On the issue of garbage in the public domain

These pics depict the sad state of affairs in the posh PECHS locality of Karachi on Dr. Mahmood Hussain Road (formerly 42nd Street). This is the back end of Jheel Park which has been developed at much cost, but the developers overlooked this bit, or possibly left it to contrast with the otherwise beautifully appointed park.

Dr. Mahmood Hussain was a high order educationist, and he must be turning in his grave, in a manner of speaking. I pass this dump on a daily basis, and on one such occasion I stopped to chat with two Afghan boys busy picking rags and other useful stuff that the more affluent had discarded. One of them refused to talk to me, and when I offered him a cash inducement in lieu of an interview, he flatly refused, his pride not permitting the taking of a handout. The younger one was more amenable, and for 100 rupees told me that his name was Dost Khan, and that he hailed from Quetta where his mother had relocated from Kunduz in Afghanistan after being abandoned by her husband. He was the only child of his mother. Clearly his future prospects, indeed his very ability to survive, was in grave doubt and danger.

I would have liked to pursue the interview in greater detail, but the stench was unbearable, and I detected the onset of nausea and fled the scene. But I'll be back soon, hopefully, with a scheme to make a difference in Dost's life, Inshallah.








And here's another aspect to the city of Karachi where the other half lives and plays.......

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