Current Magazine

Indian women collect water from a broken
pipe in a slum on the outskirts of Bangladesh.
No light enters the room and the little window on the side of
the aisle allows very little air to pass through. Upon entering, a
visitor is greeted by an odd, goatish smell, created by so many
people living in the congested space. The only ceiling fan often
is stilled by frequent electricity outages.
Daily life for Parul is punctuated by queuing, whenever she
needs to cook food, go to the toilet or even when she brushes
her teeth.
Out of her salary, Parul sends Tk1,000 each month to support
her mother in her village. She spends TK1,800 on rent, Tk 700
on medicine and the rest goes on food. The small room in the
slum costs Tk 3,100 but Parul shares costs with her two nieces.
“It’s really tough to maintain the family budget,” Parul said.
“Whenever someone gets sick I have to cut our food budget.”
After dinner, she swallowed three tablets: a painkiller, an anti-inflammatory
drug and a gastric and ulcer drug. A pharmacist
had recommended she take them to sooth her aching body.
She didn’t have the money to visit a doctor.
Parul can barely sign her name. She doesn’t have a bank account,
let alone any savings. She said she had considered working
as a housemaid, the lowest ranking occupation in Bangladesh,
but dropped the plan out a sense of dignity.
“If I work as a housemaid, I know I will not get a good groom
for my daughter,” she said.
What did she think when the Rana Plaza collapsed? Did she
consider quitting?
“When you hear something like this it obviously creates panic,”
Parul said. “But we can’t leave the job just because of this.”
Photos by Stanley Greene
A woman sweeps the floor
in a compliant factory.
18 CURRENT FALL 2017