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| SOURCE: DAWN |
Coronavirus increases unemployment: story of friends going from Karachi to KP on a rickshaw.
While the whole world is engulfed by Corona and everyone is getting to hear, read and watch Corona news, a video of 4 friends from Karachi reaching Rikshah Khyber Pakhtunkhwa went viral on social media. But break the mountain of surprises. Just imagine, from Karachi to KP and that too in Rickshaw!
When Sharifzada, one of the adventurers of the trip, about 1700km long and jockeying on the rickshaw, was contacted by phone, he said that he and his 3 friends used to earn a living by running a rickshaw in Karachi.
He begins by telling the story of his travels '' When hotels, business centers, offices and other places in the city of Karachi have shut down a few days ago due to the threat of the Coronavirus, and people's streets were reduced significantly. So, our job has to pay for these precautionary measures. Then the shutters of the hotels from above were closed, and then there was the need to eat bread. Tired of unemployment, all four of us decided to go to our native village of Shangla.
An additional point to mention here is that this is happening a lot on social networking websites. When news of the departure of these four friends and the arrival of Pukhtoonkhwa came to light, it was initially said that these friends belonged to Buner, but Sharifzada proved himself wrong by saying that he was actually from Shangla. ۔
Be aware that the decision was not due to Corona's fears but to purely unemployment and hotel closures. He further said, 'I contacted different bus services to book tickets but no bus or coach was found. Then after a long mutual consultation, we decided to cut off this long journey on our 3 wheeler ride. '
The four friends opted for the strongest rickshaws in their rickshaws and started their journey from Karachi at 10am on Tuesday 24th March and at 11pm on Friday 27th March at their destination in the village of Union Council Choga in Shangla district. reached.
Sharifzada, 45, says: “There were minor accidents and interesting situations while traveling. The rickshaw was overturned in an attempt to save the dog's life, causing severe injuries to my hands and feet and 3 teeth, and currently lying on the bed talking to you.
While they were talking to us on the phone, their neighbors were also coming to the office.
He added that 'the accident took place in Muzaffargarh district of Punjab, after which we arrived at the government hospital and after some time of rest and basic medical help we left.'
Sharifzada acknowledged the strong determination of himself and his colleagues, saying, "Despite the injuries, we did not regret our decision at all. When we left Karachi, we had decided that if anything happens, we will definitely reach our village by killing our lives. Then when we crossed the difficult stages of this long journey, we arrived at the village at 11am on Friday night, and despite the habit of sleeping early, the villagers found our way.
I asked Sharifzada that most hotels are closed nowadays because of the threat of the Coronavirus, so would it be difficult to have food while traveling? In this regard, Sharifzada says, "Due to the closure of the hotels, there were no food and drink facilities on the way but we did not make it a life and death issue. We went ahead with the same kind of stomach worship. '
He said, "The attitude of the police, rangers and army personnel throughout the whole route was very impressive and they cooperated with us everywhere on which we salute and thank them. Is. On the way, we were checked by placing a machine on the forehead at 3 to 4 places but not strained anywhere. We have not resorted to lies anywhere and when asked about this journey, then we told the truth that we have come from Karachi and want to go to our village. '
While crossing the Karachi Toll Plaza, we were told that two people should get off the rickshaw and cross the toll plaza, with only one person sitting with the driver. On the way out of Karachi, we had 2 spare tires and also filled 14kg gas and then on the way we had to pay another 26kg. 40kg of gas was used throughout the journey. ' Explaining the difference in the price of gas, he said, "The per kg gas from Karachi was Rs 130 while on the way this price had reached Rs 170.
The rickshaw is also the name of a nut-bolt and welding machine, so if he has ever needed repairs while traveling? On the question, Sharif said, "At one point a tire was punctured but due to the 2 extra tires we carefully placed, it did not cause much trouble".
So long commute, 3 wheeled car and then 4 people on it! If the rickshaw driver is in a bad state? Hearing this, Sharifzada says, “Since we used to run rickshaws in all four Karachi, we kept running rickshaws. It has 2 major benefits. First of all, no one was too tired and secondly, the benefit was that we didn't stay anywhere and continued our journey. '
Since we ourselves have done several road trips from Karachi to Pakhtunkhwa and our most important companion in this whole journey was Google Map, I also asked Sharif whether the route was remembered or Google Map on which Sharif He laughed and replied, 'None of us had the knowledge of the routes and no one came to use Google Map. We got off the bus, then we were guided by some signboards and some help was done by a local village coach who is a coach driver and it is normal for commuters to travel from city to city.
He adds that we will spend four months in Ramadan in the village and when the business reopens, we will go back to Karachi via Rickshaw.
38-year-old Bahrain Allah, who has been a rickshaw driver in Karachi for 20 years, was with Sharifzada on the trip and when we were talking to Sharifzada, Bahrain was also there. When talking to them, he said, "Everything was fine from Karachi to Sukkur but after that, it took a wrong turn which resulted in some 300km going the opposite direction of our original route." We had lunch on the way to Rani Puri in Punjab alone, where a friend of our village has a hotel. Even food could not be found there, but it certainly served us well with tea. Then, when we arrived in Peshawar on Friday morning, Hazrat, who was praying in the mosque in our village, arranged for us to have breakfast.
Among those arriving in their village on a rickshaw ride are 29-year-old Raheedullah, who has been operating a rickshaw in Karachi for the past seven years. He describes his experiences as' the long journey of 75 hours, the feeling of fatigue and restlessness dominated the nature, but since we all used to run rickshaw for 12 hours daily in Karachi, this exhaustion did not overwhelm us. ۔ There was a lot of anxiety throughout the trip that 3 people were sitting in the back seat so there were discomfort and lack of sleep. ”
After reaching the village of four friends, their invitations began. When Raheedullah was talking to us, he was also present at an invitation.
He says, "These invitations are not made because we have arrived in our village from Karachi in Rickshaw, but it is a tradition of the region that whenever anyone comes from outside, they are welcomed in the village. Goes'.
He said, "Until leaving Karachi and approaching the village, the friends of our village kept praying for our well-being." On Friday night when we arrived home, on Saturday morning my mother slaughtered a goat as a charity and distributed her meat to the people. We had only one goat that we raised for milk. Knowing this, my tears started to rise and my mother's love and compassion showed that despite poverty and poverty and the son was unemployed, he did not delay in slaughtering his only goat.
Referring to the difficulties of the last stages of his journey, he explains, 'Since our homeland is a hilly area and the roads were drenched due to torrential rains, it was difficult to get 4 persons in the rickshaw. Was coming up and we used to push down from the rickshaws everywhere.
"I am very poor, my father has died," said Khurshid, 36, who returned to his hometown from Karachi with his partner, Raheedullah's mother, who sacrificed a goat as a charity but was not able to do so. However, everyone is very happy when they get home. '
He adds, 'The rest of the colleagues have not yet calculated but it cost me 4,000 rupees till I got home from Karachi. Fortunately, there was only one unfortunate incident with us on the way, and in addition, our journey was great and the cooperation of Rangers, police and military personnel on the way was exemplary, which we thank them for.
Source: DAWN
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