Kolkata47 minutes agoAuthor: Tirthankar Das
On most days, a metro station is a place of hurried footsteps, crowded platforms, and commuters rushing towards their destinations. But at Jatin Das Park Metro Station in South Kolkata, one young boy has found something else: a classroom.
With a schoolbook and notebook spread out before him, Abdul Lashkar sits near Gate No. 1, close to Asutosh College, and studies amid the constant movement of commuters. There is no quiet study room waiting for him at home. Instead, the metro station has become his classroom.
Abdul’s family lives in Baruipur, while his father runs a small roadside tea and snack stall near the metro station. With limited space at home, there is little room for a separate study corner. So whenever he gets the opportunity, Abdul opens his books and begins studying at the station.
For Abdul, however, the absence of a proper study room is not a reason to give up. It is simply another challenge he has chosen to overcome.
A simple dream drives young Abdul
Ask Abdul what he wants to become when he grows up, and his answer is remarkably simple: a teacher.
“I want to become a teacher so that I can teach children. That way, I can continue my own studies and also teach other children,” Abdul says.
The students entering the nearby Asutosh College also inspire him. Watching them walk through the college gates reminds Abdul of the future he wants for himself — one where he can continue his education and eventually stand before a classroom, not as a student, but as a teacher.
His dream may sound ordinary. But the circumstances in which he is pursuing it make it extraordinary.
Behind every dream stands his father
There is another important character in Abdul’s story, his father. Running a small tea stall selling tea, bread, egg toast and ghugni, Abdul’s father works tirelessly to keep the family going. He himself could not receive much education. But he does not want his son to face the same limitation.
His message to Abdul is simple: whatever happens, keep studying. He does not want his son to spend his childhood working at the shop. Instead, he wants Abdul to receive an education, build a career and become whatever he dreams of becoming.
For a father who never had the opportunity to study himself, investing in his son’s education has become perhaps his biggest dream. He even hopes to enrol Abdul in karate classes someday, although he remains unsure whether the family’s financial circumstances will allow it.
His father sacrifices so Abdul studies
While his father spends long hours running the tea stall, Abdul sits nearby with his books. The contrast is striking, one works to keep the family afloat, while the other studies to build a better future. The father’s sacrifice is not measured only in money. It is also reflected in the opportunities he chooses to give his son.
He could ask Abdul to help at the stall. Instead, he encourages him to study. For Abdul, every hour spent with a book is therefore more than preparation for an examination. It is a step towards fulfilling the dream his father has placed in him.
Teachers’ Day gives Abdul new meaning
Teachers’ Day is usually a celebration of those who stand inside classrooms and teach children. But Abdul’s story offers another perspective. Before he can become a teacher, he is already learning one of life’s most important lessons: education demands determination, and circumstances should not decide the size of a dream. His father may not have a classroom, a desk or expensive coaching to offer him. What he can offer is something equally important, the freedom to dream.
And Abdul is making the most of it. Every page brings his dream closer Every notebook page completed at the metro station, every sum solved amid the noise of commuters and every hour spent studying brings Abdul a little closer to the classroom he dreams of entering one day.
The metro station may be Abdul’s classroom today. But his dream is to have a classroom of his own tomorrow. While his father runs a small tea stall to keep the family afloat, his son sits nearby with his books, quietly preparing for a future he refuses to give up on.
This Teachers’ Day, Abdul and his father deserve a special salute, one for refusing to let circumstances define their future, and the other for dreaming of becoming the teacher he hopes to be.
