I asked a rickshaw puller who was just waiting for a passenger on the road.

As I was in a hurry, I sat on the rickshaw and soon found him with physical disabilities. I hesitated thinking about whether I should get down or not. I needed to reach my destination early.

With his smiling face, the rickshaw puller just asked about my destination without saying anything about the fare.

Harun Mia, 35, a resident of Ulipur village under the Shalmara union in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha, shared his story of suffering financially as he had to drag a four-member family with his meager income.

“Seeing my physical condition, passengers avoid my rickshaw as it’s not a motorised one as well. Income is reducing now while my family members go hungry or half-fed often.”

“How much do you earn a day?” I asked.

Harun said, “I need to repair my house due to its dilapidated condition, but it’s now really impossible on my part.”

Nowadays, motorised rickshaws or autorickshaws rule the streets and passengers get on those to reach their destinations quickly, he said. “I need an autorickshaw badly now as it can help me earn comparatively more to maintain my family.”

Contacted, Shalmara Union Parishad member Md Tabibur Rahman said, “Harun belongs to a poor family but he is very polite. I will be ready to offer him any support if it’s possible on my part.”

Pedalling the rickshaw, Harun still harbours a dream that a time will come when the economic hardship disappears and he will see smiles on the faces of his widow mother, wife, and son.