BEAUTIFUL MEN OF PAKISTAN

In this blog, I mean to draw the attention of our readers towards a few Pakistani men who went out of their way to help me out and I’m sure that you can also recall many such incidents that happened to yourselves. The reason for putting this out in there is to show that there are still amazing men of strong moral character who’re making our country and this world a better place every day by their simple acts of kindness. In these times of hopelessness where we only hear news of corruption, violence, harassments and rapes, I want to give hope to all of my beautiful readers to hang in there.

The first incident that I want to share with all of you guys dates back to the year 2015. I started attending school at University of Karachi. Anyone who’s been to UOK knows that it takes every newbie some time to get familiarized with the place. One day after all the classes, I was extremely tired and didn’t want to walk all the way to the Silver Jubilee gate. So, I hoped in a van that my friend used to take home and she requested her van driver to drop me off at the gate. Turns out, silver jubilee wasn’t the only gate in and out of UOK. As soon as I got out of the van, its driver went off leaving me all confused. It took me a while to realize that I was at the wrong gate. It was close to getting dark and I started panicking. Many students were coming and leaving the university through that gate on their vans, cars and bikes. I mustard the courage to stop a student on a bike and asked for directions. He tried explaining it to me but I was too nervous to follow. Seeing the look on my face, he asked to drop to the silver jubilee gate. I thought for a moment and agreed. He then gave me a ride to the gate from where I took the bus and made it home safe. Although I can now safely find my way around that area even in my sleep, but I’ll never forget that man’s kindness. (This is just an act of kindness by a great man. Please don’t start taking rides from random strangers after reading this.)

The second incident also happened at University of Karachi. I guess I was in my final year of bachelors and had to go to the admin office to get a form or challan for short of attendance or something. I don’t remember exactly what it was. I was looking here and there to find the concerned office in a quandary when a guy, while looking at me, starting singing loudly, “Mein pareshan, pareshan, pareshan…” (I’m in distress/worry/lost... the word can have many meanings). I decided to ignore the creep. That’s when I heard a heavy masculine voice from behind me,” Mein pareshani door karun teri?” (Shall I remove your distress?). And the creep became embarrassed, possibly even scared and left. I don’t know why I never turned out to thank the person behind me, but I appreciate his gesture.

The third incident that I want to share happened in a bus. I was on my way to the university on a shuttle. For anyone who doesn’t know how busses in Karachi work, the small area between the driver’s seat and the door of the bus is for women while the rest of the bus has seats reserved for men. It was morning time and everyone was getting late to their work/school. Now the seats for ladies were already full when I entered so, I had to stand. I had already paid my fare and was struggling to hold myself together as Fast and Furious has got nothing compared to the speed of the bus drivers in Karachi. The cheery on top you ask? The conductor guy kept inviting more and more men into the bus. I requested him not to let more people in as the bus is full. He ignored and so, I blasted on him saying, “Nazar nh ata bus full hai phr bhi log charhae ja rahe hain” “Can’t you see the bus is full yet you’re letting more people in”. And of course, like any other bus conductor, he said, “Ziyada nakhre nahi karo nahi to yahin utar jao” “Don’t throw tantrums and get out otherwise”, and handed me back my fare. I didn’t want to get late for my class but I’d had enough of this douche. However as I was about to get out of the bus, an man stood up and started shouting, “Tameez nahi hai aise bat karte hain aurtun say? Tere ghar mein maa behn nh hai? Ek to bhari hui bus mein log charha rahe ho upper say badmashi kar rahe ho. Oye driver ab agar tunay bus roki tu main tujhe chorunga nahi” “Don’t you have ethics to communicate? Don’t you have a mother or sister at home? First, you’re forcing people in an already full capacity bus and then you’re being a goon. Listen driver, if you pulled over the bus now (before the final stop), I’ll not spare you. Well, I guess it was enough to put the driver and conductor in their place. I thanked the uncle and made it to class on time.

I know all these incidents are from Karachi but I’m sure our readers can recall such acts of kindness from their lives from different parts of the country. And if you don’t have such a story to tell then be the “kind person” to someone else’s story. A society is prosperous only when its people share common values of kindness, goodwill, justice and respect.