Struggling to find a bride for sons, a mother decided to educate her daughters

Lacky is one of the four siblings of the Parvin family. I got a chance to meet only her mother the day I visited their house in Dhupguri. With partial deafness, Lacky’s mother, Sabeya had difficulty having a conversation with us. But soon we got comfortable and she spoke her heart out about her kids. 

Lacky’s father owns a meat shop in the local town market. With a weekly sale of 4-5 kgs, he brings home a Rs. 500 a week. The income flow has been more or less been the same all these years. However feeding family of 6 with Rs.500 got difficult by the day. They own neither land, nor a pakka house. So thriving on the weekly income was their only option. But eventually what it led to was Lacky’s elder brothers dropping out from school in class 9 to support the family. One of them works as a mason in Mumbai and the other sells vegetables in a close by town. Did it help in bringing home more income? Of course. But was it worth dropping out from school and having to rely on manual labour for the rest of the life? Well, talking to Lacky’s mother; that is debatable. 

Lacky’s mother did mention how difficult it has been to find a bride for her sons. While I was wondering if boys this young should be married, Lacky’s mother brought in a whole new perspective. She told me that many would not agree to give their daughters to a house which relies on such small businesses. Recently when the family came to terms with this reality, they decided that both daughters of the family had to educated and no compromise should be made. This is when Lacky’s mother applied for a loan of Rs.15000 from Milaap to enroll her in private tuitions. The private tuitions helped her get a good understanding of the concepts and gear up for the upcoming boards. 

Today Lacky is in class 10. She loves being a student and is becoming a good one, her mother mentioned with much pride. Lacky’s mother wants to see her study in college and set an example for her younger sister. And that is how the Parvin family valued education; safe to admit they learnt it the hard way. But a valuable lesson that the daughters are benefitting from.