Karnataka   

The agony and the ecstasy of fatherhood

Hectic life: Imam Khan in his bag-repairing shop in Chitradurga.

Chitradurga: Sixty-nine-year-old Imam Khan runs a small bag-repairing shop in this city. For several customers, he is no more than a person who is busy stitching bags. But for those who know him well, Mr. Khan is a living lesson that imparting higher education to children is not the exclusive prerogative of the rich.

Mr. Khan is a proud father of four children who have made a mark in various fields.Despite his meagre earnings, he never compromised on his children’s education, for which they are ever grateful.

Today, three of them work in private companies, while the youngest son is studying engineering. His eldest son, Zuberullah Khan, works as a manager in an engineering company in Ludhiana, Punjab. One of his daughters works as a computer instructor, while the other, who has completed her Masters in Microbiology, works as a lecturer in a private college here.

“I have studied only till standard seven, but I wanted my children to study well and achieve a reputation for themselves,” he said. Mr. Khan, who came to Chitradurga from Sira in search of a better livelihood in 1965, began his career as a tailor, but could not make profits. With financial assistance of just Rs. 200, he set up the bag-repairing shop. “My monthly earnings were Rs. 150 then. Later, it went up to Rs. 3,000 a month. The money never proved enough to support my family and to meet the children’s educational expenses, and I had to keep borrowing till my eldest son began earning,” he said.

Recalling their early days, his second daughter Rukhaiya said she had made many sacrifices in order to complete her studies without putting excess financial burden on her father. “I remember that till standard seven I used to study under a kerosene lamp, as we did not have electricity at home,” she said.

Ms. Rukhaiya, who got a free postgraduate seat, had to stay in a hostel in Davangere to complete her course “To save some money, I used to live off biscuits and vegetables such as carrot and cucumber for days. Even today, my parents do not know this because I never wanted them to know,” she said.

Her brother, Khizarullah Khan, who is in the fourth semester of his engineering course, said he had to lose one academic year owing to a financial crisis. “Although I got through in the first attempt at the Common Entrance Test, I was unable to pay my fees,” he said.

Another noble act of Mr. Khan was that he married a visually impaired woman. He said that despite knowing that she was visually impaired, he decided to marry her as she was his close relative. Although his children are well settled, Mr. Khan still continues to work. “We have told him several times to stay at home, but he never listens to us. He even worked when his leg was fractured after an accident,” says Mr. Khizarullah.

Mr. Khan, however, said he would work as long as his health permitted.

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