Some struggles we all live, some sacrifices that only few make

Ambiyara Bibi lives in a house at the corner of a long street. Since we visited her in the late afternoon, we did not find anyone outside in the entire area. It seemed to be a quite afternoon and people were resting inside after having worked in the mornings. We knocked at the door and Ambiayara Bibi walked out. Welcoming us inside, she made us sit in a small room at the entrance of the house. On one side of the room was a sewing machine and on the other side was a wooden bed. We all sat together on the wooden furniture getting to know each other. Ambiayara Bibi stayed in the house with her two children. Her son was enrolled in class nine and the younger daughter in class seven. Both of them were in the school at that time explaining the absolute silence in the house. Her husband worked in Uttar Pradesh as a mason. “It is very difficult to find work here and they don’t pay enough”, Ambiayara justified her husband's idea of working elsewhere. She mentioned that every month he sends back the family approximately Rs. 4000 to undertake all the expenditure. Children’ school fee, private tuition fee, and the other household expenditures were the few that Ambiayara said were covered with the money. In order to engage herself and contribute more towards their earnings, Ambiayara sewed blankets. Wondering about the ways he stitches them, I asked her to show me a sample. She ran inside to get a half made blanket. She explained to me that the women in the neighbourhood gave her their old sarees, which she used to make these blankets. Very precisely made, I could see the fine lines that ran across the big cloth in order to make it stiff and thick. It was a new concept for me and I appreciated her for the precision and patience given in towards her work. She earned Rs. 200 a week for the one blanket she managed to make. Although, she felt lonely sometimes, she had adjusted to the distance between her and her husband. She accepts the reality and convinces herself that it's the only way to build their children future. “If we don’t work hard, how will we able to raise our kids well”, these very wise words came out of Ambiayara’s mouth. Her motherly concern and her strong emotional stability were appreciable qualities that made me gain immense respect for her. Saying ‘namaste’ to her we took a leave. She smiled and waved us good bye while we walked out of the street next to her house.