If he failed to complete his daily quota of 2,500 beedis, the foreman beat him. Pattinathar was a victim of bonded labor, an especially egregious form of child labor prevalent in societies where borrowing and indebtedness are customary for poor families.
Impoverished parents take out loans and put up their children as living collateral.
Although Indian law prohibits bonded labor, impoverished parents continue to mortgage children to pay for medical expenses, funerals, or weddings. Alagesh suffered from asthma and tuberculosis, and could only work sporadically. His wife collected and sold firewood, earning only about 32 cents a day. The family could not afford meat or milk, and sometimes had to rely on gifts of rice from a neighbor. Soon, the exorbitant interest rate made it impossible for Alagesh to repay the loan, leaving the three boys indefinitely bonded.