At 90, Safia Begum still begs at Shayestaganj station in Habiganj: 'Hunger does not understand age'

At the platform of Shayestaganj railway junction in Habiganj, and sometimes from door to door, 90-year-old Safia Begum moves around with a begging bag in her hand. Her eyes carry the marks of age, her face the lines of exhaustion and her clothes are worn — in the final years of her life, poverty and helplessness have become her closest companions.

Her body no longer supports her as it once did. Walking is painful and her strength has faded, yet she does not stop. If she stopped, she might not get even one meal. That reality forces her out of home every day.

Safia Begum's home is in Dhani Mohalla of Baniachong upazila in Habiganj district. Her husband is no more. She has a son, but he does not live with her; he leads a wandering life, so he is in no position to look after his mother or check on her regularly.

Safia Begum now lives with her daughter. But her daughter's household is also in hardship. When running their own family is itself a struggle, meeting the elderly mother's food and needs becomes difficult too. That reality has forced her to hold out her hand to others.

Recently, at Shayestaganj railway junction, Safia Begum spoke about her life. At one point in telling her story she broke down in tears. Her voice grew heavy again and again, as if years of accumulated pain were coming out with every word.

Safia Begum said her son exists yet does not. He does not stay in one place and wanders from place to place. There is no one to look after her, so she stays with her daughter. Her daughter's family is also in great hardship and can barely manage themselves. She said, 'I do not want to be a burden on them. So even when my body does not move, I go out to beg.'

She said she often goes to various shrines. She prays and counts her prayer beads. If someone kindly gives her some money, she arranges food with it. Sometimes she gets food, sometimes she does not. Yet life does not stop.

The eye also catches the cloth the elderly woman is wearing. The old, torn garment seems a silent witness to her helpless life. Safia Begum said, 'The cloth on my body has torn. I have no money, I cannot buy a new cloth. No one gives me even a new cloth.'

Her list of wishes is very small. She said, 'What more do I have to ask for? One cloth and two meals a day would be enough. I have grown old. My body does not move. But hunger does not understand age, the stomach wants food.'

The 90-year-old said she has tried many times to get a government allowance card. She has gone to various people. But in the end nothing was arranged. Her plea was, 'If I could get a government allowance card, it would help a lot. At least I would get some money every month. I would not have to hold out my hand to people like this.'

Safia Begum's life is not only one elderly woman's story of sorrow; it is a picture of a reality in which a person bent under the weight of age is forced onto the street, defeated by poverty. At an age when a child should be beside an elderly mother, at an age when her hand should hold medicine or prayer beads, her hand instead holds a begging bag.

Amid the noise of Shayestaganj railway junction, Safia Begum sitting helplessly may look like an ordinary scene to many. But behind it lies a life of nearly 90 years, a husband lost, a son drifted away and a daily fight against poverty.

Safia Begum no longer has any big dreams. She does not want a house or a car, nor land. Her wishes are very small — a slightly safer life, a good cloth to wear, two meals a day and a government allowance card. If the authorities concerned and humane people stand beside her, she may no longer have to wander the streets with a begging bag in her final days.