Dressed in her brother’s clothes and driving a bicycle cargo rickshaw, Rani Bibi says she prefers hard work to begging
Wearing her brother’s shalwar kameez and with her hair cut in a masculine style, a Karachi woman has adopted a masculine appearance that allows her to work and earn money for her family.
Rani Bibi (not her real name) even talks less so that people perceive her as a man.
Although she lives in Khuda Ki Basti in Surjani town, Rani drives a bicycle cargo rickshaw every day for two hours and reaches Liaquatabad with her specially trained brother.
There he parks his vehicle near the market and delivers the merchandise there. If the load is light, he says, he will pedal the rickshaw. If the load is heavier, you pull it manually.
Sometimes Rani gets two or more jobs a day, earning her Rs 800 or more.
Living in a rented house with her disabled brother, widowed sister and two children, Rani is the only source of income for her family. Uneducated, he says he also doesn’t know any specific skills, so he bought his bike cargo rickshaw for Rs 10,000 after saving.
His delivery of goods in Liaquatabad allows his family to eat sometimes once or twice a day, he says. Although sometimes the family even goes to bed hungry.
When asked why she, being a woman, adopted a masculine appearance, Rani says that in this society, if a woman has no skills, earning a salary becomes very difficult, therefore, she adopted a masculine appearance out of necessity.
Rani says her brother used to drive the rickshaw, but he met with an accident and suffered a leg injury that left him unable to work. Now, since he doesn’t know how to drive the rickshaw, he accompanies his sister.
Rani adds that it is more dignified to earn money by working hard than by begging. Stating that no woman becomes a man by choice, she states that social problems and hunger cause a change in appearance.
“I am a woman, and if I wear men’s clothes and have changed my appearance to work, it is a blessing to earn legal livelihood. I do not ask anyone or ask for help. Please pray for me so that I can earn a living with hard work,” she says.
Counseling helpless women, Rani advises, “In circumstances of need, instead of going in the wrong direction or seeking help, opt for the path of hard work. You will earn a living and your difficulties will become easier.”
