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AyRojgar
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Mixed experienceA watch repairer in Khulna, in a Prothom Alo report · Started in 1975

Fifty-seven years in the trade, 9am to 8pm, and 300-500 taka a day

He opened his own shop around 1975 and ran it about fifteen years, until the landlord demolished the building. He now works from a small table under an umbrella by the road, taking 300-500 taka a day.

This watch repairer in Khulna is 73 and has been at the work for close to 57 years. His father came to Khulna from Durgapur village in Gopalganj in 1962 for goldsmith work and he followed at about twelve; he began learning watch repair while in class nine and gave up his studies for it. After years in other people's shops he opened his own around 1975, and it ran about fifteen years until the landlord pulled the building down and it closed. He now works from a small table under an umbrella near the police station on KD Ghosh Road, from 9am to 8pm, taking 300 to 500 taka a day. His family lives at Nowapara in Jashore while he stays in a hostel at Kalibari and goes home once a week. In his own words: "It is hard to be away from the work."

Lessons

  1. 1.A business built in rented premises can end in a day when the landlord pulls the building down, however long it has traded
  2. 2.The skill survives the shop, but working from a pavement table pushes the income down to day-labour level

Published with the person's permission, without revealing who they are.

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