Sopore: Shameem Ahmad Dar is a 40-year-old physically challenged man (without hands) by birth. But that doesn’t stop him from struggling hard to earn bread and butter for his family. He believes the disability is a gift from God and he is contented with his life.
Hailing from Nowpora, Reban village, nearly 3 kilometers away from Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, Shameem’s day starts with feeding his horse and leaving home in search of provision to feed his family.
Interestingly, Shameem has pursued education up to 12th standard after which he started driving the Tonga (horse-cart) which, a couple of decades back was a preferable choice for people.
A man without hands had a passion for riding horse-cart; and he pursued it. “I use my arms to control the horse,” Shameem told INS. “I pull the cart in forward direction and control it with the bridle and the whip.”
For Shameem, his horse “works no less than a machine” but “very few people now prefer Tonga for travelling”.
“I was 19 when I started riding Tonga. Those days, it was also a good business, I used to ferry hundreds of passengers throughout the town and made handsome earning,” Dar recalled.
Shameem said in 90s, he used to earn a lot of respect for being a Tonga driver as people in Sopore were “fully dependent” on this means of transport. “There were very few passenger buses those days, and hardly anyone had a private vehicle. So, my Tonga was highly admired.”
“Now, people feel insulted by travelling on a Tonga as this is the age of cars and bikes. Nowadays, I find it hard to earn livelihood.”
Besides parents and brother, Shameem has four sons and a daughter. “My wife has supported me in all weathers of life,” he said.
Shameem expressed lament over the “failure” of government in restoring the “lost glory of our Tonga culture”.
He said the government has offered the horse-cart riders the auto rickshaws in exchange of giving up riding Tongas. “But I reject it. It is totally unacceptable for me to give up my passion.”
