Category: Stories

The dry air courses through my lungs, the scorching heat tearing up the skin I once wore beautifully. In the end all that’s left is an empty shell, a husk of what I could have been. In a place where dreams are meant to die, where shackles are the norm of society, where how submissive I am is how valuable I am to the people around me, that is where I was born.

They call it Sadiqabad, my hometown. A rural area in the backwaters of South Punjab. This is where I experienced joy for the first time, as well as grief. A place I associate with my life and my death. A city built on customs and traditions, one that holds me captive. It’s been too long for me to remember how far I have come. If you were to ask me my age, I won’t remember it. I still think I am young. I have 4 children that are the joy of my life. Three sons and one very beautiful daughter.

Children are the hope we hold on to

They are in their early years of schooling. My daughter is the heart of our house, she shines like the sun bringing me joy, the years I was robbed of is what she has returned to me, her innocence blesses me and my family. I myself only studied till grade 8th and then I was forced into an early marriage with my cousin. Essentially, my marriage itself isn’t bad. My husband and I were forced into it; he has been the kindest man I have ever known.

Education is the heart of progress

I have lived among the shackles of an uneducated household; my husband works but no women in my family dare think about working. If I had been educated, I might have been able to do something for my family, I might have been able to pitch in. In these harsh times, in the face of poverty, my education and my earning could have been the difference that changes the fortune of my family.

In hope we trust

I believe that the lights of my life, my children, are the ones who will bear me the fruit of progress. They won’t be held in the arms of Sadiqabad. I have decided to burden my daughter with the hope for betterment. She will study, she will be educated, for the both of us. I am a mother who believes in the power of education. Unfortunately, the women around me have realized too late that education is the heart of progress. We could’ve been the stepping stones for our daughters’ development.

What I have learned throughout my life is that even if we strive for an ideal, there is very rarely any satisfaction at the end of the road. However, I hope that my children will have a better go of things than me. My children will be the light that I always dreamed off. I pray they will escape from our hard present to a future much desired, one those sweet angels of mine deserve and are worthy of.

Written by Salman Tariq

Edited by Adil Rahim Hyder

Lucky are those who get an education these days when the expenses of life have made it more a privilege than a right. I am Tahira from Trolly Ada, a place where everyone seeks a better education for their children so that they may go far in life. My parents also brought me up with the same desire due to which they educated me till matric with science subjects. Life has its way and in my case, the sudden death of my father and the mental illness of my mother made it nearly impossible to pursue further education. The high expenses of day to day living bring to me the responsibility of supporting my family since I am the eldest sister. I did a job in Madina cash and carry and then tied the knot with my life partner when I was eighteen.

I find myself fortunate enough to get a caring husband who brings happiness and peace to my life. But society has its norms as we cannot survive merely on love and care and the need for decent earnings is essential. Being a rickshaw driver of someone else rickshaw it becomes very difficult for us to make ends meet. I had a pre-mature baby girl that Allah took back after four months of her birth. After three years now, I am the mother of a daughter who is now seven months. I often wonder what if I had gotten the chance to educate myself, what if I were able enough to get a well paying job to secure my daughter’s future as well as to help my husband in fulfilling our necessities.

Education has been a sole essential for survival these days and this is the most important realization I felt now and then.

Whenever I see my younger brother to whom I wasn’t able to provide the right of education; the regret intensifies as he continuously fails to get a well paying job while he keeps on whitewashing on the basis of daily wages. But I was helpless in that situation as I was more preoccupied with providing food for my family rather than education. I am still looking for a job even though I know it won’t be possible to get a high paying job. I do not my children to repeat what I and my siblings went through i.e. not being able to get a proper education.

Education to me is the best gift and assurance that I can give to my daughter so that she can be able to stand upon her own feet and provide for herself.

I wish I can make her educated enough so that she gets a respectable in position in this highly educated society. I don’t want her to worry about the next meals or to continuously think about where to get clothes for the changing season or how will you pay the bills and rents that surround us all time like a monster.

I found my matric education worth nothing in this futuristic world of science and technology where many are having high qualifications but still no jobs. So, society is demanding highly skilled intellectuals who can compete to be able to form a position in it. If I could change anything from society or if I could do something for my hometown, I would have educated every person there so that no one can feel what I am going through.

My inspiration is doctor Javeria, who worked at the hospital where my daughter was born.

I wish for my daughter to be brought up like her. The way she helps everyone is inspiring. As even our Holy Prophet PBUH has ordered us to help each other. It is not unusual to feed oneself, the big achievement is when someone thinks for everyone and tries to spread equality in the society as education even gets into our veins. If we don’t have the basic feeling of humanity for each other that can indorse us to help each other.

I even want to tell everyone out there to come forward to spread wellness in society to help each other, to share each other’s worries. I wish that every child of society can enjoy the facility of education as their basic right so that no one feels helpless when not being able to survive in society. Even the women who don’t have to do the jobs should have the education to teach their children the righteous values that govern our lives, to make them the best so that they may positively impact the whole society

Written by Hafsa Mushtaq

Edited by Ahmed Rahim Hyder