In the last entry, I talked about rickshaws in Dhaka and how thousands people depend their survival on this vehicle. Here, I like to write about the stories of 3 rickshaw pullers of Dhaka city. They came to Dhaka from other districts of Bangladesh to change their fortune. The pictures and interviews were taken by Animesh Chandra Bain.
Mohammad Shahidul Islam
Mohammad Shahidul Islam is just 30 years old and he has been pulling rickshaw for 4 years in Dhaka. He is one of the lucky rickshaw pullers who can have their wife and children with them, not in their village home. He and his wife and their two children live with another family in Shukrabad area of Dhaka. This system is called sublet. His monthly expenditure is more than Tk. 2,500 (nearly $36). Unfortunately, he has some loan in his village and he has to send money there every month.
His wife took a small amount of loan from another villager and since his wife is not educated, that man claimed a huge amount of money (several times more than the actual loan) and thus Mohammad Shahidul Islam fell into false debt- claimed Shahidul.
Mohammad Akbar Ali
Akbar Ali comes from the district of Noakhali. His story is really a tragic one. He has a very tragic life story. When he was only 16 years old, his mother died and then his father married again. He was a very meritorious student but his step mother stopped his education. After the death of his grandmother, his step mother captured all the properties and drove Akbar Ali and his two other brothers away to the street. Thus, Ali has been pulling rickshaw for nearly 12 years and he first helped his two brothers to do something on their own. Then he got married and has two children.
His wife and children used to live with him in Dhaka city until a few weeks ago. He realized that in Dhaka city, he would not be able to afford the expense to send his children to school and that is why, his wife and two children now live in the village. This story is a tragic but inspiring one. He dreams that he would be able to send her children to school and they will not have better life. First, Ali sacrificed his life for his two brothers and now he is working hard for his children. He has not suffered any major accident or disease until now. His only complain is that sometimes some bad passengers do not pay him the fair and go away. However, it rarely happens.
Mohammad Hashem Ali
Hashemi Ali has been pulling rickshaw for nearly 28 years in Dhaka city. His wife and five children live in a village in the district of Chandpur. He lives with another 5 men in a small room. Since he has to take care of a big family, he has to send almost all the money he can earn. However, he cannot send more than 2,500 (nearly $36) taka and often feel worried that this money is not enough. However, he is hopeful that his children will have better future than him. One time, ruffians snatched away his money but apart from it he did not suffer any major accident.
Unfortunately, Animesh could not take picture of this man as it was raining heavily. I have used the picture of another man here.
Grim reality, isn’t it? Well, no! Simply because, they are doing hard work everyday and they are doing it for their wife and children. It is not every rickshaw puller is so good like these three persons- yes, many rickshaw pullers work hard for the future of their children. They earn a decent amount of money but spend it for their families instead of wasting it after bad things.
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