“For three years now, I come to Islamabad for two months to sell Barhi dates. The rest of the year, I sell fruits in Khanewal. The dates sell for more in Islamabad which is why I come here in th e season every year and stay with some other Khanewal locals I know in a rented room in Super Market.

“I earn between Rs500 and Rs1,000 a day, which I cannot make back home because there is not much of a market for fruits there, let alone dates. I order these from Multan.

We are seven siblings. My sisters are all married and all of us four brothers are in the fruit business. My parents are also alive and we all live together. We all work hard and contribute to the household expenses. Our parents taught us to never sit idle.

I do not have an education because my family could not afford for us to not work. But I do not blame my parents for this. They were doing the best they could and gave us the best they could afford.

I have a wife and two children to take care of and I cannot afford to sit idle. I will make sure my children get the best education. I will work hard and send them to private schools because I have learnt from experience that hard work will only take you so far.

We have a happy home and we would not even have the troubles we have now if we had had an education, but I will not let that happen to my children.”

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2018