For some, hanging around a graveyard is the only way to reap a decent livelihood

Many children loiter about the graveyard and sell wild bushes to the mourners.

SUKKUR: There are many things people do to earn a living – some engage in tedious number crunching every day, others spend an inordinate amount of time driving people around and a few, such as Sagheer Ahmed, dig graves.

He told The Express Tribune that his father, Bashir, was a watchman who used to earn a pittance that could barely sustain the family. But all of this changed unexpectedly when Sagheer’s mother passed away. “I was ten years old at the time. When my father went to the graveyard, he got frustrated because the gravedigger was demanding an exorbitant sum. So he simply decided to prepare my mother’s grave by himself,” he said. “My father immediately rented out a spade as well as a shovel and got right to work. It took him a couple of hours, but he managed to finish the task in the end.” Sagheer added that this experience proved to be a turning point in his father’s life, who gained popularity as a gravedigger. Even his elder brother, Zaheer, who was 15 years old at the time, started lending his father a hand.

When Sagheer’s father passed away in 1985, it was his turn to pick up the shovel and join his brother in the trade. But then, around 15 years later, Zaheer passed away too and Sagheer eventually hired two labourers to help him out. When asked how much he earns in a day, he said “it depends on how many graves we have to dig. I usually charge Rs700 for each grave, but some people pay more for my services. Then there are those who cannot afford to pay up, so I don’t charge them a single rupee.” Sagheer said that he gives a total of Rs300 to both labourers for each grave that they dig. “But I have to keep an eye on them, otherwise they start slacking off.”

Sagheer said that he does not want his only son, who works at Sukkur Municipal Corporation, to join the trade. “My labourers Ghulam Rasool and Yasin will continue this work after I quit.”

The forgotten children

Sagheer and his labourers are not the only ones who rely on the graveyard for a living. The children of families who live near graveyards in Sukkur wait for a dead body brought for burial. When it arrives, they rush to the grave and offer freshly picked wild bushes and water to the mourners, saying that placing these items on the grave is the best way to please God. The charges are not fixed and the children earn around Rs5 or Rs10 each time.

A little girl, Aisha, lives near a graveyard with her seven siblings. All of them earn a livelihood from the graveyard because their father is a drug addict. “Instead of providing for us, he demands money”, said Aisha bitterly. “We earn a considerable amount on Fridays because a large number of people visit the graveyard to offer fateha to their loved ones.”

Anwar and his three brothers also keep roaming about in the graveyard to earn some money. When asked how much he earns per day, Anwar reached inside the pocket of his shirt and pulled out 70 rupees. “This is what I have earned today. My brothers earn Rs50 to Rs70 too,” he said. “My father died last year and now we are responsible for earning a livelihood for our family.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 21^st, 2012.