Girl in Gujarat works disguised as a boy for safety

A boy in the Sola area of Gujarat works as a 'boot polisher' daily to tend his family with his meagre earnings, however if you ever look close enough you will realise that he is actually a girl disguised as a boy.

Payal Baria has been dressing up like a boy for the past 10 years to avoid being harrassed while she works by the roadside. Baria's father died when she was a child, consecutively she had to take up boot polishing to support her family.

She lives in a small tent house made up with torn canvas with her mother Anita. Anita had cut her daughter's hair very short so that she would look like a boy and could work safely outside. Payal has four siblings and two of them are married. Her eldest brother works as a security guard and earns around Rs 8,000 but does not support his family as he is not in close relations with them. 

This makes Payal the only breadwinner in the family, she sets out in the morning hunting for customers who would be willing to let her shine their shoes for a meagre sum. She ensures that she catches enough customer so that her mother and other siblings do not go hungry. She also works extra hours in a local unit making incense sticks. She has never entered a school herself but her only dream is to provide education to her little brother. 

Payal also wants to adopt and look after neglected children in future so that they can have what she didn't while growing up.