“We were to go to Quaid-e-Azam’s Mausoleum after visiting the beach but our bike got punctured,” a boy said slanting his face from one side, though the other side was still glittering with the national fervor seen on almost on every face in the city on Friday.
Wearing greasy cloths with only the top collar button left open, 10-year-old, Muhammed Tariq Kharral, a hardworking waiter at a tea hotel in Burns Road area still seemed happy despite apparently having nothing much to celebrate except a bandana wrapped around his head with the words ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ written across.
When asked what he would do for Pakistan, he replied: “I will win for Pakistan”, and briskly walked away. It could not be clear what he wanted to win and he did not waste much time clarifying, because he had to serve other orders as well.
He had celebrated the Independence Day by roaming the seaside and other areas of the city with his cousins on their motorbike in the night preceding August 14.
Muhammed Khalid, 43, a city warden, donning grayish-green uniform posted near KMC Old Building, said he had never watched an Indian film in his life and had even locked Indian channels on his TV, because he did not want his family to adopt Indian culture. He would prefer any Pakistani film over an Indian one, he said.
“We do feel like going to celebrate these occasions with our kids and family by visiting our relatives; however, we understand the importance of our duty. We were on duty during Ramzan and Eid too,” he said.