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In father’s footsteps
SHARJAH — Like all young men, 25-year-old Ershad Khan had dreams and ambition, but destiny had something else in store for him. He wanted to become a cricketer, but ended up becoming a watchman in order to support his family back in Pakistan.
Khan’s father worked as watchman for nine years in Dar Al Mussalla Building in Sharjah. As he became old and infirm, he passed the baton to his son who arrived in the UAE four years ago.
“I have to work more than 18 hours a day. Besides my job as watchman of the building, for which I get Dh850 monthly salary, I do the extra work of cleaning and polishing cars, and maintenance works, including carpentry, repair of home appliances belonging to the tenants as well as residents of other buildings,” Khan says.
“I wake up at 4.00am to clean the lifts and the building and dump the trash in the municipality’s container. Then I go for the morning prayers and come back to clean the vehicles of the tenants. Everyday I clean around 50 vehicles for Dh100 each monthly payment. From this extra income, I send money to my old parents, wife and children,” he adds.
“The manager of the building comes at 10.00am and my duty is to clean the office before he arrives. Later, I prepare coffee or tea for him. As part of my job, I have to keep an eye on the people who visit the building, and ensure security for the tenants,” Khan says with a sense of responsibility.
“If anything goes wrong or any crime takes place in the building, I will be the first person to be questioned by the police. Hence, I never leave the building premises. My friends know that, so they visit me regularly,” he says.
“The building in which I work consists of 42 flats and 14 offices. I have to be very alert to ensure security because many cleaners come for cleaning the offices. I have to keep my phone on all the time, even when I go to sleep so that I am available in case an emergency situation arises,” Khan points out.
“Since the time I came to this building no untoward incident has taken place,” he says with satisfaction.
Though my mother tongue is Pashto, I have learned to speak and understand Hindi, Arabic and a bit of English.
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