Portrait of a citizen.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Stopping the white car by the smoggy roadside, cab driver Abid Khan gets out of his vehicle, and walks over to the tree-lined pave. This overcast afternoon, despite the discomfort caused by extreme humidity, the nearby view of Yamuna river appears serenely picturesque. So does the sight of Akshardham Mandir. The soft-spoken man agrees to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences.

What do you hate the most?
When a man kills another man, whether bodily or emotionally.

The principal aspect of your personality.
I’m humble.

Your favourite qualities in a man.
The ability to be kind to others.

Your favourite qualities in a woman.
All humans are same, whatever be the gender. The quality that I expect from a man is also the quality I expect from a woman.

Your idea of misery.
If a friend stops talking to me.

What do you appreciate the most in your friends?
A friend is one of the most important parts of one’s life. He should always stand by you. He must certainly point it out to you when he feels you are in the wrong, but even then he should be standing by you.

Your favourite occupation.
Cooking.

Your idea of happiness.
If you are happy in other people’s happiness, you will be happy by default.

If not yourself, who would you be?
I would be a nice aatma, a perfect soul.

Your favourite bird
Gaurayya. We don’t see it in Delhi, but a lot of them are in my Bagpat-Meerut-Muzaffarnagar region in UP.

Your heroes in real life.
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, Ahilyabai Holkar.

Faults for which you have the most tolerance.
When people fail to return what they had borrowed.

Your favourite names
Alviya, Anaya, Atif, Wahidan, Ishrat, Shaukeen, Aslam… these are the names of people who are my life–my three children, my mother, my wife, and my brothers.

Your motto in life
One’s life is a slab of ice, which is continually melting. Nobody of us will last long. Better spend this brief time on earth by living for others.