Dhaka Bureau: Santosh Ravidas, son of a tea worker mother. I studied in the Marketing Department of Dhaka University. In 2022, he posted a post titled ‘Mother’s name was cut off’ on Facebook. This post created a stir at the time. In the post, he wrote, Union Parishad informed me that the mother will be honored in the upazila as the best mother in 2018. Later, the mother’s name was deleted. After searching, I found out that my mother is a tea worker. You can’t say anything on stage. So the name has been cut! Mother still runs to the tea garden every morning with a bottle of salt, tea leaves, flour bread, and a little rice filled with polythene and wrapped in a tea towel. Work for eight hours and get only 120 rupees! How does a worker’s family live on this wage? These days, the mother’s body does not respond as it used to. He said, ‘If you get a job, I will give up gardening.’ I am now waiting for that day!
Mother’s Day is over. Robidas is currently working as a relationship officer at the Sylhet Laldighi branch of Mutual Trust Bank. But this time, the mother’s name was not cut. Mother tea worker Kamali Rabidas received the ‘Shreshtha Jayita’ award from the Prime Minister on the occasion of ‘International Women’s Day 2024’.
The image of this mother’s struggle can be found in the son’s writings. From there, it is known that Rabidas is the son of a tea worker family from the Kanihati tea plantation outpost in Shamsernagar, Moulvibazar district. He lost his father six months after his birth. Mother is a tea garden worker. He used to get a daily wage of 18 taka. At that time, Mother Kamali Ravidas used to take milk from the pot and leave it at someone else’s house to work in the garden. In 2007, when Robidas was in fifth grade, his mother’s salary was 88 taka. One day, the mother told the son to go to the market and bring five kilograms of rice. They have been using that rice for a month.
Rabidas wrote: The next morning, before going to school, I saw my mother frying rice. He put the fried rice, flour bread, and red tea in a polythene bottle and covered it with a towel. And she gave me flour, bread, and red tea. When I went to eat at noon, I saw that there was only onion, dry rice, oil, and salt. I smeared with it. There was no curry at night, either. Then the uncle of the house next door called me and gave me pumpkin and potatoes, with which we spent two days. Then I used to read by the light of the lamp. Mother used to prepare the lamp beforehand. When the oil ran out, it was no longer read. The shopkeeper did not give oil to the rest. After passing the entrance exam after fifth grade, I got the chance to study for free for five years at Camellia Duncan Foundation School. My mother was very happy. Then he used to pay me 70–80 rupees every week for tiffin from a part of his meager income. I got admission to BAF Shaheen College in 2013. Then my mother used to get 102 taka. During this time, he took installments from Grameen Bank and bought my admission money, uniform, and books.
December 2014. The mother has no money. Then HSC registration was going on. Mother handed over a note worth 50 rupees and told her to shed tears. “No one has lent it to you, father!”
I took a loan from a college teacher and paid the service registration fee. Admissions Test Coaching After HSC. Mother then again took a loan from Grameen Bank. During this time, my mother used to go far away from home to work as a sand worker to pay the loan installments. He used to get 300 rupees in return. I knew there was no rice in the house. Mother spent a lot of time eating only potatoes.
After that, I got an opportunity to study at Dhaka University. My mother was so happy! But as the admissions deadline approached, the mother’s face looked grimmer. Because the family does not survive with what they earn by working in the tea garden. From where to pay admission? Later, the people of the area helped get admission to the university by collecting subscriptions. I used to do tuition at the university. I spent the day eating 20 taka vegetables and rice in the canteen of the hall. Many mornings, I could not even have breakfast due to a lack of money. I could never buy a new dress for Durga Puja. Written by Rabidas.
The ordeal at Rabidas is over. He said that my mother deserves the main credit for reaching this stage today. Apart from this, there are also my teachers, classmates, siblings, and well-wishers.
How are other mothers of tea workers? When asked, Robidas said that now the standard of living of tea workers is the same as before. an immortal, backward, struggling nation from birth. The rise in wages as a result of our movement is disappointing in today’s commodity markets. Because a family cannot survive with a salary of 170 taka,.
Children of tea workers need proper education, technical training, career counseling, and a stipend for continuing education. Hopefully, thinking about the bright future of our children, various donor organizations in the country will come forward. Rabidas, the energetic son of a struggling mother,.
It is to be noted that on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the best five winners at the national level were honored today at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over this honor to them. Anar Koli of Mymensingh, Kalyani Minji of Rajshahi, Kamli Ravidas of Sylhet, Jahanara Begum of Barguna, and Pakhi Dutta Hijra of Khulna have received the award.
