I liked this girl the moment I saw her. Humble, confident and soft-spoken. When I talked to her for a while at her house, I understood that this girl has really done a commendable job without realising it.

Rejia Begum is just 18 years old, but already looked upon as a role model by all the girls of the slum in Deven Khaklari Path at Dhirenpara, Guwahati. No doubt she is a school dropout, but she exudes a confidence which not even many seniors and experienced elders of her area can boast of.

The reason behind Rejia being hero worshipped by the girls of her community is that she has resisted with courage all attempts by her parents to get her married off. Many girls of this minority community are married off before they reach 18 and most of them end up wrinkled and shrivelled before they reach 30, delivering six to eight children on an average during this period.

Rejia is the eldest amongst six brothers and sisters. Her father owns a small shop, that is not enough to meet the expenditures of the family, and like all girls of her community who are deprived of education simply because they are girls, Rejia, too, had to leave school with a heavy heart. The sorrow that arose from not completing her education has not passed even now and Rejia admits that as long as she is alive, the sorrow will live in her heart. She could read up to Class IV only.

Acting like the typical man of this community, Rejia’s father thought it best for her to help her mother with the household work and to get married as early as possible.

“Since I was 14, my parents had been talking about my marriage. But I am not going to get married so soon,” this is Rejia’s decision.

And at the age of 18 now, Rejia is still unmarried, a fact unthinkable in the community and the area that is not different in any way from the other poverty pockets in the capital city. Filth and congestion are spread over the entire area and the feeling of claustrophobia is more acute as awareness and openness of thought is regrettably missing.

Where did Rejia get the courage to stand out in her community that is yet to open itself to the breeze of new thoughts coming from a rapidly progressing world?

“Our next door neighbour Sukur Begum had got her daughter married off at 12. The daughter is now 16, leading a miserable life, abused and thrown out by her in-laws,” Rejia narrates with a sigh and then her face wears a determined look. “I do not want to end my life in misery,” she asserts.

The situation that her daughter faced after marriage has made Sukur Banu an enlightened person. And Rejia’s bold stand too has no doubt inspired her.

“My husband is a hand cart puller. When my eldest daughter was just 12 years old, my husband decided that she should get married immediately,” recollects Sukur Banu, the agony of her heart written all over her face. Mother of three children, Sukur has made up her mind to educate her youngest daughter.

“The plight of my eldest daughter gave me endless sleepless nights. Her married life was hell and she came back bearing the marks of abuse all over her body. The unfortunate one is working as a domestic help now,” Sukur cannot hide her tears. She is determined to protect her youngest daughter from all the abuses of the world.

Rejia has even inspired the little girls in her neighbourhood. Many of the little girls work in factories and as domestic help. They have been deprived of their childhood and education. Whenever they need advice or want to share their bitterness, there is only one person, their beloved sister Rejia.

Rejia’s parents have failed to change her decision. No amount of threatening and cajoling has been able to make Rejia relent.

She earns her own money by doing different odd jobs. She knows knitting and cutting. And she is sure that she can sustain herself in this world where hurdles keep cropping up with every breath she takes. But Rejia always keeps praying and hoping that people like her father will change one day and will proudly say that daughters are the best.

Kabita Duarah