
Poverty has defined life in this country in myriad ways. This rickshaw puller, barely in his teens, is learning the hard way of what it means to be poor. His education stopped at Class Five. He is new in Dhaka, having arrived from Dinajpur only days earlier and putting up with an equally impoverished relative. He does not know the streets of Dhaka, has never pulled a rickshaw before. His passengers, like this young woman on his vehicle, guide him to their destinations. This scene was spotted yesterday on Topkhana Road. photo: tapan dey