Ghar se nikalte heeگھر سے نکلتے ہی

Whenever I go out, I feel very scared. First of all, there’s no order in the traffic; vehicles come from all directions. Bikes are coming from here and there. There is so much crowd and chaos on the roads, vehicles are parked randomly, and some shopkeepers set up stalls that block the way. It becomes extremely difficult to pass through, especially with children. And the children are so young, they say they don’t want to hold hands and just run off on their own.

The second issue is that there’s so much dirt. There’s a lack of cleanliness in every street. At the very least, people should clean the area in front of their homes and be mindful of those passing by. Then there’s so much noise these days. In every building, the Siraikis have kept many tenants with lots of children. The noise is constant; they don’t let you sleep or work properly. There’s so much shouting and fighting.

Lately, the environment in our area, Qayyumabad, has also become unsafe because of drug addicts. In almost every street, you’ll find groups of boys sitting around, holding glasses, drinking, smoking cigarettes, or using other substances. It doesn’t feel safe to step outside anymore. Especially for children, whenever we send them out to get something, we constantly worry: what if something happens to them, what if someone misleads them or takes them somewhere wrong?

So there are many difficulties faced in Qayyumabad now. And as for us women, we can mostly just visit each other’s homes for socializing; there are no parks or proper places to go. For me, every week when I go out for things like clinic visits or buying medicine, I meet other women there, and everyone shares their own stories, especially about their children. There’s nowhere for walking or outdoor activities. Life has become very difficult.

Even when I go on a bike, I feel very scared because vehicles come from everywhere and the traffic is so undisciplined. I feel anxious the entire time. I keep praying while traveling, both going and coming back.

There should be a better environment for women as well—places where they can go out, sit together, and talk. There should be some kind of community center or a park nearby where children can play and enjoy themselves. But that depends on the cooperation of the government or local councilors; women alone can’t make this happen.

Very few women drive themselves for different errands. Most depend on their husbands or children to take them out, whether it’s for shopping or anything else. So there are hardly any facilities specifically for women. Working women who drive or have jobs manage better; they go to their offices and later take their children to parks or other places. But in our Qayyumabad, the majority of women stay at home and rarely go out.

Even within the neighborhood, if we go out, it’s usually just to buy vegetables or visit local markets nearby, like Churi Bazar. We usually just go there for shopping. Women rarely go out by themselves because there are no safe spaces or facilities for going out. There’s no convenience to do anything on our own. For instance, when I have to go out, I always ask my husband to take me in the car.

Transportation is also a big issue. Rickshaws are hard to find, or you have to book a ride like Uber. Even for that, you need someone to accompany you. We can’t really do it on our own.

One positive aspect of our area is that Christians and Muslims live together. I have lived here for many years, and the shopkeepers, vegetable vendors, meat sellers, and dairy sellers have always treated me with respect. The social environment is good.

However, the condition of the roads and streets remains difficult, especially during the rainy season. People have to walk very carefully because the streets are not properly constructed, and there is always a fear of slipping or falling. This becomes particularly challenging for elderly residents who need to go out to buy groceries and other necessities.

ہمارے علاقے کی ایک اچھی بات یہ ہے کہ یہاں مسیحی اور مسلمان ایک ساتھ رہتے ہیں۔ میں یہاں کئی سالوں سے رہ رہی ہوں، اور دکاندار، سبزیاں بیچنے والے، گوشت بیچنے والے، اور دودھ بیچنے والے ہمیشہ عزت سے پیش آتے ہیں۔ یہاں کا ماحول اچھا ہے۔

لیکن سڑکوں اور گلیوں کی حالت اب بھی مشکل ہے، خاص طور پر بارشوں کے موسم میں۔ لوگوں کو بہت احتیاط سے چلنا پڑتا ہے کیونکہ گلیاں صحیح طریقے سے تعمیر نہیں کی گئیں، اور پھسلنے یا گرنے کا خوف رہتا ہے۔ یہ صورتحال خاص طور پر بزرگ افراد کے لیے زیادہ مشکل ہو جاتی ہے، جنہیں روزمرہ کی ضروریات اور سودا سلف خریدنے کے لیے باہر جانا پڑتا ہے۔

It’s difficult to walk through the streets. The gutters are often overflowing, whenever we go to church, dressed neatly, it feels uncomfortable to pass through, especially when we are going to a sacred place, yet we arrive with dirty shoes. Even a small splash from the filth makes us feel uneasy. We leave home clean, but have to cross through this area to reach the church.

Everyone has to pass by the garbage dump, but no one in Qayyumabad seems to address it. There are no weekly visits, and no counsellor to take responsibility and ensure the area is cleaned.

When relatives visit from abroad, and whether we take them to visit our relatives or attend church, it feels embarrassing to bring them through streets lined with piles of waste. I feel shame that this is our Pakistan, that even today, some areas remain neglected, with no one stepping in to improve the situation.

Whenever I look back and remember my childhood, I remember when we used to go to school, we’ll pass through this street and we used to feel safe. We knew most people, and we never felt afraid or fear that we weren’t safe. But, when we compare that time and today, that security isn’t there anymore in this area. Perhaps back then we didn’t notice certain things. Now, at street corners and intersections. It’s common to see people do drugs, smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol, doesn’t matter if they are older than us or younger than us in age, no one is safe. Now, passing through here at night is, even for children this area isn’t safe. We have spent our childhood in these streets. After coming back from school, we used to eat and then had tuitions. Afterwards all of us would head out and play in these streets. Now, when I think of childhood friendships, there is nothing left/it all seems to have faded. If we see today, the children are always at home, growing up with devices. After school, they watch TV the whole day, we take a break and go to tuition and after tuition again they watch TV or use phones. I mean, now we don’t allow our children to go out and play. Apart from that, if we talk about roads and the drainage system, we don’t pay attention to that although during rainy seasons because of overflowing gutters and stagnant water, we worry sending our children to schools, or when we go to the church. No matter how much we try to leave home clean and neatly dressed, it all goes in vain because of the filth, our feet sinking into dirty water and splashes spoiling our clothes. We face these issues a lot. There is little to no focus on building or maintaining proper infrastructure here. Even when construction work begins, there is no proper oversight. The condition of the roads is such that you often see only half of them under repair, left incomplete. You’ll see gutters overflowing whichever street you go to, you’ll find all of this. We don’t know when the situation will change.