Sisa: The Best Mum

Have you ever heard of a Government rewarding a woman  for being the ‘Best Mum’, for being the ‘Woman Breadwinner’, for being the ‘Ideal Mother’ ?. I had never heard of such an award  until I came across an unbelievable but true story of a woman who  took a path never travelled by any woman before, who defied the unforgiving rules of society,  who literally did the impossible to bring food on the table and raise her only child. This is  a real life story of Sisa  Abu Daooh, the mother from Luxor, Egypt.

Sisa lost her husband in the early 70s when she was just 21 and six months pregnant. She gave birth to her daughter Houda and though her brothers wanted her to remarry considering her age, she resisted the move as she wanted to stay with her daughter and raise her. Unfortunately  she was left alone to take of her child amidst acute poverty. There was hardly any income. Sisa neither did  know any skill nor was there any prevalent practise of women working to raise families at that time.

Sisa then made a decision which was not only bold but also had no precedence. Instead of marrying to get the support of a man, Sisa decided to become a man herself. She shaved off her head, dressed like a man, learned to walk and also  speak like a man. Since people would recognise her in her village, she went to neighbouring towns to seek work. To leave no doubts in the minds of the men around, she took up jobs like lifting of bricks, cement bags and other heavy labour.  She let go off her feminity for her daughter. A sacrifice like no other.

As she grew a bit older, it was difficult to do hard labour and Sisa then took up the job of polishing shoes to ensure that regular income never dried. It has been almost 50 years now since Sisa turned a man. And though her daughter is now married with kids, she continues to support her grand children even with her ageing bones. The masquerade is now a way of life for Sisa and understandably so she wants to continue the same way, it’s  in her comfort zone now.

As the  story broke, it did not go unnoticed such being its exclusivity. The news of the sacrifice of Sisa reached the Government too and like all others even they were moved. It was not only what Sisa did, but she kept on doing it for such a long time, made her story even more heart rending. The Government took cognisance of it. Only a mother could have done such a thing and very rightly so the Government rewarded her with the Woman Breadwinner and the Ideal Mother award. A documentary named Untamed Shrew has also been made on her.

Kudos to Sisa, a woman of substance , a super achiever….a Super Mom.