In March 2003, Tabassum got married to the man of her dreams. Then a tenth-grader, Tabassum had fallen in love with Riyaz, a professional taxi driver. “We met through an acquaintance and fell in love with each other,” admitted Tabassum, now a mother of three. “I knew about the police case he had but I was head over heels in love with him”.
Hailing from Chattabal, Tabassum belonged to lower-middle-class family. A student of Queensland School, her father was a driver working for Riyaz’s father, Abdul Salam Hajji, who owned a bus, three taxis and was running a wholesale shop in the Qamarwari chowk. Weakened by the stroke of paralysis, Haji got bed-ridden and their lives turned upside down in 1992.
Riyaz’s mother, Salima had to manage the family. “I spent my life in taking care of my husband and raising my children as a single parent,” recollected Salima.“It was hard for me to run a wholesale shop on my own and to bring up my children simultaneously. So, I sold the shop.”
Disturbed by the family conditions Riyaz dropped out in sixth-grade. His elder brother drove a taxi to support his mother. Many years later, Riyaz started to earn by playing an auto-rickshaw.
KASHMIR OF THE 1990S
This story is from the November 21, 2020 edition of Kashmir Life.
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This story is from the November 21, 2020 edition of Kashmir Life.
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