Cafte🌾 The Pull of the Roots
In a quiet village surrounded by endless green fields lived a hardworking farmer named Rahim Uddin. Before the call to prayer echoed through the dawn air, he would already be on his way to the fields. A plough rested on his shoulder, an old towel wrapped around his head, and by the end of the day his feet would be covered in mud.
Life had never been easy for him, but he carried his struggles with quiet dignity.
Rahim Uddin had only one son—Rayhan. He was in eleventh grade, more comfortable with books, notebooks, and the glowing screen of his mobile phone than with soil and crops.
Rahim Uddin had only one dream:
"My son should not suffer the way I did. He will study and become a great man."
But inside Rayhan's heart, a different storm was rising:
"I will go to the city and build my own life. I don't belong in this village."
And so, an invisible distance slowly began to grow between father and son.
📖 Page Two: A Small Spark, A Big Fire
One afternoon, after returning from the fields, Rahim Uddin stood at the doorway and said,
"Rayhan, come with me to the field tomorrow at dawn. We're short of workers. The rice needs cutting."
Rayhan replied with irritation,
"I can't go. I have coaching classes."
His father's voice grew firm.
"What is the use of coaching if you don't understand the value of the soil?"
Rayhan stood up angrily.
"I don't want to be a farmer!"
That single sentence struck Rahim Uddin's heart like lightning.
He fell silent. But in his eyes, a deep pain gathered—quiet, heavy, and unseen.
📖 Page Three: The Wall of Silence
That night, the dinner table was filled with silence.
Rayhan's mother sat with tearful eyes, glancing at both of them.
Rahim Uddin spoke slowly,
"If you insult this soil, you insult my hard work."
Rayhan lowered his head but said nothing. Inside, he was hurting too.
"Why can't Father understand my dreams?" he thought.
Days passed. Conversations grew shorter.
They lived under the same roof, yet it felt as if they belonged to two different worlds.
📖 Page Four: Facing the Truth
One afternoon, dark clouds suddenly covered the sky. Heavy rain poured down without warning. The rice fields were at risk of flooding.
Without hesitation, Rahim Uddin rushed toward the fields alone.
From the window, Rayhan watched his father fighting against the storm—soaked, struggling, yet refusing to give up.
Suddenly, memories flashed through Rayhan's mind—
Sitting on his father's shoulders at the village fair…
The day his father sold their cow to pay his exam fees…
His chest tightened. His eyes filled with tears.
"How can he fight alone?" Rayhan whispered.
Without another thought, he ran toward the fields.
📖 Page Five: The Reunion
Standing in the pouring rain beside his father, Rayhan shouted,
"Father! I'm here with you!"
Rahim Uddin looked up in surprise.
Through the rain, Rayhan said with a trembling voice,
"I may not become a farmer… but I will never disrespect your hard work. I will study hard. I will do something great—something that makes the world understand the value of your sacrifices."
Tears mixed with rain on Rahim Uddin's face. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"I want you to rise high," he said softly. "But never forget your roots."
That day, the distance between father and son melted away like clouds after a storm.