Story of an indomitable dream

Asif, undaunted by extreme poverty caused by his father’s desertion and then the death of the grandfather, has pursued his dream of higher studies.

Today, he has turned from a vegetable seller to a student of Jagannath University thanks to his determination and had work.

Asif narrated how the wonder happened and how the humble boy from Swarupnagar village in Puthia upazila of Rajshahi made it to a premier university of the country.

Asif was in class three when his wife-beating father left home one day leaving his grandfather as the only breadwinner of the family.

By breaking bricks the old man somehow managed to feed the family. But life had more miseries planned for Asif as his grandfather died two years later.

Then a student of class five, Asif learned to endure the horrific pain of hunger when his mother couldn’t earn the daily meal for the family even after buying a goat with borrowed money.

“My grandmother tried to help by working in other people’s vegetable fields but what she got at the end of the day was not even enough for one meal,” said Asif.

By the time Asif was in class six, he got a job in a hotel on condition of free meals and Tk 5 to 10 per day as wages.

“We could buy 30 kg of rice per month with Tk 300 through the government’s VGF (Vulnerable Group Feeding) card but still didn’t have enough to buy something to eat with the rice. There were days we had only a pinch of salt with rice, unable to buy vegetables.”

Asif recalled the days when he used to stand for hours in front of the neighbours, houses in hope they would offer him something good to eat.

While in class seven he started working at a distant uncle’s vegetable shop at Mahendra Bazar. There he had to work for the whole day on Sunday and Wednesday, the two busiest days of Bazar by dodging classes.