Connaught Place: Sheela takes up gold-painted street performance

Sheela sits on the staircase of the Connaught Place subway near Charkha Park in G Block in a gold salwar-kameez, her face painted to match. Gold-coloured props rest beside her; a bottle of milk is nearby. In a few minutes, she will return upstairs and stand still for passing crowds.

She has been doing this for 15 days. She calls herself the “gold woman”. Gold-painted performers stand in costume with donation boxes nearby as visitors stop for selfies and, sometimes, leave cash.

A workday from Uttam Nagar to CP

Sheela lives with her family in a single-room home in Uttam Nagar. She says she wakes at 5.30am to prepare breakfast, bathe the children and get the household ready before the family leaves around 10.30am. They take the Metro to Connaught Place, usually reaching by noon, and head home around 8pm. If she cannot bring lunch, the family eats samosas there.

Her husband had previously worked as a gold-painted performer after losing money in his building-contracting business. She says an illness now makes it difficult for him to remain motionless for long, though he continues to accompany her to Connaught Place while receiving treatment.

Sheela says the family owes money to lenders and needs the income. Her four children accompany the family to Connaught Place. One of them plays with a green toy car as she pauses between stretches of work.

By evening, after the Metro ride back to Uttam Nagar, Sheela begins preparing dinner before the next day starts again at 5.30am.