Into the lives of Dhaka's transport hawkers

Dhaka - the city of people from every walk of life - presents a variety of hawkers in the streets, on public transport, in front of schools and colleges, and nearly everywhere. Yet interestingly, there is a specific kind of hawker called 'transport hawkers' who people meet every busy day in life if they take public transportation to get to their places.

How the transport hawkers lead their lives in this condescending society is the talk of this article, through the conversations of some of them with this writer. Their lives feature struggling-slash-easygoing moments despite some excruciating experiences and even unexpected reveals.
Mohammad Javed, a transport hawker who sells hog plums, said when asked about income, that he earns approximately Tk 500 a day, selling more than 80 pieces of hog plum. Residing in a mess in the city, he said, "I am a bachelor, and I do not have to bear the expenses of an extended family, which is why I can spend my days fairly easily with this income."
A different scenario caught sight at Shahbagh Bus Stand, where a regular transport hawker, Nahid Mahmud, sells water bottles to every public transport on the crowded street. In his words, the earnings fluctuate frequently, and even to large amounts; sometimes, he earns Tk 400 a day, sometimes it rises to Tk 700, and sometimes it stays at Tk 500-600.
Parallel to Mohammad Javed, he lives in a mess in the city. Yet, quite differently, he has to bear the expenses of his parents, who reside in the village, causing him and his family to struggle to live with this minimal income. The writer noticed three other transport hawkers spotted at Shahbagh for days, like Nahid Mahmud; contrary to the general view of transport hawkers, they tend to wander around at different spots.
This type of hawker faces many struggles when their income fluctuates, and if it becomes too unpredictable, they cannot think beforehand for a month or even a week, nor can they think about the future. In another scenario, while these transport hawkers have been expected, according to the general masses, to deal with the company itself, the reality contrasts the idea, as many deal with local suppliers.
A packaged fruit juice seller, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, said, "Most of us get the goods from the local suppliers, and we do not even know how much money we make on a daily basis. The local dealers provide us with only a tiny portion of what they earn."
A similar scenario emerges at one of the busiest areas of Dhaka, Gulistan Bus Stand, where roadside stalls, transport hawkers, and even bus conductors run the business altogether. When one of the transport hawkers, who sells water bottles, was asked about their income, he said, "Here, we deal with roadside stalls, and the bus conductors, so we cannot give out any information whatsoever. Where do you intend to go? I can get you on a bus," and continued, "All of the income and supplies are to be calculated collectively later, which is why I do not have any information to disclose."
Later, in the neighbourhood, another transport hawker who sells hog plums was spotted dealing the goods with a roadside stall, which proves the scenario further.
In this kind of cycle, those who run their business separately in front of the public, but in the end, deal together, somewhat put misconception among the general masses. Not being aware of these facts, the general masses tend to naively answer the questions the cycle asks, e.g., where they want to go, whereas the cycles only inquire about these to get their shares of profit. They then lead the people to transports within their cycle, which increases their profitability.
Last but not least, there is another type of transport hawkers who sell goods from some specific brand or company in public transport, with lucrative discounts. One of those hawkers, Shafiul Karim, was seen in the Gazipur Paribahan bus around the area of Magbazaar, selling two kinds of wallets at Tk 120 and Tk 100 per piece. The expensive one had an extra part to carry mobile phones, whereas the less expensive one did not.
When asked about income, he did not disclose it, but he said, "I work as a salesman in this company, and as they are kind of new in the industry, they are now offering discounts to grow."
Thus, in this city massively known as 'Jadur Shohor,' there are different kinds of hawkers, and while the popular belief is that all transport hawkers have the same strategy, in reality, they do not. Some walk in the same street for days on end, some deal with local suppliers, some are part of a cycle, and some work in a company as field salesmen - and all are transport hawkers, but in different ways.

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