In Delhi, a homeless mother endures nightly vigils to safeguard her children, highlighting the hardships of street life in the city.
Abida Begum, 40, a mother of three, lives under a flyover in New Delhi, where she has resided since arriving from Assam 30 years ago. She spends her nights awake, guarding her children from potential threats on the busy pavement.
Growing up begging in the neighborhood, Abida lost her own mother three years ago and later married a rickshaw puller who abandoned her after years of abuse. Now alone, she relies on begging at places like the Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah for food and money, finding people there more compassionate than on the main roads.
Daily Struggles and Survival Tactics
Abida and her children, including her three-year-old daughter Soni who often suffers from fever, face harsh weather conditions year-round. In winter, they shiver without adequate blankets; in summer, they endure stifling heat and watch for snakes on their concrete patch.
To feed her family, Abida skips meals, ensuring her children eat first by collecting leftovers or asking motorists for money. She uses public toilets when affordable, costing 10 rupees per person, and washes her children with water from her sari when showers, at 20 rupees, are out of reach.
Evenings involve sweeping the pavement clean for sleeping, with Abida holding her children close as protection against harassment by passersby or potential kidnappers. She describes nights as the hardest, constantly fearing for their safety.
In one incident on a cold November morning in 2023, a speeding car crashed into them while they slept, leaving dust, blood, and screams in its wake. Abida wishes for basic government recognition, seeking only a safe space to sleep without fear.
