Arkosh
Published on
Reading Time
10 mins
Introduction
Oh, my Lord, when I recall this guy, my throat gets filled with sorrow and empathy. When I got back from Russia to Tajikistan back in 2014, roaming the streets of Dangara City, East Street, visiting my grandmother’s house, I saw this guy again. It changed something in me forever. Let’s dive right in.
Arkomiddin or Arqamuddin
The name Arqamuddin (Arabic: أرقم الدين) is an Arabic and Islamic name that generally translates to "The Writer of the Religion" or "The Pen of the Faith." The Persian/Tajik version of the name is Arkomiddin. But people would call this guy Arkosh.
I met him on the very first day I came to East Street with my family, my mother and sister, to see my aunties and my grandmother. I said, "That’s Arkosh, I know him." I said, "The guy has changed a lot." But here’s the question: what was so special about him that I remembered this guy after 6 or 7 years of living abroad in Russia?
He had a condition, an intellectual disability (ID), with some mix of ADHD-related traits. Why would you ask? For example, before talking to someone, he would repeat their name up to 4 or 5 times just before conveying his message. He would stumble a lot when walking, being a little bit clunky from time to time. He couldn’t grasp numbers, but he understood how to count money. He couldn’t study like other kids. When he got enrolled into school, as an experiment, he would roam around the classroom in the middle of classes. He dropped out almost immediately.
I approached him, and it turned out he remembered me. He looked at me and said, "Eraj, do you remember me? How was Russia?" I said, "Yeah, Arkosh, it was good. How about you?" He said, "Thank God, everything is okay," although people around him would definitely know that everything wasn’t okay with him.
The Past
My mother approached me later and said, "Eraj, before moving to Russia, you lived with your grandmother and you were a very little boy. Arkosh was probably 1 or 2 years older than you. You first approached him in the middle of the street, when it was noon, when it was really hot outside, with no wind and only yellow dust. You said to Arkosh that you wanted to be friends with him."
I said, "Mom, I barely remember this, but I know I said something similar."
My mom looked at me and said, "Yes, that’s what you said and did."
Can you imagine that? Out of all the kids out there, I felt compassionate and full of empathy, and I approached exactly him. He is still my friend, believe me, even though I moved on with my life and now live peacefully in Africa.
What I Learned From Him
I think a lot.
Here’s the thing I would tell you: sometimes when you are born the way you are, with a good country, a good body, and good health, you think you just spawned in out of nowhere with default settings. Sorry, my guy, "default" is a word that exists only in games. In the real world, God forbid if you are born with disabilities, but if you are, you can’t do anything about that except live your life.
Arkosh is a simple guy, just like everybody else. He is a man now, a man. A man’s life is never an easy life, whether you have a good condition or not. But I believe in the power of good, and I believe that one day he will be able to do what he wants so much.
Arkosh struggled his entire life with his condition, but he stood still. I remember when we would have Eid al-Adha or Eid al-Fitr, he would dress nicely, visit houses, make duas for others, try his best to socialize, and believe me, he would do that in a great way, better than some other dudes.
I remember funny cases where he would casually roam around East Street and a group of girls would drive him away because he was too close to them, although he was just passing by. In response, Arkosh would say one thing: "You didn’t buy this street. If I am passing by, I am passing by, that’s it." It was so funny to me. I would look at the girls and say, "Arkosh is right."
Arkosh also had this thing where his mouth would get watery and it would go out because of his disabilities. He couldn’t even realize that he needed to constantly clean it, so I would tell him to do that. He would go home, get a piece of handkerchief, and clean it. When his family would ask why he was doing that, he would reply, "Because my friend Eraj said that." I would get so happy when he would say that.
Generally, for East Street, he had a special kind of presence. With him, the street felt different and good, just like home to many people. People who would come back from vacations, from different countries, would be greeted exactly by Arkosh, and it made them feel at home.
When Arkosh would see someone coming back from a long trip, he would definitely visit them. For sure, he just wanted to say hi.
Conclusion
May God protect Arkosh, a good guy who is always looking forward to seeing people coming back. Who is just happy with his life. God has a special gift for him that we don’t know anything about.
People like Arkosh tell us that life is simple and that we shouldn’t strain ourselves too much, alright? Isn’t that beautiful in a way?
Yes, it is.
I am coming back to Tajikistan at the beginning of 2027. I will visit this guy. And then, I’ll go to the Caribbean.
See you soon in the next article on my website.
