Years gone by: Tale of the dusty medals

Once a national level champion, 82-year-old retired boatman Baksh still has to work for Rs300 a day, simply to survive

BAHAWALPUR:

Haji Rahim Baksh, 82, knows a thing or two about lost glory.

The boatman who once won 30 national level medals cannot make ends meet today.

“My medals don’t fill my belly. There is just no respect left,” says Baksh, with a definite tremble in his voice. “I want to throw all these accolades into the river!”

Of rising age and rising costs

Baksh, born in 1930, has witnessed cataclysmic changes. He lived through the partition and migrated to Pakistan with hopes of a better future.

A few years later, at the age of 30, he started working at the Department of Irrigation. As head boatman, his salary was Rs150. Later on, after winning the boating competitions, he started earning an additional Rs500 per month.

“At that time, the Rs150 was enough to live on,” he recalls.

Now, however, that Rs500 is nowhere in sight. That scholarship has long since been suspended. Today, taking after him, his son, too, works in the department as a boatman. His grandson plans to do the same.

Baksh is old, his bones hurt, and yet he takes passengers from one bank of River Sutlej to another on his personal boat. In this way,
he manages to earn Rs300 daily, but even that isn’t enough to meet his home expenditure.

“I won the 30 medals in different rowing and swimming competitions at the national level in Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and other cities,” he reminisces. “For that, they gave me Rs500 every month, but I have not seen this allowance for 10 years. Inflation has gone up, and I have to row all day in the hot and humid weather – expenses amount to Rs400 to Rs500 per day. How can we survive like this?”

The good old days

Despite his abounding grievances, Baksh still recalls flashes of colour during his long journey.

“Once, I took the Nawab of Bahawalpur Sir Sadiq Khan Abbasi and his English wife on a boat ride across the River Sutlej,” he says wistfully. “I was honoured. The nawab even awarded me with a fistful of cash.”

He has also used his skills in other ways – for the betterment of others.

“In 1942, 1972, 1973 and 1988, there were floods during which I rescued many, many people,” he states.

“I am 82 now but if that kind of situation arises again, I still have the strength and the courage to swim faster than young boys, to save people.”

Six of Baksh’s medals stay firmly placed in his pocket, constant reminders of better days, a better life.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2013.