10 years old Rubina lives in Hossainpur village of Nilganj union in Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district. Her father was a fisherman who got lost in the sea fishing before Rubina was even born.
Her mother and old grandmother live with her. Rubina, like other children of this age, is supposed to go to school every morning to class with friends, play kanamachi or bouchi during the Tiffin period, come home and do her homework, read story books, but then Little Rubina has to catch up with the world. Rubina’s mother is severely mentally handicapped. She has to be chained. And her grandmother is very old. So Rubina has to take all the responsibility of the family. They live in a squalid house on someone else’s land which is in a very miserable condition.
Although Rubina dreams of going school, she has to beg with her grandmother, come home and cook. Although she has a strong desire to study, she has nothing to do. When she was supposed to play with her friends, she goes from door to door for food. She has to take care of her disabled mother and old grandmother when she was supposed to study.