“I come to work, I go back – don’t know about any May Day’’
Seventy-five-year-old van puller Abul Kashem was pulling his van from Mohammadpur bus stand toward Nurjahan Road via Asad Avenue in the capital. His van was loaded with bunches of bananas. He was moving forward slowly, having brought the load all the way from Rayerbazar.
This correspondent encountered him around 11:00 am no Friday. Walking alongside him, he was asked—today is International Workers’ Day, a government holiday, and also Friday. Why is he working even today?
In response, Abul Kashem said, “I don’t know what May Day is.” This elderly van puller is from Zajira of Shariatpur. He now lives in Zinjira of Keraniganj. His three sons also live there, but none of them bear his expenses.
The semi-pucca room where he lives costs Tk 3,000 in rent, which he pays from his own earnings at the end of each month.
His eldest son is also a rickshaw puller. The second son works at a shop, and the youngest works in a factory. He has married off his two daughters, who now live with their in-laws. His wife lives in Fatullah of Narayanganj.
His children all live their own lives. He only eats one meal at night from his sons; for breakfast and lunch, he pays on his own. Speaking about his sons, he said, “Everyone is worried about their own families. Who looks after whom? I rely on myself.”
With age, he cannot work as much as before. He drives his van 15 to at most 20 days a month. He said, “My strength doesn’t hold up much. I work with great hardship.”
Around noon, Shukkur Ali, 55, was seen working at an under-construction building at Dhanmondi 5. His is from Sirajganj. For work, he stays at the construction site with other workers. He spoke while standing on the 11th floor of the building.
He too was asked why he was working on May Day. He replied, “I survive by working—if I don’t work, what will I eat?”
Shukkur Ali also knows little about May Day and has never needed to. Because even otherwise, he does not get work for several days in a month. On days without work, there is no income. In his words, “If I work today, I get paid today. If I don’t work, there’s no pay.”
He works every day according to attendance, regardless of sun, rain, or storm.
Shukkur Ali has two sons and two daughters. He has married off his eldest son and daughter. The daughter lives with her in-laws in Sirajganj, and the eldest son lives separately with his family. Now his family consists of his wife and two younger children, whom he keeps in Hemayetpur.
During a break, he said his monthly income after expenses is Tk 12,000 to Tk 13,000. Of this, Tk 6,000 goes to house rent. He lamented, “If we miss even one day of work, it creates big problems. Thinking about family and children, there’s no option but to work.”
Like van puller Abul Kashem and construction worker Shukkur Ali, domestic worker Husena Begum also does not see May Day as anything special. Rather, her household runs only through working from morning till evening every day.
This correspondent met her around 10:00 am in front of a house on Road No. 4 in Shekhertek in the capital. She had just finished work at one house and was hurrying to the next. After that, she still had another house to work in.
Asked about May Day, Husena Begum said, “If you hadn’t told me, I would have just kept going around like mad. What’s the use of these ‘days’?”
Forty-seven-year-old Husena Begum lives near Ahsan Ullah Master’s house at the head of Road No. 7 in Shekhertek. She lives in a tin-shed room there with her two sons. She said her elder son is learning work at a car workshop, while the younger studies in Class-VII. Her husband remarried and lives elsewhere, so the burden of the household falls on her.
Working in three houses, she earns Tk 12,000, from which she pays Tk 5,000 in rent. She said, “When it’s time to pay rent, I know the month has ended. Other than that, I just come to work and go back. I don’t know about any ‘days’.”