‘The river took my house and money I readied for my daughter’s marriage’

With flood comes suffering, sorrow and hunger. Also, comes fishing. 

Muhibur Rahman was fishing on the Companiganj-Sylhet highway with his son Hossain Ahmed. 

The sight of this father-son duo fishing on the highway felt like coming out of water for air, a breath of fresh air. After so many tragic tales of the flood-hit people who lost everything to the flood and rendered homeless, it felt good seeing them fishing on the highway. 

But the moment I said hello, the helplessness of the father struck back. 

"Look on the side of the road. See that tin shed house hanging on the tree in the water? That is my home," said Muhibur from Telukhal village, starting our conversation and pointing far out to the water. 

"Do you know where my house was? It was on the other side of the river," he added. 

The water carried and brought his house on this side (where we were standing) and now the debris of his tin shed house was hanging on the tree as a strong current of water flowed by. 

"The cyclone last Friday did this. The river eroded my land, the wind blew away my house, and now I am living with my wife, six daughters and a son in a madrasa building. I could save nothing except my cows," said Muhiber. 

"I tried to take shelter in the shelter home first. But I couldn't get a spot there. It was already overcrowded. So I had to find refuge inside the madrasa. My cows are on the rooftop. They have all become scrawny as I cannot feed them. How can I? I cannot even feed my family. 

I had 20 sacks of rice at home. Gone. I had hay, grass for my cows, all gone," Muhibur said. "It is a lot of suffering. Huge suffering." 

But none of his suffering already mentioned, perhaps, does not quite match the agony of a father of six daughters who just lost all the money that he saved over the years to marry off his elder daughter. 

"I saved some money and readied the house as preparation for my elder daughter's marriage. All my children are very young. 

The fund I gathered for the marriage is all gone in the river. So is my home and land. How can I wed her now? How can I marry her off when I have nothing?" Muhibur sounded desperate. 

The story of Muhibur is the story of most people in Telukhal village. He said all the residents who lived by the river faced the same fate as them. His son Hossain used to study in a madrasa. But since his father could not afford his education, he instead had to join his father's work as a helping hand. 

"We had a bedstead, Sukesh [happiness] and all other furniture in our house. We had money, food, and everything. Now we don't have anything. My sisters are grappling with cows in the madrasa shelter," Hossain said. 

What is next? "If water recedes, I could try to rebuild the house with the debris of tins that you see here. But what to do now? I don't have money. My lands are gone. 

The river took my house and money I readied for my daughter's marriage. Maybe if water receded further I may have to make a makeshift on the roadside or live in the school," Muhibur said. 

"There is nothing that I can do," the father said, hopelessly.