Survival of the fittest, I'll give up begging if I can afford a tea shop

I was returning to Zakir Hossain Road after finishing work at Mohammadpur bus stand that afternoon. As I was walking along Kazi Nazrul Islam Road, I saw a gentleman in a wheelchair gesturing towards me. He is stuck in a wheelchair in the middle of the street. I thought maybe I should push. But when he approached her and asked her what help she wanted, she said she needed financial help. I was a little surprised to think that an old man was sitting in a wheelchair begging. I said-

'Where is home?'
'Stay in camp?'
'Which camp, is there a camp in front of the town hall?'
'No, the Geneva camp.'

As soon as he answered, he pointed to his feet. I saw. The ankle has ruptured near the ankle joint. Deep wounds on the legs. Need good treatment. As soon as he removed his eyes from it, he showed the floor of his right foot. A hole along the middle of the soles of the feet. Two legs are useless. He used to sit and beg, but now he has got a wheelchair. It moves. That means begging. An organization called the Foundation for People, courtesy of a person written on the back of a wheelchair, gave the wheelchair as a gift.

'Your name is not known.'
'My name is Farooq.'
'How old can you be?'
'Seventy.'
'Where is your real home?'
'Before partition we lived in Gandaria.'
'Before that?'
'We had our home in Gandaria.'
'Before that? I mean, where was your father before Gandaria? '
My father is from Patna. He was in Patna. He came to Dhaka to trade in leather. Then I was in my mother's womb. I was born in Dhaka. Dad died young. I stayed in the Geneva camp during the Partition (after 1971). Mother is dead. I got married in Mirpur. The wife is also ill now. I have four daughters. No boys. The girls are married. Someone got in trouble. There are two of us in the camp, I have to beg on the street. Otherwise I can't eat. Sitting near this front mosque on Friday, I get more money that day.

The man got tired of talking continuously. I wanted to know, will you spend the rest of your life begging?
'Begging is not a hobby. I do not want to beg. Survival is hard to get a hand to people. But I have no income. There is no boy to feed me. So let's beg. If I save money, I will give you a tea shop. I can make good tea ... I'm saving money

The old man's eyes seemed to glow during the delivery of the last sentence. The moment seemed to play a dream in the momentary shining eyes. Who knows if that dream will be fulfilled! Some dreams are fulfilled unexpectedly, some dreams remain elusive.

When I left, I remembered the song of unity sung by James - my old sorrows have weighed down with age ...