“I have been selling gold fish on my bicycle since I knew how to ride one. My father was the only bread winner in the family. He used to sell gold fish as well. When I turned 10, I told him he does not need to work anymore because his health was very bad and I started taking his bicycle out and selling the fish he used to sell. I never got an education, not because I did not want to but because if I had, my family would have starved.

I have sold goldfish in almost every major city in the country for three decades now. I am a native of Gujranwala and the rest of my family still lives there. I travel with my fish all over the country. I come to stay in Rawalpindi for three months a year. I get myself a room in a hotel in Pirwadhai for Rs7,000 a month and go home every week so I can give my family Rs5,000 for the weekly expenses. Renting a house in Gujranwala costs me about Rs4,000 a month. I leave the fish behind in the room.

I earn about Rs1,000 a day.

I do better in rural areas than in the cities because people in the cities prefer buying gold fish and other fish for their aquariums from big shops. I get the fish from Lahore.

They are delicate but still do not need much care as long as the weather is not too harsh and they are fed regularly.”

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2018