There are hundreds of girls in Hasan Nagar who are busy accumulating their dowry by making incense sticks (agarbatti). They don’t want to burden their poor old parents with their marriage expenditure as they know it very well that their parents are already weighted down with the interest loans taken for their elder sisters’ marriages.
In Hasan Nagar many young Muslim girls make incense sticks, while there are several elderly women whose lines of the palms have been erased by making incense sticks for decades. There is also a 50-55 year old woman who is making incense sticks for the past 40 years. Sughra Bi’s hands work as a machine from 11 am to 5 pm and thus make thousands of incense sticks. She has faced the ups and downs of her life with great valour. She told that her husband died 15 years ago she has married off 2 out of 3 daughters and her third daughter’s alliance has been settled. She has only son. The entire family works in the incense sticks factory. She gets a daily wage of Rs. 600-700. She has own house. Due to vigorous work she looks older than her age.
Her neighbours claimed that she is getting the fruits of her hard work. They further said there is no dearth of young men in our locality who instead of working hard and bringing happiness to their families spent their time in useless things. They don’t even have money for their own marriage let alone to marry off their sisters, then they demand dowry and cash from the bride’s family. In other words they sell themselves to the would-be wife and her family. Women like Sughra bi, who work hard to eke out a living, are an inspiration to them.
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