The Road Beneath His Feet

 

 

Cold air stung in the morning. The little tea shop at the corner of the street was full already of men in old sweaters, who bent over their hot cups. Rahim put his threadbare jacket a little tighter about his body, and moved nearer the stall. His hands were cold; he had no money in his pockets. He was here because he came here every morning--not to take tea, but to be near the boiling kettle so that he could feel the heat of it. Rahim was twenty-two, the best years of his life should be behind him, but it seemed to him that every day was uphill. When he was only fourteen years old, his father died, leaving behind him a family of five people and a huge debt. His mother sewed garments to the women in the neighborhood, her eyes were becoming tired because of the long nights in the dim light bulb. The younger brother of Rahim had part time job in a mechanic shop and the sisters did the household chores. Rahim did not have a complex dream; it was the plainest thing, but he felt that he could never make it come true: to have a secure job, to earn enough money to support his family, and to make his sisters go to college someday. However, dreams are easy to break when they are burdened with food and bills.

Chapter 1 – The Job That Wasn’t Meant to Be

It happened to be the first Monday of the new year and Rahim got to hear about a vacancy in a warehouse in the industrial area. It was not a glamorous job-it was just organizing goods and taking inventory-but it offered a regular paycheck. He would be out of the house even before the sun was up and his mother would send him off with a single roti wrapped up in newspaper. The ride in the bus was long and bumpy and when Rahim arrived at the warehouse, the hiring manager was a heavy-set man with a clipped mustache who was locking the office door. The man said, without turning to him, You are late. Rahim was sinking in his heart. It is just five after the time, sir,” said the man. Five minutes here is enough to have been replaced, sir.” Rahim paused a moment, looking at the door that was closed. He was humiliated to the point of burning in the chest. His last coins had gone to pay the bus fare, and here he had nothing to show. He was lying on the thin mattress that night alongside his younger brother staring at the cracked ceiling. Is this what it is going to be? he thought. A life of trying something and everything perishes before it even starts?

Chapter 2 – The Stranger at the Stall

Two weeks later Rahim was back at his tea stall and he was watching the steam curl up to the sky. He was assisting a very old vendor to push his cart when a man in a grey overcoat pulled up beside him. There was a weary, yet kind, face. I guess you have been hunting work,” said the stranger, in a half-questioning tone. Rahim nodded. Yes, but no one cares to hire. The man gave him a tiny card. Tomorrow morning be here to this address. I am not able to promise you much, but I have a printing shop, which needs assistance.” Rahim read the card. Another illusion? thought he. None the less, he went the next morning. The printing establishment was modest, and had an ink and old paper odour. The man who was called Mr. Khalid, demonstrated to Rahim on how to use the cutting machine and bind stacks of flyers. It was low paying, hard work, but it was something. This is not the place to get rich, Mr. Khalid said, but, if you are interested in learning, I will give you all I know. So Rahim stayed.

Chapter 3 – Lessons Beyond Ink and Paper

Being an employee of the printing shop was not purely about paper cutting or book piling. Rahim was taught how to communicate with customers, how to discuss with the suppliers, and how to unclog the machines when they clogged. On one occasion, the delivery boy of the shop failed to show up in the evening when there was a big order to be delivered early in the morning. Rahim volunteered to do it, although that would mean carrying heavy boxes on foot across town. When Mr. Khalid noticed Rahim come back, all soaked with perspiration and wearing a broad smile, he merely nodded. You are going to make something of yourself, boy. Not because you are the smartest, but because you do not give up and keep moving.” It was words that Rahim did not know at the time, but they put a seed in his head that hard work was worth more than talent.

Chapter 4 – The Fork in the Road

One year slipped by in the subdued beat of the printing-presses, the odor of fresh ink, and the every now and then rattle of the cutting-knife. Rahim developed his skills, and responsibilities increased as well. Mr. Khalid started giving him orders to carry out and he was even allowed to negotiate with the customers and oversee the delivery of goods. A feeling of proprietorship began to grow in Rahim, the shop belonged to him in spirit, at any rate. One night when they were sitting on the old wooden stools and drinking tea, Mr. Khalid cleared his throat in a way that people always do before they alter the course of someone life. Ive made up my mind, Rahim, to sell the shop. My health is no longer what it was. The hours are long, it is noisy, there is lifting, it is all too much for me.” The words shocked Rahim more than they should have. The store was what held him together, the one thing that his work actually mattered. What shall become of me, he said. Go and get another job, Mr. Khalid answered, and presently, hesitantly, he went on: Or you can take the shop. I would charge you a reasonable price and you could give me payment by instalments.” Rahim guffawed. I barely can pay rent, sir. What do I do to purchase a store?” Mr. Khalid smiled a little, with the wisdom of the man who has run his risks. The chances do not wait until your bank account has been prepared. Not infrequently you must jump, though the ground may seem a long way off.”

Chapter 5 – The Leap

Rahim was sleepless that night on his thin mattress, the ceiling above him was as cracked and familiar as the doubts in his mind. The purchase of the shop was too much of a gamble that he could barely afford. His mother was anxious, and reminded him that debts had already taken too much of their lives already. His friends advised him that it was stupid to embark on such burden when he did not have savings. Yet a part of Rahim--perhaps the same obstinacy that had caused him to stand in the cold outside the tea stall years earlier--would not give up the idea. He went to see a family friend who was reputed to assist during the time of need the following day. Heavy of heart and heavier of duty, Rahim told how he was to do it. The friend lent him a small amount which was just sufficient to make the first payment, on condition that he would pay back every rupee. The bargain was struck. The initial months of ownership were hellish. Rahim was on duty at dawn to midnight, where he would do anything including designing flyers and even delivering orders. There were days when the customers would not come and other days the electricity bill would close the place. He even thought himself silly to have believed that he could succeed. And every morning he opened the store with such resolution as left no place to yield.

Chapter 6 – Growth and Grit

Gradually Rahim came to realize that it was not a matter of waiting to be lucky in the business; it was the concept of making your own luck. He also got to know how to promote his services, which included giving discounts to his regular and repeat customers and providing orders before time. He started producing business cards, wedding invitations and banners to local events. The news got around that his shop was good and more people started trooping into his shop through the small door. Rahim one evening in closing up, saw a boy standing outside. The boy was skinny, chattering in the evening wind, and the same dull emptiness had written itself in his eyes as Rahim had once known so well. Rahim without being put off, took him in and gave him a scorching cup of tea. The boy said that he wanted something to do, that his family could not buy him school any longer. Rahim recognized his younger self in that boy and without any second thought provided him a job of helping out in the shop. It was such a little thing, and yet it seemed a complete circle.

Chapter 7 – Setbacks and Storms

Success is never a straight route, though. When the shop was starting to work smoothly, a fire in a building nearby damaged a number of businesses around the shop including Rahim. The fire did not burn the whole shop, but smoke and water destroyed a lot of his inventory. The defeat was terrible. Insurance was not an option, Rahim had never been able to afford insurance. He toiled amid the odour of burnt paper and wet cardboard, weeks at a time, in order to save something. In sympathy with his case, many customers offered to pay in advance against future work. The debts re-accumulated, however, and Rahim had to contemplate whether or not he could keep the doors open. During those times, he used to recall words of Mr. Khalid on how to jump when the ground appeared far. This was one of those times when the ground appeared to have gone altogether. It was not the boy who had stood outside the door of a warehouse and been turned away because he was late, that Rahim was. He was the man, who created something out of nothing. Little by little, aided by the boy he had employed, and a few of his faith-keepers, he started to re-establish himself.

Chapter 8 – The Turning Point

Several months later, Rahim was starting to reap results of his endurance, things he had not thought about in advance. After witnessing how he could stick to his schedule and meet all the obligations, a local event organiser gave him a big contract to take all the printing of the community events. That job would be stable and high paying, and it would be sufficient to not only service his debts but also grow his business. Rahim spent money in acquiring a new machine, a machine which could undertake bigger and more complicated orders. The store which was initially an only survival strategy had become an expanding business. His mother did not need to stitch clothes long hours at night any more. His sisters joined colleges and their fees were fully paid through the earnings of Rahim. The family was able to eat a meal without counting each grain of rice as it had not happened in years.

Chapter 9 – Giving Back

Rahim did not forget his past as a boy and the people that led him through life. When his business expanded, he started employing more youths in the neighborhood, particularly, those who had quit school. He taught them, treated them well and motivated them to save towards their dreams. The tea house in which he had stood shaking, shivering, became his constant haunt--no longer to get warmth, but to buy the tea of any one who could not afford it. Success to Rahim was not about the size of his shop or the balance in his bank account but how many people he could assist in the process.

Chapter 10 – The Road Beneath His Feet

Years afterwards, when Rahim stood outside his shop, which was freshly painted and with bright lights, it appeared to be a totally different place. The name of the shop was placed in the signboard, a name that he had decided to give in honor of his deceased father. People entered and exited, and the printing machines kept humming along as the now non-empty pockets of a young man contained not only money, but the tales, respect and dignity. Rahim was aware that life would continue to put obstacles in his path, business could slow down, accidents could occur and unexpected bills could come. But the boy who had fancied the world was too heavy to carry had learned a lesson that no setback could efface: the road that is beneath your feet does not need to be smooth, you need only to keep walking. The experience of Rahim turned into a local legend in his neighborhood. Parents narrated to their children the story of the young man who used to sell tea at the stalls with no money in his pockets and bought a business that not only supported him and his family, but multiple other families as well. His life also came to illustrate that persistence is a sort of magic--it opens closed doors, makes failures a learning experience, and turns dreams into realities. And whenever someone would come to him asking how he made it, Rahim would grin and then say the same thing Mr. Khalid said to him; opportunities do not wait until your bank account is prepared. Sometimes you just have to leap even though the ground may seem so far away.

 

***** THE END *****