A cobbler’s life – hope personified

By: Sohail Rashid 

ISLAMABAD, July 13, 2010: Everyday we come across many people who complain about their difficulties in life and almost every second person talks about living from hand to mouth. Yet there are many, who are looked down upon by us but their deep contentment and thankful nature makes them better than many well off people.

Shaheen Khan, 50, a cobbler by profession is a living example of it and is hopefulness personified. He has been working near Faizabad for the last 16 years in front of a barber’s shop. While talking about his personal life, he told that he belongs to Bajor Agency, currently living in a rental house here. He further told that he has four sons; two are studying in a Madarassa in Bajor while the other two are working with him.

“Thanks to Allah, I am very happy with my life and whatever God has gifted me with is enough for me,” he said while answering the question that is he happy with his life? While talking about his routine he told that he comes daily here early in the morning soon after Fajar prayers and runs his business till 8pm and can only earn 6 to 8 hundred a day. He further told that after every four months, he goes back home in Bajor where he takes rest for four months. “I have to take care of my home myself because no one else is there to look after my family” he explained.

Most of his customers are passengers who depart from and arrive at Faizabad. “Most of the people do not treat us as human beings and they look down upon us as inferiors. They think that cobblers are some alien creature but I don’t mind their behaviour because I know I am living my life according to the preaching of Islam which says that a hard working person is the friend of Allah,” he said while talking to this news agency.

“I never think of using unfair means to earn money that’s why I have still no property in Rawalpindi even after working for 16 years and as I have no roof on my working place, I have to stop my business in rainy season,” he added. He further said that owner of the shop does not allow him to build a shade or proper roof on his work place. In recent past, a private company offered him an advertising cabin but the shopkeeper on whose front he is working did not allow it.

When asked about his sorrows and miseries, he said,” God never gives any kind of grief to those who earn their bread by the sweat of their brow and I am very happy and satisfied with my life.” “Our nation is scared of hard work that’s why our country has not yet made any remarkable progress like the developed countries” he analysed.

While talking about his dreams that he wants to materialize into reality during his life, he told that he wants to perform Hajj after getting his sons married. “One day I will be in ‘Haram-Sharif’ to perform Hajj after fulfilling all my duties for my family,” he said with a sparkling pair of eyes.