Monday, April 6, 2015

Cruel Ironies of Life

Cruel Ironies of life ........

"Feroz please pay this electric bill", Salima handed the bill to her husband on the breakfast table.
"How much is it?", he asked taking a sip of his tea.
"Rs 25,000", she replied.
"How many times I have told you to be careful, this is a lot", Feroz sounded angry.
"My children cannot stay without the AC in this scrotching  heat", Salima was not at all concerned.

"Salamat Ali these are Rs 50,000 , 25,000 for electric bill and 25,000 is your salary for this month. Please pay the bill today", he explained his driver.
"Jee Sahab", replied Salamat Ali.

"Here take this  month"s salary, I will not ask anyone for loan this month, you will have only these Rs 25,000
to spend ", said Salamat Ali handing the money to his wife Nasim Bano that night when he got home close to midnight after work.
Nasim Bano looked at her 5 young children sleeping in the tiny apartment in dim light.
"How will I buy new books for Saad, pay rent, buy groceries, buy new chappals for Sughra, pay school fees , utility bills and get the ceiling fixed", thought Nasim Bano
"Ya Allah help me", she prayed.

"Ami I like this dress I want to buy it for my Jahez", said Lyla.
"Beti you already have bought so many, why are you buying another one", her mother Mrs Amin argued.
"Come on Ami don't be so cheap", Lyla the very spoiled daughter of Mrs Amin handed the dress to the salesgirl.
Mrs Amin reluctantly handed her credit card to Ayesha the salesgirl.
Ayesha who was helping the two ladies wondered why there is so much disparity in the world.
"It is so ironic I get up early in the morning change two buses to come to this mall to work in this boutique, I earn  Rs 25,000 after one month"s hard work and some other young girl spends Rs 25,000 in just few minutes , quite conveniently", she wondered as she packed the dress.
"Maybe one day my qismat will change", Ayesha assured herself.
Ayesha worked as a salesperson in a designer boutique to support her parents and younger siblings.

Alimuddin found a wallet inside the shirt of one of his clients, while he was sorting out the clothes at his Dhobi Ghat  in the outskirts of the city.He opened the wallet , it belonged to Mr R.K.Inam a famous dentist in the city. It contained his credit cards, few receipts, photographs and Rs 25,000 in cash.
He counted the money.
" Should I return the wallet or just keep it, I can tell them that I did not find anything if they ask, I can use these Rs 25,000 to repair the only bathroom in my house and to pay some of my debt.I am upto my eyeballs in debt. I need this money,these dentists charge Rs 2,000 from every patient, he will make this much money in two days",
Alimuddin was a poor Dhobi who was only earning member of the family comprising 4 kids, parents and a wife to support. They lived in a tiny two bedroom house in the slums of the city.
Alimuddin could not sleep that night " he had never stole any thing in his life, he desperately needed money, Please God forgive me but I am tired and helpless ", he prayed.

All these people live in the city of Karachi , their lifestyles, their priorities are very different from each other......
They all need money ......
Rs 25,000  is very important to each and everyone of them, some spend it through a period of one month, some spend it in one hour, some use it for their luxuries, some use it to get over their worries......

Why the gap between the have"s and the have nots is always expanding?

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