Blindness no problem for grocer Kalam

Blind Abul Kalam at his grocery. PHOTO: STAR

A strong determination made him give up begging and become self-reliant. He now earns Tk 3000 to Tk 4,000 a month from a grocery set up near his house at Binodpur village in Mohammadpur upazila.

Kalam 36, son of late Sabdul Biswas, became blind four years back due to an unknown disease, he said.

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Landless Kalam had no alternative to begging for survival of his family with two daughters.

As days passed, their sufferings increased.

"My wife Seema Begum had to work as a maid at others' houses in the village," Kalam told this correspondent during a visit.

Fortune smiled on them about two years back when some officials of Action on Disability and Development (ADD), an NGO working for the disabled, came to the village.

They gave him Tk 5,000 interest-free loan and suggested him to do anything other than begging.

He started a grocery at a tin-shed room adjacent to his house.

Kalam is grateful to the villagers. Most of the villagers are sympathetic to him and purchase goods from his shop, Kalam said.

"Now I earn Tk 3,000 to Tk 4,000 a month and can feed my family members," a smiling Kalam said.

He said he got his eldest daughter married to a man of his choice this year with his savings.