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Salauddin Ahmed
Laundry Boy
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Photo: Salman Rob |
Salauddin Ahmed, a 35-year-old worker in a laundry store has been ironing clothes for the last 15 years in Uttara, Dhaka. Before working in Uttara he worked in another laundry at Ajompur for almost 8 years. Ahmed says, “It was hard for me to settle down in the city when I first came here almost 20 years ago. I was not from a well-off family and my father was just a regular farmer who went through a bad phase for which I had to drop out of school in Class 8. Immediately afterwards, I came to Dhaka and started working at a local hotel as the bell boy. Later on I became the manager. However, I had to look for a better job and thus surviving became really hard. There were nights when I slept knowing there was no food for breakfast. But I had no option other than to find a job.”
“The salary working as a bell boy was not enough. I had to look for another job, a flexible one so that I could get the time to do other jobs as well. And doing laundry seemed like a good idea. Doing two jobs at a time might seem hard, but when there is a family you need to feed, just doing laundry was not enough either. So I got into buying and selling stocks of products. I would buy products in thousands from one trader and sell to another trader for a higher price,” says Ahmed. Talking about family time, Ahmed mentions, “It is always hard for me to find time for my family. Everyday I wake up and the moment I leave my house, all I think about is when I would get to see my daughter and wife. My 8-year-old daughter is currently studying in a local school and someday I dream of her becoming a successful doctor. But these are my dreams; I would never come between her and her dreams if she wants something different from life. She has a really nice voice and wants to sing, so at the moment I am trying to gather some money to get her into an institution where she can learn to sing.” Ahmed concludes saying, “I never thought I would see this day, after struggling so much in life all I want now is to make sure my daughter doesn't miss out on the things I have missed out on.”
By Salman Rob
Habiba Khatun Baby
Security Guard
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24-year-old Habiba Khatun Baby is a security guard at the Gemcon Group in Dhaka. In a society like ours where we still hold back women from doing challenging jobs because of the age old fallacies, it is not surprising that she has to face upsetting comments while returning home from duty at midnight. But what never stops her from going on with her life is her two-year-old daughter who lives with Khatun's brother at Shariatpur, her home district.
When her daughter was eight months old, Khatun was abandoned by her husband for the 'offense' of giving birth to a girl. She came to Dhaka in search of a job. She had to look after her daughter and also run her family. But with the little education she has had up to class nine, it was next to impossible to get into a job that had a handsome salary to offer. A friend from Shariatpur, who was working at a shopping mall in Dhaka told her about joining there. After a few months both of them joined the Gemcon group.
“It has been one and half years at the Gemcon group. I do get to hear many off-putting comments while returning home at night. People cannot accept a girl in the uniform of a security guard. But I avoid them as much as I can, because I am doing it for my daughter. I am doing what I can as per my capabilities, be it the job of a security guard or anything else for that matter. I am earning money in an honest way, and am not doing anything illegal or unethical,” says Baby.
Baby shares a room with a girl at Hajaribagh. She wakes up at 7 am in the morning, cooks her meal after a long wait in the queue towards the kitchen that is shared by families residing in the other rooms adjacent to theirs. From 12 pm to 12 am at night, she is literally standing at her station. Her duty stations are at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (campus 1 and 2), Uttara, Dhanmondi and the branch of Meena Bazar located on Ring Road -- the retail superstore. Every month the venues are changed. When her duty falls at ULAB, checking ID cards from the students becomes her main concern. From her salary of 6,000 takas, she sends home 1500 takas for her daughter, pays 1450 takas as room rent and spends the remaining for other necessities.
Baby states, “My sole aim in life is to bring up my daughter in such a manner that she will be respected in society. I want her to stand on her own two feet. If I get a raise or get a better opportunity, I will bring my daughter here to Dhaka. I do not want to get married again.”
By Promiti Prova Chowdhury