IRSHAD SALIM — Yahya, Salman and Zainab are selling eggs at the Rawalpindi/Islamabad Daewoo parking lot. They came up to me –one by one, as I disembarked the bus from Lahore.
It was a heartening “moment and memory” thing: kids selling something for a day’s earning instead of “begging” all day rain or sunshine.
They dumped begging they said.
They’re learning. Next is of course studying, so that our street children and the “gharib awam” find a formal place in our economy. There will then be “no child on the street” and “no one left behind” — someday hopefully, if all politicos can do some soul searching all together, and beyond broadstrokes, broadsides and broadstreets!
Impressionable Salman was bashful, as I asked him if I could take his pic. He posed sideways and extended his arm holding the egg he also sold to me. It was a priceless transaction Sunday evening. Worth the road trip back to capital Islamabad from Lahore.
Other Stories in Pictures:
I have been buying warm, boiled eggs from kids in Lahore too. It’s one way of getting them to learn values and also how to count! Bought five eggs Rs 25 per egg, if you please, they had a whole bucket they were selling. Made the kids eat these as it was a cold night, ate one myself. But it was good to see how quickly they added up the bill! Tot said he studied and is helping his mum in the evening. Sad to see this 6 year old hard at work