How Pathao Affects Pathao Rider Mehedi Alam’s Life

I was reminiscing my childhood days: whenever my father bought me something, he wrote down my name on the receipt with the price. But on that day, I wrote down my father’s name on the phone purchase receipt and gave it to him with pride.

*Name: Mehedi Alam
*Hometown: Brahmanbaria

Tell us something about yourself

I was born and brought up in Tejkhali, Brahmanbaria. Since childhood, I was quite unruly and had little concerns over my academics. My mother was always worried about whether I would be able to pass my exams or not. My academics were poor as I was quite restless. Since 2006, my father used live in Dhaka city. Thus, my mother decided to send me to Dhaka city to avail better opportunities for my education. However, my father didn’t want me to come to Dhaka as the living expenses are high in comparison with our hometown. My mother was always concerned about my future. Thus, she encouraged me a lot to get better at my academics. No one is ever bothered about the struggles of the middle class. It was a miracle as to how a family of five survived with the little income earned by my father. Any snacks on top of three meals a day – even biscuits – were a luxury. My childish mind hardly understood the harsh reality that my father’s hands were tied, that he could not fulfill our cravings even if he wanted to.

How did you come to know about Pathao?

Right after the completion of my diploma, I set up a small online shop to sell gadgets and accessories and had to bicycle throughout the city to purchase and deliver products, all the while making sure my customers were satisfied. I’m not very fit and the excessive cycling took a severe toll on my health. At that time, I was completely dependent on my online business. Therefore, I had to figure out a solution immediately. I gathered up the courage to ask Baba to lend me some money. It was a pretty big decision since the money would have to be repaid in numerous installments. When he saw that my online business was going well, Baba agreed to help me. I wanted to buy a secondhand motorcycle from a friend of mine. Luckily, he agreed. He sold it to me, gave me a great deal, and even taught me how to ride it. Just after getting used to motorcycling, I got my learners license. By that time, a event was going on titled ‘Ashlei 500’ by Pathao. I went to that event and signed up as a Pathao Rider. Since then, I have been sharing rides on Pathao. Currently, I have a full time job and I share rides when I am free.

How much of your life has changed due to Pathao?

My family has always supported me throughout my life. Even though we had very little, my parents always strived to cater to my needs: be it the bicycle, with which I began my online business, or the loan for the motorcycle, which was certainly a financial toll for my family. The moment I began earning some extra money, I always contributed to my family. I know that I never would be able to return back all the effort and the hard work that my parents spent behind me.
My father was always curious about smartphones. We often had discussions about new smartphones and their features. One day, right after work, I asked my father to hop on my bike and we visited the nearest mobile phone shop. I happily asked him to choose any phone from the shop. He chose a Symphony tablet phone since he loved large screen phones. I was reminiscing my childhood days: whenever my father bought me something, he wrote down my name on the receipt with the price. But on that day, I wrote down my father’s name on the phone purchase receipt and gave it to him with pride. I would never forget that priceless moment.
Pathao has helped me bring my childhood dreams to reality. I have been able to put smile on my family’s face, thanks to Pathao. Right now, I am saving money for my soon-to-be-born niece, so that I can buy her a lot of presents.

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