How this 25-year-old turned his fortunes around during lockdown

Karachi is full of immigrants striving to gain a legal status. However, few are able to get it and fewer turn their fortunes around while inspiring others to follow the path as well. One such inspiring individual is 25-year-old Shahid Babul, who refused to give up in the face of seemingly never-ending difficulties.

Belonging to a Bengali family, when he finally able to get an identity card made for himself, Babul opted for teaching as a profession. By 2020, it had been seven years since he had been teaching at a school in PECHS. However, the transient relief was to last just that long.

He and his family found themselves in despair again after the coronavirus outbreak.

Babul’s father, who used to work as a cook, lost his job and Babul’s own livelihood was affected after schools were closed for long. Back then, Babul was also giving home tuitions and worked part-time as a video editor to support his father run the household, being the eldest among four siblings.

After a lockdown was imposed in the wake of the pandemic and both he and his father lost their livelihoods, things became even more difficult for him than before.

However, he refused to give up. That’s what he had done all his life - fought his way through the most troubling of times - he realised, and with a renewed ambition, set up an online platform, ‘Seafood Babu’, for delivering homemade food and fried fish to peoples doorsteps.

He was quick to gauge the gap amid a dearth of online suppliers delivering seafood to homes and filled that gap, setting up an online platform for the purpose with his family’s help.

Babul already had a considerable following on social media as he had been providing guidance to youngsters on overcoming difficult times through sheer hard work and achieving success.

With the launch of ‘Seafood Babu’, his popularity sky-rocketed, in turn boosting his business at a very early stage.

Moreover, the only major investment he had to make was in developing the website.

According to Babul, for his first order, he had to buy fish worth Rs500 and spent another Rs200 on its packing and delivery. Even then, he was able to make a profit of Rs300 on that order. And after that, there was no looking back.

“Finding the business this profitable, I left my job at school and decided to invest all my time in this business,” he said.

He then started promoting the business on social media and his services became popular across Karachi.

Now he spends at least three hours a day buying and packing fish and making arrangements for delivering the items. For the purpose, he has also hired a rider.

However, Babul believes he still has a long way to go.

“I think my client base is still pretty small… and I am planning to expand it to Lahore and Islamabad as well,” he said. “In fact, I will start delivering orders in Lahore from next month.”

Babul also realises his responsibility towards the country and has got his company registered with the Federal Board of Revenue. Having acquired a National Tax Number (NTN) certificate for his business, he makes sure he pays all his taxes, which is his way of giving back to the country and contributing to its development and progress.

“The government needs to have [enough] resources to be able to solve public issues and it will only have them when people pay taxes honestly, considering it their national duty,” he explained to The Express Tribune.

A copy of the NTN certificate for his business is now also pasted on the fried fish stall his father runs and where he, too, works at times.

Besides, he continues to guide youngsters, inspiring and motivating them to achieve success.

According to him, currently around 150 online platforms are offering delivery services for seafood and 38 among them were started by people who sought guidance from him regarding the business.

“Young individuals often don’t want to move out of their comfort zones and don’t make enough effort, but they need to realise the success cannot be achieved without hard work,” he remarked.

This is what he tells aspiring individuals who approach him for guidance, playing his part in making the country and its people progress.

This story is part of a weekly series that seeks to bring to light the unsung heroes of Karachi - the hawkers, traders, doctors, teachers, engineers, lawyers and daily-wage labourers. It is they who make Karachi the city of lights.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2020.