His lips uttered no word but eyes spoke deep. His misery could be seen through the pitch dark and shallow bullet holes of his eyes, covered with dust of fate and fortune.
Meet Habib chacha. He lives in a room at Urdu Bazaar, near Jama Masjid. He is 61 and spends his day sweeping in Jama Masjid and offering Namaaz. Habib chacha used to own a house near Turkmaan Gate. His wife died 15 years ago. He has a son, who used to work as a trainee engineer in Surat. His son went missing during Gujarat riots. As his son was his only source of livelihood, he had to sell his house and move to Urdu Bazaar.
In this big bad world, Habib chacha survives earning nothing. From God’s grace, he manages to get three square meals. When asked how, he simply said, “I believe that a trusting attitude and patient attitude go hand in hand. You see, when you let go and learn to trust God, it releases joy in your life. And when you trust God, you’re able to be more patient. For patience is not just about waiting for something, it’s about how you wait or your attitude while waiting.”
Habib chacha has faced helluva lot of difficulties, from Indo-Pak partition to 1992 Hindu-Muslim riots. But never had he loosened hope! He lived an utterly miserable life but never lost his faith in himself and in God. The perseverance with which he has been living his life is impeccable. Amidst our conversation, he once quoted, “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which all the difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”
Habib chacha is now living with a hope, a hope that his son will return someday.
He prays everyday, asking the Lord to bring his son back to him before he closes his eyes forever.
And now with him these three remain: faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of them is love.
By Aena Rizvi
