Thirty-year-old Dipali Nokrek made a career out of doing one thing making people look beautiful.
Starting her career as an apprentice at one of Dhaka s well-known beauty salons, she worked for over 18 years in more than a dozen parlours. All was well until the nationwide shutdown was imposed last year to contain the spread of Covid-19.
She was fired from her job while her husband had his pay cut by half at his job at an RMG factory. Soon, the couple s savings dried up and they fell behind in five months rent.
Six months after she was fired, she started a makeshift beauty parlour in one room of her neighbour s house, taking loans and help from relatives.