Father of four

A plumber talks about his dreams for his daughters

she would be able to support her household in case her husband faces difficulties in his job.”

The second daughter, too, joined her sister in learning how to make “ladies suits.” Learning to stitch and sew makes a good strategy, concludes the father. “There are usually no clothing shops in the village and people have to go to the nearest town to get their dresses made... but if my daughter is working at home as a tailor, many women in the village will choose to go to her instead.”

He feels that “tailory” might help both his married daughters make an independent income.

Over the years, Mr Hoque has grown in his role of a responsible parent, and by now he has developed higher ambitions for his two younger daughters. They have a difference of one year between then, and both together gave their 10th standard exams in the village this year. “They decided this time to come to Dilli with me, to follow their dreams,” he says, referring to Gurugram as if it were but an appendage of the national capital.

Mr Hoque says his third daughter, Mumtaz Khatun, hasn’t yet made up her mind “if she wants to go to college or to enrol for a brief course in computers.” His youngest, however, is more focused. Sonam Khatun wants to be a dancer. “She has come to Delhi to look for an academy where she can learn dancing,” the father says. “But see, we returned here and the lockdown began.”

Regardless, Mr Hoque hopes his younger daughters will soon find a decided direction in their life.

“Unlike most people in our society, I don’t feel the absence of a son. I want my girls to stand on their feet so that tomorrow if they are faced with great problems, they need not depend on the mercy of others.”

A few minutes later, the plumber sends on Whatsapp a picture of his daughters and wife, taken early this year in the village. He later informs that “my youngest two will marry when their time will come, but not before they turn 18.”