To our boatmen, from the heart
“Oh Dada, bring your boat, I have to go home.” It's the call of villagers that will forever live in the sentiments of fifty-year-old Bimal Kumar, though he won't hear it anymore.
In the 1980s Bimal, alongside his 10-year-old brother Sadhan Kumar, left their ancestral village of Patni in Pabna's Chatmohar upazila to work as boatmen on the Gumani River in Noubaria village of neighbouring Vangura upazila. In the long years since, the brothers have provided a vital transport link, their small boats being the only way many villagers could reach upazila headquarters.
Now a new 160-metre-long bridge spans the river; the days of boatmen are done. As the brothers prepare to return home to Patni, the community they served for so long hasn't forgotten them. Rather, Noubaria locals have ensured the two are well-equipped to embark upon new careers.
“Most of the boatmen in this area left their profession decades ago,” explains villager Jafar Iqbal Herok, also the vice-chairman of the Vangura upazila council. “But Bimal Da and Sadhan Da stayed with us. Even in the dark of night, if we had to transport a patient across the river they always obliged, never annoyed.”
“We villagers can't forget their long years of service,” says social worker Ahmed Mazhar. “We are proud of them. It's only natural that we would want to do something for them, now that the bridge has made their profession obsolete.”
At a August 26, 2018, ceremony held at the newly-built bridge and organised by young people of the village the brothers were honoured for their hard work. They were each presented with a battery-powered three-wheeler van to ensure that in the days and years ahead, they will have viable livelihoods.
“We never imagined that the villagers would recognise us in this way,” says an overjoyed Sadhan Kumar. “As our old age approaches, all we knew is that because of the bridge we had become unemployed. Now, thanks to the villagers we have auto-vans and will have no problem to provide for our families.”
The boatmen brothers wished that all people in need could enjoy the same sort of care and thoughtfulness that the community has given to them. “We are just ordinary people. We are so thankful for the unexpected honour,” says Bimal. “If all people thought in such a kind and generous way always, society must be quickly developed.”
“This type of initiative creates a lot of happiness, not only for our boatmen brothers but for the whole community,” notes educationalist Mahabubul Alam, also president of the Vangura press club. “It's the sort of thing that binds us together as a community.”
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