Wonder Women

On International Women’s Day, we bring you a range of stories…about women, for women and of course, by women.

I thought I would share some snippets about and photos of different women I interviewed on reporting assignments over the years. They are ordinary women who work and live in and around Kolkata or in the towns, districts and villages of West Bengal. But when we talk to them we find out how extraordinary their lives are because their tales are really of amazing resilience. Recently I hopped onto a bus going to Howrah Station at dawn. I wanted to feel the pulse of the people whose lives are actually very different from ours even though we inhabit the same space, the same time. The vegetable vendors whom I interviewed on many occasions often told me how they board the train from Howrah Station with their fare procured from wholesale markets or even brought by train from their villages. I wanted to witness the process. Of course, I also wanted to feel the cool breeze of the Ganges. Though it is getting hotter, there was still a chilly breeze blowing over the river and as we crossed the First Howrah Bridge I could feel the zephyr.

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The morning stillness suddenly dissipated as the bus reached the terminal point. When the passengers alighted, there was a scurry of people trying to board the bus on the return journey. There were men and women carrying huge sacs filled with flowers, fruits, vegetables and other perishable goods. Climbing the two-three steps of the bus really seemed like a precarious exercise as they lugged the bags up within splits of seconds with the conductor telling them to hurry it up. They would get off at different retail markets and hawk their fares. They did this daily. Day in and day out. There was no respite. They did not require it. “Ki korbo chuti korey? Kaaj kamai korina ami,” a woman in their fifties dismissed my query. Don’t you ever want to rest at home? That was the question. The answer was, “What’s the point? Don’t want to miss out on the income.”

The bus, now stuffed to capacity, chugged along over the river.

Here are a few of the women who do this kind of journey day in and day out….they are flower and fruit sellers and vegetable vendors….you may bump into them at any market in Kolkata.

(The writer is Editor, Features)
(I dig into the phone photo album and discover these. These are from earlier reporting times)