Heat, humidity or hale: 'majboori' makes gig workers brave the elements

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

heat wave to high humidity and now the monsoon, all within days. And as many retreated indoors, it was left to gig workers to brave the elements as they delivered food and myriad essentials on their two-wheelers. Heat, humidity, hail, or heavy rain, when the weather gets tough, theirs is the band that gets going, working harder and for longer hours than earlier. It's a job that has been getting increasingly tough with extreme weather events becoming more commonplace and frequent.
Weaving in and out of lanes as they whiz through traffic, Vimlesh Kumar is amongst the thousands of gig workers in Delhi-NCR. Waiting outside a bakery in Ghaziabad for the rain to stop one day last week, the 27-year-old said he has mixed emotions on such days — worried that he might get sick, glad it will pay him more.

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For the likes of Vimlesh, it is about completing long shifts, delivering food on time and managing largely on their own, because «ye kaam to majboori hai, kaisa bhi mausam ho (this job is a compulsion, will have to do it no matter the weather)».

«Generally, we get Rs 15-35 on an order. But when it rains, we can get as much as Rs 55 per order. There is also the risk of falling sick, our phone getting ruined, or much worse if I have an accident. But I have to do