Syed Kanchan’s legs do not work, and his hands have little strength. A wheelchair is all he has to rely on. Through this struggle his wife, Asma Begum, has stood beside him. Together they built a small grocery shop, bit by bit. But one night in 2023 a fire reduced it to ashes in moments, taking the last thing they had to live on. Even then, looking at his two young daughters, he did not give up.
Every afternoon, with his wife’s help, Kanchan sets out in his wheelchair with the supplies they prepare at home. His stove burns on a small patch of ground beside Dasar Government Women’s College in Madaripur. Once the stall is open, his wife makes samosas and puris by hand. Their two daughters, aged 12 and eight, study at a madrasa. Local people say they are moved to see how hard he works to pay for the girls’ books and pens and for the family’s daily rice and lentils.
As a child, Kanchan had typhoid, and his family could not afford proper treatment. Soon afterwards he lost the use of his arms and legs. He met Asma through a relative. With her beside him, despite the hardship and his physical limits, he began to hope again. They married in 2010, and she has stayed with him ever since.
Through all the difficulties of their life together, she says she still wants to spend the rest of her life with her husband. Kanchan is the son of Syed Sohbar Hossain of Betbari village in Dasar upazila. Besides his wife, he lives with his mother and two daughters.
Local people said Kanchan has never begged despite his circumstances. “If the government stood by him, his life could change a little. He badly needs a modern wheelchair and a loan,” they said.
“Everyone born will die one day, but as long as I live I want to live with my head held high,” Syed Kanchan said. “My legs do not work and I cannot walk. But God gave me a sound conscience and two hands, though those hands barely work either. As long as I have that conscience, I cannot hold out my hand and beg. Begging may bring money easily, but your self-respect is ground into the dust.”
“That small grocery shop was my only source of income,” he said. “When the fire burned the last of what I had, I was completely lost. But I did not give up. I do not want anyone’s pity. I only want a chance, so that through my own work I can put two meals a day in front of my family and my two daughters.”
His wife, Asma Begum, said: “Ever since we married I have seen how hard he works. His body may not work, but his strength of mind is greater than any of ours. If we got a little help from the government, we could get back on our feet.”
Afzal Hossain, assistant social services officer for Madaripur district, said Kanchan has already been brought under the government allowance scheme. The office will support him in becoming self-reliant, he said, and may give him a small loan if needed.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report