in Noakhali. Sometimes they get work in a rice mill. My eldest sister is married and went to live in Pakistan with her husband.

I came to the city when I was seven and our family were in severe financial crisis. My father said Dhaka was a big city, where I could earn lots of money. My cousin, who comes from our village, agreed to take me to Dhaka to find work and let me live with him. We lived in Badda near Gulshan in a small house with two rooms with his family of five. I sleep on the floor. He is a really nice man. He loves me. I stay there for free. He has sympathy with my family situation.

I had many jobs before I began my tempo career. My cousin first got me a job in a restaurant at Mirpur. They paid me 50 taka a month plus food and accommodation. I used to work from 6am to midnight with three hours rest. They never gave me fresh food, always rotten leftovers. I worked in three different restaurants in Gulshan and Badda, but I left after a few months. Wages were low. They were cheaters. I was badly treated. The people were insulting. When I broke a glass they beat me and deducted it from my wages.

Then I had a job as a servant in Gingira near Shadarghat. The householder was a motor garage owner. They had two cows that I had to look after and feed properly, and I also had to do the shopping, wash clothes, clean the house and work in the kitchen. It was a demanding job but poorly paid. I earned 90 taka a month. They were never satisfied with my work, though I tried my best. They ill-treated me. They called me 'house-slave'. They were very wicked. They would not allow me a single day off to visit my parents. I worked there for seven months continuously. It was like a prison. Then my uncle came and rescued me. I would never work as a home servant again.

Now I work on tempos I am not a slave. This is work with more freedom, better than all the other jobs I have had. My Ustad loves me, never cheats me, never tortures me like those bloody people. I want to be a tempo driver when I grow up - if I don't die. My Ustad teaches me driving. I think within a few years I will be able to drive a tempo. Every day I turn on the engine and my Ustad drives. I follow my Ustad; watch what he does and how he does it. My family would be free of all their financial problems if I became a tempo driver."