This led Manik, a boy of fourteen, coming all the way from Jinjira to a motor garage at Lalmatia everyday. He anticipates that learning the skill will help him to carve a niche in life.

Not only to Manik but motor workshops in the city are serving as informal vocational training centres to the underprivileged children in the city. A good number of children and adolescents, with dirt and grease all over them are found working as trainees in motor garages at different areas of the city.

"I have been working in this garage for last one year," noted Manik. Right now he does the initial nitty-gritty works, he said. "Removing punctured tyre, fitting mat to tyres or welding the metal body falls in my responsibility," he added. "It is not an easy task but also not impossible to do," he sounded confident. However, Manik and his co-workers mentioned there are no wages for them unless they acquire the dexterity. "They promised to pay me after three years when I learn the job properly and I am looking forward to it," Manik said.

"Everyone cannot stick to the profession since it demands a tight schedule from eight in the morning to eight in the evening," said Bijoy Das, In-charge of Topu Motors. Moreover, the intelligence level of the children differs from one to another. "Everyone do not have the innate quality to learn," Bijoy added.

Whether government or private, no specific regulation exists for appointing children in motor garages. Even nine years olds are found as trainee in these places. However, most of the garage authority said the children come to them on their own. The owners of workshops do not force the kids to work there, they commented.

Moreover, they never let the kids do anything that is hazardous, most of the garage authority said. "We do not ask them to do any risky task," said one of the garage owners at Dhanmondi. "They start with handing small equipment like screwdriver or jack and gradually begin to do some small tasks," he added.

Parents of these kids are well aware of the work atmosphere in the motor workshops, which is of course strenuous for them. Nevertheless, they want their children to continue learning the skill. "We, the poor people cannot even dream to offer our kids education," said Abu Taher, whose two sons work in a garage. "It is better they learn some skill that will enable them to earn bread rather than getting hooked to drug or other criminal activities," he sighed.

However, reality sometime fails to console the kids working in the motor garages. "Father asked me to stop going to school since he cannot afford it," Khorshed Mia choked with tears. He had to leave school after class four. Now he looks forward to earn money after learning motor mechanism. "Some day I will become a Ustaad too," he said. "I will have my own garage," he added.