she wanted, the 14-year-old says she wanted to earn enough money so that she could go back to her hometown with her family.
“I do not want to work on the road. I want to go back to school and learn new things. My parents also do not seem happy here,” she says.
Just then, a couple of schoolchildren in an auto rickshaw, dressed in crisp white uniforms with the tricolour painted on their cheeks, bought flags from her.
She had fewer flags in her hand now, which made her happy. The traffic signal turned green, so she sprinted back to her waiting spot.
The pricing of these flags is often standard: ₹10 for a small flag, ₹50 for a medium-sized one and over ₹70 for a large one.
The cost of the other tricolour accessories ranges from ₹80 to ₹150. Even though the day brings more earnings than usual, it rarely goes towards anything for themselves.
“I earn at least ₹200 more than on usual days when I sell clicker pens,” says Kartik, a child who does not know his age and has never been to school.
He was getting drenched in the rain but could not miss out on the opportunity to sell flags near his usual spot in JP Nagar on Independence Day.
When asked what he does with the extra money he earns, he says he gives it to his mother, who has been taking care of his sick younger sister at home. She has been down with viral fever over the last few days.
“She will be able to buy medicines with this money,” Kartik says. However, if he had the choice, he would want to buy some toys that both he and his sister could play with.
“I once saw a boy playing with an electric car in the back seat of a car. It would be nice to play with that,” he says. Ashok shares the same dream. He wants to go back to school, play with his friends and buy toys.
While the whole country celebrates freedom and independence on this day with songs, long speeches and parades, these children still long for their own.
