DHAKA: A heartwarming story of a father, who worked hard for his daughter’s education but never told them about his job, is going viral on social media.
GMB Akash, a photographer from Bangladesh captures people with a touching back-story in his pictures. The multimedia journalist captured one such photograph of Idrees, who worked as a cleaner and is going viral on social media.
In the Facebook post, Idris explained that he hid his job from the kids because he doesn’t want them to feel ashamed. He wanted them to finish their education without embarrassment.
He said, “I wanted them to stand with dignity in front of people. I never wanted anyone to look down on them like everyone looked down upon me. People always humiliated me. ”
Idris is a proud father today for his hard work has paid off…
Here’s his story, in his own words:
“I never told my children what my job was. I never wanted them to feel shame because of me. When my youngest daughter asked me what I did, I used to tell her hesitantly that I was a labourer.
Before I went home I used to take bath in a public toilet so they did not get any hint of the work I was doing. I wanted to send my daughters to school to educate them. I wanted them to stand with dignity in front of people. I never wanted anyone to look down on them like everyone looked down upon me. People always humiliated me. I invested every penny of my earning for my daughters’ education. I never bought a new shirt, instead used the money to buy books for them. Respect is all I wanted them to earn for me.
I was a cleaner. The day before the last date of my daughter’s college admission, I could not manage to get her admission fees. I could not work that day. I was sitting beside the rubbish, trying hard to hide my tears. I was unable to work that day. All my coworkers were looking at me but no one came to speak. I was failed, heartbroken and had no idea how I was going face my daughter who would ask me about the admission fees once I’m back home. I am born poor. Nothing good can happen with a poor person, that was my belief.
After work, all cleaners came to me, sat beside and asked if I considered them as brothers. Before I could answer they handed their one day’s income in my hand. When I was refused, they confronted by saying, ‘We will starve today if needed but our daughter has to go to college.’ I couldn’t reply to them.
That day I did not take shower. That day I went home like a cleaner. My daughter is going to finish her University very soon. The three of them do not let me work anymore. She has a part- time job and three of them do tuition. But she often takes me to my workplace and feeds all my co-workers along with me. They laugh and ask why she feeds them so often. My daughter tells them, “All of you starved for me that day so I can become what I am today, pray for me that I can feed you all, every day.”
Nowadays I do not feel, I am a poor man. Whoever has such children, how he can be poor.
– Idris