The Hinduatan Times
04 December 2005
MAKING A DIFFERENCE -
ENDURING SPIRIT Hawker who toils
to buy books for his wife
Ashok Das
Visakhpatnam
ANYONE ELSE from a similar social background would have
shown his wife the door to what they think is her natural abode, the
kitchen. Not Silar, a semiliterate pushcart vendor, who religiously
saves Rs 1,500 a month for his wife Fathima, an engineering student.
He wants her to join
the Central government services after she graduates as an electrical and
electronics engineer next year. Despite his monotonous work hours, Silar,
30, who sells puffed rice near Andhra University from 10 a.m. to 10
p.m., has given a new meaning to love and hope ever since he married
Fathima.
Fathima, the only
child of a poor couple, was only 15 when they got married five years
ago. Encouraged by Silar, Fathima continued her studies, passing class X
with 89 per cent marks.
Though unlettered,
Silar didn't want his wife's talents to go waste. He talked to her and
they decided not to have any children till she achieved her goal.
Silar's mother wants
to see a grandchild in the family before her time is up, but he is
unrelenting. Fathima has been consistently securing above 75 per cent
marks in the exams and hopes to land a good job. Fathima says her dream
would have remained unfulfilled but for Silar's support. "I am proud of
being his wife. Though he is a hawker, he has done what few could do,"
she says.
To reduce his
expenses, Silar, who earns barely Rs 70-80 a day, has moved into the
in-laws' two-bedroom house in the Hindu-Muslim colony.
In the single-minded
pursuit to see Fathima come up in life, her family has sacrificed a lot
too. Her father's monthly salary of Rs 2,000 goes towards paying up the
Rs 1 lakh loan taken for the tworoom house. Fathima has borrowed Rs
50,000 from the Andhra Pradesh state Minority Finance Corporation in the
past two years to pay her college fees (annual fees is Rs 22,000). |