Some
people become overjoyed seeing the rain, and the people on the street become
disoriented. Rain is memorable for some people, but for others, it is the
biggest cause of unemployment and misery. Rain does not bring a romantic
feeling for everyone. To some people, rain is the reason for the complaint to
the Creator.
When
it rains, some people become romantic and want to get wet in the rain. Some
people even write stories, poems, and songs about rain. In that rain, one has
to constantly struggle to survive in a hostile environment. Rain and storm
destroy their homes. Almost all the roads and streets go underwater, which
hamper our everyday activities. To avoid being drenched in the rainwater,
people stay inside their homes. This situation is just like opposite sides of
the same coin.
Whenever
it rains many people start to prepare hodgepodge (খিচুড়ি) and beef curry. On
the contrary, wrinkles appear on working-class people’s foreheads for they
worry about earning their daily livelihoods because the rain will deprive them
of one meal. Many people want to take a nap on a rainy afternoon while many wait
for the rain to end so that they can return home empty-handed with a heavy
heart.
At
present, women are not lagging behind. They are fighting with men at the same
pace. They have already proved that they can do anything that a man can do.
Jamila Begum, a 50-year-old lady, is another example of this. But Jamila, who
is self-dependent as a butcher, has had to go through many ups and downs to
come to this position.
She slaughters three to
four cattle every day and eight to ten cattle on Friday in her hand and sells
the meat. The customers of Jamila Begum’s meat are people from Dinajpur,
Nilphamari, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts.
Jamila
Begum is a butcher of that village market at Jharbari Bazar in Birganj, Dinajpur.
With 20 years of experience, she can easily understand if a cow is in good
health or sick just by touching it. She never purchased sick cows even falling
in poverty several times. As a result, any of her cows from after buying till
before the slaughtering did not die falling sick.
The
feature of her ‘Mayer Doya Mangsha Bhandar’ meat shop is that meat is sold
separating from bones here. Then the meat is measured by a digital weight scale
and then sold. The meat of Jamila’s shop goes to various events, including
marriage ceremony, circumcision, to the surrounding villages and towns. With
two decades of continuous experience, she has become trustworthy to her
customers. She is known as ‘Jamila Kashai’ (Butcher Jamila) in the area.
Becoming
a professional slaughterperson, Jamila said that her husband being a
slaughterman, she had the opportunity to watch his work from very close. She
assisted her husband. Poverty forced her to pick up this profession
Jamila
Begum’s husband went elsewhere leaving her. And then using her previous
experience, Jamila started working in the meat shop. When her husband left her,
the amount of her debt was around Tk 3 lakh. To repay that loan and support her
children, she once started working in a meat shop. Then she started the
business herself.
“In
the beginning, there were many obstacles. Many people wanted to shut down my
business by spreading superstitions and complaining about me but I survived.
Thanks to my mother’s support, said Jamila.”
The
confident Jamila said, “It is not written beside any profession that which one
man will do and which one woman will do. Doing business with honesty and
achieving success are important.”
Hundred
percent professional butcher Jamila said about the daily routine of her
business, “Every morning I disinfect the shop with pesticides. Every day
employees follow this instruction. Each
cow is examined by a veterinarian from the neighboring Debarupara village to
see if it is physically fit. Following rules, a cow is slaughtered by a pious man.”
This news was originally
published in a web portal in Bengali. Reading the news, I have become motivated
and translated it into English. If you want to read the original news, you can
visit the below link-
