This CNG driver bought a 16-inch fan for his passengers to beat Dhaka heat
Mohammad Miraz is a CNG-run autorickshaw driver in Dhaka who makes sure you stay cool during the scorching heat
The rain didn't bring much respite for commuters from the heat. The traffic made matters worse.
Enter Mohammad Miraz, a 36-year-old CNG run autorickshaw driver who hails from Faridpur's Bowalmari.
The moment I entered his CNG, I couldn't be more surprised.
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Facing me was a full-sized 16-inch fan.
Miraz was professional. He started the trip in the ridesharing app without losing a second and started the ride as if nothing happened.
For him, a pleasant smile on his passengers' faces wasn't a surprise. He has had this fan for two years now.
Miraz first came to Dhaka with his parents when he was 15.
His father, now an autorickshaw driver in Bowalmari, brought his family to Dhaka with dreams of a better life.
The family didn't have many things to want from life: just meals twice a day and a happy life.
Even though the meals were there, the happiness didn't stay.
Miraz's mother passed away in 2008.
There was visible pain on the face of the 36-year-old CNG driver when he talked about the passing.
Standing on the Dhanmondi Road-8 on a late afternoon, Miraz was looking down on the concrete road.
"What happened to her?" I asked quietly.
"She had cancer. My parents left for the village at Faridpur the same year. But I stayed back in Dhaka," he said.
Neither of us had anything more to say for a minute.
I wanted to ask what kind of cancer she had. What did they do for the treatment? But I couldn't. Economical circumstances don't really understand cancer.
After a while, Miraz was able to talk again.
In an attempt to change the topic, we started talking about the present.
Miraz has a wife and a four-year-old son who lives with him in Dhaka.
"We live in a flat on the 10th floor in Mohammadpur's Dhaka Udyan. Alhamdulillah, it's the 6th year of our marriage now," he said.
For one room in the flat that Miraz shares with a relative, he pays Tk5,500. The entire rent comes at around Tk18,000 with utility bills.
Miraz earns around Tk30,000, driving the CNG each month.
"I need to pay Tk850 daily for the CNG from morning to evening. When I return it, another driver takes it," he said.
He said he is left with Tk1,000 a day on average after paying for the CNG.
'What's the future plan?'
Miraz doesn't expect to win a lottery and become a millionaire overnight.
"Being able to afford two meals a day, maybe saving up enough to buy a piece of land and build a small house on it. What else?" he said when asked such a question.
"But what about your son?" I asked.
"Even before he was born, my wife and I planned that if everything goes well, we would get him into the madrasah curriculum. I want him to become a big Hafez or Alem one day, if Allah permits," he said.
Miraz said they are already looking into madrasas to get his son admitted into one this year.
Back to the fan
Miraz said he installed the fan some two years ago.
"As you can see, I have a fan right next to me on the front seat. But when it's scorching hot outside, how can I, in good conscience, enjoy the wind as my passengers suffer," he said.
"People often enter the CNG with kids. I couldn't let them suffer."
He went to Mohammadpur Bihari camp one day and got the upper part of a charger fan. It was an investment of Tk500.
"After I turn the fan on, passengers tell me they will keep me in their prayers. Many of my passengers give me a tip after the ride ends," he said with a proud smile.
"What else do you do for your passengers?" I asked for a smile.
Returning the smile, Miraz said, "I never ask for any fare if I see any sick passenger in a rush. They pay me whatever they want."
It was already running late. The sun was on its way to the other side by then. Miraz still had to finish the ride by leaving me at my home and return the CNG to its owner. He needed to go back home.
His son and wife were waiting for him.
