Hitching a ride home for Eid

Bidding goodbye to Dhaka. Photo: Star

It's almost midnight. Sulaiman glances at his watch and leans forward to look at the traffic on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near Farmgate, Dhaka.

His friend and co-worker, Yasin, smiles and says, “Be patient.”

But the 25-year-old has reasons to worry. The labourer recently got married and is looking forward to spend time with his wife during the Eid holidays.

“I have been sitting here for the last one hour,” he told this correspondent anxiously. “Hopefully, a truck will stop by and I can catch a ride.”

He said this has been his and his co-workers' means of travelling for a while. They mostly wait near the footpaths on major roads late at night when trucks, while heading back, stop and pick them up for a certain fare.

“The amount varies, depending on destinations,” said Yasin, 24, of Gazipur. “I pay around Tk 300. The truck drops me near its garage, which is not that far from my house.”

Like Sulaiman, Yasin is going home after five months. He recently got a job at a construction site with the help of his uncle. He bought gifts for his family from a vendor at Farmgate.

Off the lot waiting for a ride home, Kadir Mia, 43, of Kaliakoir, is the seniormost. “I have been working at construction sites for the last seven years,” he said. “After starting at a building near Farmgate, I brought my nephew Yasin and others from my village.

“We stay at the site. The pay is not much, but I have a roof over my head and I get to see my family during Eid,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sulaiman once again stood on the street hoping to see a truck; everyone started laughing.

Providence soon smiled upon him. A truck stopped.

“This works out for me too,” said Nur Mia, the truck driver, who just finished delivering dry goods at Karwan Bazar kitchen market.

The group with their worn-out bags jumped aboard. They waved at this correspondent and said in unison, “Eid Mubarak”, as the truck drove away into the night.