I was standing by the road, waiting for a rickshaw to take me to the office, when one pulled up. Behind the handlebars was a woman. Surprised but needing a ride, I quickly agreed on a fare and climbed into the seat.

As we made our way through the morning traffic, curiosity got the better of me.

“How long have you been driving a rickshaw?” I asked.

Ranu Begum (not her real name, she does not want be named) kept her eyes on the road and answered plainly, “Two years.” She hesitated for a moment, looked back at me, and added softly, “Ma’am, I used to do a job like you.”

That simple sentence stayed with me. Above the roar of Dhaka’s streets, it was a reminder of how quickly a person’s livelihood can change and how thin the line can be between a regular job and informal work done simply to get by.