At first he looked for job, but all his effort went in vain.
Failing to get a job, he took the decision not to try for a job anymore and went to Saudi Arabia as an overseas worker in 1998.
After staying there for over nine years, he returned home in 2007, Rafikul said, adding that after returning home he purchased some land with his savings and started gourd farming on a limited scale, alongside serving as a private tutor, for a livelihood.
He expand his cultivation area in 2018, and in the first year of commercial cultivation, he earned a profit of Tk 50,000 from one bigha of land, followed by a profit of Tk 1,20,000 the following year.