On the way towards life!

“I am tired of going to gourmet grill so let’s go to pizza hut today.” These were the words said by a friend and we set out for lunch. I sat on the driving seat and switched on the music. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is always a pleasure to listen. Soon we reached the restaurant as it was just a kilometer away from our university. While sitting in the air conditioned hall of pizza hut, we were unaware of the 40 degree Celsius temperature outside, but I could feel the heat just by looking at the sweat drops dripping from the face of the security guard standing outside the entrance of the restaurant. But then I thought, it’s his job and he is doing it well.

Twelve minutes later, our two large pizza’s Chicken Fajita and Chicken Supreme came on the table which we ordered and we started eating them with great delight. While I was taking a bite of pizza with a sip of coke, I could still see the guard through a glass door, standing under the hot sun. A large pizza in front of me with enough money in my wallet to pay the bill and security guard at the door; this scene suddenly reminded me of Abdul Ghafoor, another security guard whom I met a day before yesterday.

Abdul Ghafoor who lives near my home and works as a security guard in a factory which is almost 9 kilometers away from his house told me that he gets monthly pay of 6000pkr ($67) for working 12 hours a day.

I asked him, “Is 6000pkr enough for you and your family?”

He replied, “Sir, Obviously it’s not enough but by the grace of God, we have never slept with empty stomachs.”

He further told me that he has two sons and two daughters and none of them go to school because he don’t have money to buy them school books. He told me that his job timing starts at 9am in the morning but he left for work at 7am sharp. I asked that why is it so?  Sir, the local bus charges me 60rs for two side route and I cannot afford it, therefore I walk all the way from my home to the factory and it takes almost 90 minutes. I practice the same while coming back to home. While he was telling me all this, there was a smile on his face. He seemed to be very satisfied and happy with his life. Apparently it looked like he has no worries in life but in real his grey hairs with wrinkles on his face and weak legs were telling the whole story.

The pizza was so tasty that I forgot everything and tried to concentrate on eating it. We had a great time at lunch with a little bit of chit chat and jokes. We paid the bill of 2700pkr and left the place. While I moved towards the main door, the security guard opened the door for me and passed me a smile and said: Allah hafiz sir!! I felt like he wants me to give him something in return. I gave him 20rs and headed towards my car. While driving back to my university, I was thinking about Abdul Ghafoor all the time. I was thinking that how much 2700 means to a person whose monthly income is 6000rs!

There was a question in my mind that why Allah made me rich and made Abdul Ghafoor poor? Why can’t everyone be rich? And then the answer came by itself that Allah made him poor so that He could test him that whether living such a poor life, is he still going to thank Allah? And He made me rich to test that after having all the comforts of life, am I going to spend on those poor people who need my help?

I was feeling pity for my own self that Abdul Ghafoor being so poor with a lot of difficulties is on his way to pass the test of life and I being a born rich and living a life full of comforts have failed to understand the true purpose of life. That day, I decided to save money and support such people who deserve our help instead of wasting it just for the sake of taste.

Sometimes, routine incidents and ordinary people affect you in such a way that they totally change the meaning, purpose and goal of your life. Abdul Ghafoor has changed my life in the same way!!