Srinagar, Mar 10: As the city bustles with life around the busy Amira Kadal bridge, a woman quietly arranges freshly caught fish on a small wooden stall. For many passers-by, it is just another marketplace scene. But for 55-year-old Saja Begum from Telbal on the outskirts of Srinagar, it is a story of survival, heritage and resilience that stretches across generations.
Unaware that the world is observing International Women’s Day, Saja says life for women like her has never been about celebrations but about enduring hardships and keeping families afloat.
“Women like us don’t know about such days. Our day begins with work and ends with work,” she says with a faint smile while weighing fish for a customer.
For more than two decades, Saja has been selling fish at Amira Kadal — a livelihood she inherited from her ancestors, who were traditionally engaged in fishing in the rivers and lakes of Kashmir.
“Our forefathers were fishermen. We grew up watching them go to the river and bring back fish. This is what we know, this is what feeds our families,”
Every morning, before the city fully awakens, Saja begins her day sourcing fish and preparing for long hours at the roadside market. Rain, snow or the scorching summer sun rarely alters her routine.
However, the trade that once sustained families along Kashmir’s rivers and lakes is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
“Inflation has broken our backs,” she says. “Everything has become expensive — transport, fishing nets and daily household expenses. But the earnings from selling fish have not increased much.”
According to her, the challenges are not only economic but also generational. Younger members of fishing families are gradually moving away from the occupation in search of more stable livelihoods.
“Our children don’t want to continue this work. They see how hard it is and how little we earn. They want other jobs,” she says, her voice tinged with concern.
For Saja, this shift raises fears that the centuries-old fishing tradition of many Kashmiri families may slowly disappear.
Despite the hardships, she continues to sit by her roadside stall day after day, serving customers who stop by to buy fresh fish for their homes. “We work from morning till evening just to make both ends meet,” she says.
Saja believes the government needs to extend greater support to fishermen, particularly women who silently contribute to sustaining their households.
“We need relief and support from the government,” she says. “There should be special packages or schemes for fishermen so that we can survive and continue our work.”
As the world celebrates women breaking barriers in boardrooms, laboratories and parliaments, women like Saja Begum continue to fight quieter battles on the streets and riverbanks of Kashmir.
At Amira Kadal, amid the constant hum of traffic and hurried footsteps, her modest stall stands as a symbol of resilience — and of a tradition that has weathered generations but now faces an uncertain tide. (Agency)
