December 30, 2004

Nobody remembers her real name. She is known as Bua by all and sundry, and has been a fixture in the neighbourhood for two decades now. Rumana Husain writes about her life and dreams

Her real name is Kundan Mai, but she is known by all and sundry as “Bua”. You might find her working for a few hours, then gossiping with other servants around the block for several more hours. She has been a fixture in this upper middle class neighbourhood for over two decades now.

Bua narrates her story in these words: “I was born in a place called Khangah Mubarak, about six miles from the city of Bahawalpur -– the only child of my parents for a long time before the others were born. My village is also close to Samarsatta in southern Punjab. My father used to work in the Railways during the British Raj, but became a farmer after partition. I spent my childhood herding goats and sheep for my parents.”

Bua says she was 11-years old when she got married in 1948. Her husband was a year younger than her. I ask her to clarify if she was only betrothed or there was a rukhsati as well. “Oh yes, there was! I was bundled off to my in-laws’ house in the same village. I remember that my brother was born at midnight on August 14, 1947. I was only 10 years old at the time. The following year I was married,” she tries to connect these events putting her life in perspective.

“Did you continue to be a goat herder at your in-laws’ house?” I ask. “No, there I collected grass, harvested wheat and cotton and cooked food for the family. I delivered a daughter at the age of 13, but she died when she was only two, of pneumonia. Then I had a stillborn son, but later I had another daughter. My husband died at just 14.” Here I interrupt to ask if she is sure of his age, to which she vehemently replies she is. “He, too, died of pneumonia. As a young widow, with a baby daughter, I returned to my parents’ house.”

I ask Bua why she chose to come to Karachi. She says that several of her relatives were coming to this city to look for work. She, too, decided to try her luck, as it was difficult to make both ends meet in the meagre income.

She and her daughter (who was by then married but separated from her husband) lived in a hut in the Defence Society area, together with Bua’s nephew, Ghafoor, who is her adopted son. Ever since, they have been working in people’s homes -–– dusting, sweeping, mopping, cooking, washing, gardening –– doing whatever needs to be done.

Despite spending 21 years in Karachi, Bua continues to speak a mixture of Saraiki and Urdu –– mostly the former –– overseeing the lives of her nephew, his wife (who is her niece), as well as other members of her sister and brother’s families. Bua says with a mixture of remorse and pride that intermarriages have been common in her clan, although now the girls are not married before they turn 15.

Bua lives in a rented flat in Qayumabad. Six years ago she went to perform Haj together with her nephew and sister-in-law, and attributes this privilege to her hard work. She, however, regrets that although she has approached the area councillor many times, persons like her are usually overlooked when zakat is distributed to the needy.

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