Honoring a Promise

Today (Thursday), Engineer Muhammed Nasir Uddin, Chairman of the country’s leading humanitarian organization Alhaj Shamsul Hoque Foundation (ASH), is visiting the home of the late gravedigger Manu Mia in Kishoreganj.

A few days ago, from Manu Mia’s old mobile phone, his elderly wife called me and said with affection:
“Son, won’t you come to our home?”

Earlier, just five days before his passing, Manu Mia himself, from the same phone, invited me warmly to visit his home. I promised him then, but amid life’s busyness, I couldn’t make the journey to Kishoreganj. I never got to see him one last time.

Now, his wife left childless and widowed, teaches the neighborhood children how to read the Qaida. This morning, pausing her lessons, she asked again:
“When will you come, son?”

With all her love and simplicity, she just wants to cook something with her own hands to feed the young man who once showed a little kindness to her late husband.

How could I ignore such a heartfelt invitation from a mother who has lost everything? Surely, the Almighty did not give me the strength to say no.

So today, I will be at Itna, Kishoreganj, at the home of Manu Mia, Insha’Allah.