Rina Akhter from Manikganj Singhair
A family is founded when a man and a woman begin to live together through a legally recognized and socially sanctioned marriage. Here men are husbands and women are wives. Marriage is the means of joint life of these two. A family can run smoothly with happiness and love if husband and wife complement each other. However, Sunita Rani Das (34) and Nirad Das (41) are managing the family by complementing each other. They have a small family with 2 daughters in Bakchar Rishipara village under Singair municipality. Nirad Das is a sugarcane juice seller by profession and Sunita Rani Das is a housewife.
In 2010, they got married in a religious manner. Their family condition is not very good. After the marriage, when their eldest daughter was born, they faced crisis as they have to raise their daughter with the limited resources that they have. Nirod Das has to work hard to maintain the family expenses but sometimes the income that he earned was not enough to run a family. On the other hand, Sunita Rani along with looking after her daughter has to accomplish all the households work (cleaning, washing and cooking) including taking care of livestock (collecting fodder,). Due to being poor they seldom can help each other to lessen the pressure on them.
Nonetheless, after a few years, Sunita became the mother of a boy again. The family seems to be flooded with happiness but her son was born with a hole in his heart, after several days of hospitalization their son passed away. Both Sunita and Nirod were very shock. Sunita particularly could not endure the pain of losing her son. She was mentally very disturbed and could not concentrate on her works. Nirad saw that his wife was broken physically and mentally so he started helping his wife in household chores. Seeing this, the surrounding people began to talk bitterly. They used to say girls will do housework and boys will do outside work. But he continued to do his work regardless of the harsh words of those around him. In 2021, when Sunita again gave birth to a daughter, Nirad started helping her more in everything. So that his wife could become physically and mentally healthy.
As Nirad is helping Sunita in her family work, Sunita is also helping her husband in his business. They said, “This family is ours. We have to see all the pros and cons. So we think about how to be good. We take family decisions together. That is why in spite of having limited resources we are very happy. We complement each other in every sphere of life.’ They went on saying, ‘if all family in the village are complementing each other they surely will be happy. We want husband and wife to support each other in everything that they do and work. This can bring endless happiness.
Translated by Silvanus Lamin
