Thick frame glasses. Junayed Khan Afsar with a bunch of beard on the face, a 25-year-old young man with a calm face, is highly educated. I was surprised to find out more details because Afsar came from Canada, a country across seven seas and thirteen rivers. This young man who took a higher degree abroad was discovered in the animal market as a cow seller! Yes, Afsar is selling cows at the animal market in Noor Nagar Housing Society grounds of Chattogram city.
In his childhood, if a cow had been bought at home before Eid –ul-Azha, Afsar would take care of it himself for a few days. Since then, Afsar fell in love with the innocent creature. That's when he made a promise - one day he will give a cow farm, he will take care of the animal with love and compassion. Finally, in June 2023, Afsar reflected the desire that had been kept in her mind for many years.
That story was heard from the mouth of Afsar. While selling cows, Afsar told Barta24.com that after completing ‘A’ level in the country, he moved to Canada for higher education. He also started working there while studying. By working as a credit card marketer in a financial institution, he saved a large sum of money while meeting his own expenses. Returning to the country, he thought of using the earned money. That thought took him back to that childhood love. He started two farms in June 2023 from that love for cows. Among them, he built a farm named 'Junayed Javed Agro' in Gazipur.
He started fattening 30 cows in the farm ahead of this year's Eid- ul- Azha. Afsar brought the cows raised in that farm to this market located in a one kilometer area of Chattogram. Another farm of Afsar is at Savar. But it is all dairy farms. Milk is collected from 20 cows and sold in the market. Although Afsar's home is in Chattogram, he spends most of his time in Dhaka. So giving a farm near Dhaka.
As soon as you enter the animal market in the grounds of Noor Nagar Housing Society, you will see several banners of Junaid Javed Agro on the right hand side. 30 cows are standing side by side under that banner. In the beginning, the Australian Friesian breed was a large sized bull. Afsar lovingly named the bull 'Chairman'. Right next to the chairman is a white colored 'Member'. Afsar's black and white striped chairman is priced at Tk. five lakh. And the price of the ‘Member’ is Tk. three and a half lakh.
Afsar laughed at the question of what is the reason for naming cows as Chairman and Member. He stopped laughing and said, 'This name is given by seeing the behavior of the cows. The black and white colored cow is as red as the Chairman. So I call him Chairman. And I have given the name of some of his small sized cows as Members. Because the Member is a little smaller than the chairman!
Afsar's other 28 cows are also quite large. Their weight is between 350 to 700 kg. The price of these cows has increased from Tk. two and a quarter lakh to Tk. three and a half lakh.
Afsar is a son of a solvent family. They also have a family business. The father asked the son to return to Canada after his studies to join the business. But Afsar's dream was different. I wanted to become an entrepreneur, build a cow farm. That irresistible desire takes Afsar not to the air-conditioned room, but to the suffocating environment of the farm itself.
Reminding that once again, Afsar said, 'I have spent about Tk. 80 lakh to build this farm. Of this, the father gave about 30 percent. The remaining 70 percent is the money saved from my job. Many people do many things, but I went back to my childhood love. On the one hand, I can raise the cows with love and compassion. I can also make a good income by selling them.
Afsar returned to the cows as soon as he finished speaking. With great compassion, he wipes the sand off the cows and feeds them husks and water. When someone else goes to where the 'Chairman-Member' comes, if you find Afsar near, it is as if the cows are calm and steady. The people who came to the market were also amazed to see the animal-love of the highly educated youth.