Septuagenarian Ahmad Gul Kaka is one like million of poor people of this country who has been worst hit by extreme poverty and wretchedness. The sole bread- earner of 15-member family daily goes out to collect dry twigs and tree branches from different places and takes it home for keeping his family warm and cooking purposes.
Hailing from Gara Tajik village near Peshawar, Ahmad Gul Kaka remains busy all the day -long to collect dry twigs and abandoned tree branches as he has no facility of gas heater either for keeping his family warm or cooking food at his slum- home located at the Gara Tajik village and even he if has got one he has no hope of enjoying the warmth of gas facility owing to excessive loading.
“Poor of this country are destined to suffer, not to enjoy their life.
Even If someone gets me a gas heater, from where would he me get gas. I get up early in the morning and walk through various places collecting dry twigs so that I could use it as fuel and also to keep my family members warm with its fire in this chilly weather. I am the sole bread-earner of my 15-member family and Allah helps me fulfill my needs, I don’t know how,” The wretched aged Ahmad Gul narrated.
Strange enough he said that although he could cut down branches from live trees but he did not do this because he thought felling trees hurt him while at the same time he said it was a crime.
“No, I would never do this, cutting trees I think is a serious crime, I feel hurt when I see someone felling tall trees. If we cannot grow more plants why should we cut them down?
If don’t find dry twigs I return to my home empty-handed but never try to secretly cut down a tree branch.
At this old age even if I begin doing it I mean cutting trees someone would not ask me to do this but I take great care myself not to hurt a tree at least. No, never, not at all,” Kaka said emphatically.
Ahmad Gul Kaka added that he had been working all through his life as daily wager in and around Peshawar and has always had pinned hopes on Allah as he said one could not expect any good from rulers of the country. “Poor are to suffer through their whole lives. Rahman Baba in a couplet says- Har saray ter khpal matlaba puray yaar dai, maa da khudai da para yaar leedalay na dai- [if roughly translated in English means: every person seems to serve his/her own interests / I haven’t seen anyone serving God] These corrupt rulers cannot solve our problems because they don’t own us and don’t even recognize us as human beings!” Gul Kaka elaborated.
The woeful story of Ahmad Gul Kaka is also a sad commentary on our sense of apathy towards our senior citizens of which we make tall claims every now and then. “Yes I know this is not my age to work but I have to do it because I have to feed my family somehow.
Allah says there is dignity in work. I shall continue doing it till my old bicycle and my fragile feet help me to walk through the dark lanes of this miserable life,” Gul Kaka concluded as he laid his wrinkled hands on his old bicycle heading towards his slum-home.
