The tragic tale of a bouquet seller

Alas! If I were educated, I would have imparted education to my children

Skyrocketing prices has affected almost every single person belonging to any strata of community but the life of roadside sellers and vendors has almost come to a standstill. Shabbir Hussain, 42, a Bouquet seller in F-7 Markaz who sells on a roadside is a case in point.

He has been selling gift-flowers for the last 11 years in Islamabad on a roadside in F-7 along with his two minor sons, Ali Haider 9 (in the picture), and Kashif Haider 13. He said that he cannot afford his children’s education due to high prices of other necessities of life.

He has 2 sons and 4 daughters who are all school going but are still at home sitting idle. “My wife works along with me in preparing flower bunches despite that fact that I cannot fulfil my household necessities still.”

He resides in a makeshift tent in Zia Masjid Rawalpindi and belongs to Gujranwala. He appeals to the CDA for giving him any kiosk where he could also live a bit safely. ”I bring the flowers from Bani in Rawalpindi every week to make bouquets. The prices of the Bouquets range from Rs 200 to 1000 depending on the demand of the customer,” he said.

“It takes me normally 10 to 20 minutes to make a good bouquet by arranging different flowers, fastening them together with strips/ Ribbon in a bunch by selecting stems of fresh garden roses and various leaves. I cover my roadside shop by plastic sheet when it starts to rain.”

He said that the CDA used to tease me but when they got to know about my tragic story of deprivation in life after that they became very cooperative with me. He said that if he gets any home for living in the federal capital then that would be generous act. He said, “I live in a tent in Rawalpindi and when it starts to rain, we get drenched in the water which is very appalling situation.”

“My children insist to go to school but I can’t do anything as it is difficult for me to send them due to lack of resources. Now a day if anyone earns two times meal a day it’s a great thing. I can’t think of sending them to schools in these little resources because I hardly earn Rs. 200 to 300 within two days.”

“I request to CDA, altruists and the NGOs to help me sort out the problem of residence and my children’s education,” he pleaded. If anyone wants to help this poor person he can contact at Infnservice@gmail.com.