He has served as a colonel in the Royal Force of King Raza Shah Pehelvi in Iran. Now, he wants to serve mankind for the rest of his life.

Syed Aurangzeb Shah Bokhari has five simple targets — to establish a hospital, university, hostel, mosque and public library for the needy. Despite injuring his leg in East Pakistan, the colonel hopes to raise enough funds to fulfil his aim one day.

The man in his late 60s has started his journey from his hometown Attock and in the first phase plans to visit six major cities of Punjab before expanding his sojourn to other parts of Pakistan.

"I know it's difficult, but nothing is impossible," he said.

All his five plans are for his hometown because he feels smaller cities must have such welfare projects instead of bigger cities like Islamabad and Lahore.

"People in small towns are also human beings and they must not be deprived of such facilities," he said.

Syed Aurangzeb has made lots of amendments in his tricycle that he bought from a disabled person in Peshawar. Now, his vehicle has five gears, which help him travel around without putting in extra effort. He also plans to install a battery-operated motor in the tricycle from Gujranwala so that he can shuttle in the cities more conveniently.

The old man is perhaps too ambitious as he has set a target of at least Rs 120 million to complete his five projects. "So far I have collected just Rs 1,400 from a day's effort in Rawalpindi," he said.

But the spirits of the old man are still sky high and he plans to go to people in Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Sialkot and Lahore in the next 16 days.

"Where there is a will there is a way and I am confident that one day, Insha Allah I will complete my projects," he said.

Syed Aurangzeb said that he earned around Rs. 800,000 when he served as a colonel in the Royal Force of Iran between 1978-80, but he spent all his money on establishing three schools and two colleges when he returned after the Iran Revolution.

"Charity begins at home and I am more than satisfied with what I have achieved," he said, adding: "There are still hundreds of thousands of people who need attention of all the well-off people."

After visiting the main cities of the province, Syed Aurangzeb said he would assess his progress before going to other cities like Multan, Hyderabad and Karachi.

"I hope I get a positive response," he wished.