How it feels to be working on the streets?

Anwar Ali, a young vegetable seller, works on the streets of Rawalpindi. He knows his customers’ tastes. When one regular customer named Parveen -- who says she’s been buying bread from him for years -- asks about the various vegetables he keeps in his basket carried over the shoulder, Anwar doesn’t hesitate to make a recommendation.

“Parveen aunty and I have known each other for years,” Anwar says. “And I always tell him what I like and what I don’t like,” Parveen adds. It’s this sort of personal rapport that endears Anwar to many buyers. Anwar himself admits that he knows a lot of people. His uncle jokingly says ‘I can’t go anywhere in the neighbourhood that I don’t run into somebody that you know.’

His uncle doesn’t limit it to neighbourhood, though. “From Dhoke Hafiz to Gulzare Quaid to Koral, 95% of the time we go anywhere, somebody recognizes Anwar,” he says. Watching him work, witnessing his easy interactions with all sorts of people, you would be hard pressed to guess that Anwar is so depressed for not being able to go to school.

“When I see the children going to school and wearing fine uniform, I only wish I had enough money, but suddenly the thought of my sisters overcomes me who always look towards me to fulfil their needs. How can I prefer education over daily labour, then?” “If somebody can’t help me, he at least shouldn’t jeer at me,” he says at times. “Just ask me, how it feels to be working on the streets?”

Born into a poor family with two sisters, Anwar became orphan ten years ago. After demise of parents, he occupied a corner in his uncle’s house and takes him as his guardian. Not finding much relief; therefore, he decided to start working with his uncle in order to share the financial burden of running the family budget. He started buying and selling vegetables. Roaming through the city streets he sells vegetables at the price with a minimum profit margin.

Working from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Anwar earns only Rs250-300 -- a very meagre amount to survive in this age of sky rocketing prices, but he has been taught having patience and a good attitude toward life, taking each day as an adventure. He also has beautiful manners. The first time customers meet him, they become enamoured of him.

“Everything is just so convenient,” he says of the neighbourhood he loves so much. “I need to be everywhere where I could find customers, I could walk up to them and I could tell them what I have for them,” he adds ambitiously.