My brother-in-law has been renting for fourteen years. Not because he doesn’t want to own. Not because he hasn’t tried. He has a steady job — works as a clerk in a government office, BPS-9, take-home around Rs. 38,000 a month. He and his wife have three children. They’ve been in the same two-room apartment … Read more
A friend of mine named Daniyal graduated with a BS in Computer Science in January this year. By May, he’d sent out 70-something job applications. He wasn’t being selective. He was applying to anything — tech companies, banks, call centers, IT startups, firms he’d never heard of. The response rate was around 8%. Actual interviews: … Read more
A colleague of mine named Waqas found out he wasn’t covered by the Sehat Card in the worst possible way. His mother was admitted to a hospital in Lahore for a kidney procedure. The family had assumed she was on the Sehat Card — they’d heard the Punjab government enrolled everyone, they lived in Lahore, … Read more
My uncle needed a heart bypass surgery last year. I say “needed” in the past tense because he got it. But for about three weeks after the diagnosis, the question wasn’t whether he needed it — it was whether he could afford it. He’s a retired school peon. His pension is Rs. 14,000 a month. … Read more
The day Saima’s father came home from the hospital with a cancer diagnosis, the family’s first conversation wasn’t about treatment options. It was about money. The oncologist had outlined three things: surgery, chemotherapy, a specific medication. The costs: somewhere between Rs. 400,000 and Rs. 700,000 depending on how treatment progressed. Their family income was Rs. … Read more
My friend Khalid has been using a wheelchair since a road accident eight years ago. He worked as a schoolteacher before the accident. Afterward, the school couldn’t accommodate him — no ramp, no accessible bathroom, no way to reach his second-floor classroom. He lost his job within a year. For the first three years, his … Read more
When Nasreen’s husband passed away from a heart attack in February two years ago, the immediate grief was followed almost immediately by panic. He’d been the only earner. She had three children — thirteen, ten, and seven years old. The house was rented. His small auto repair income had covered everything just barely. Without it, … Read more
Parveen has been a BISP beneficiary for four years. She receives her Kafaalat payment every quarter — Rs. 10,500 when it arrives, which she stretches carefully across three months. Last Ramzan, she was standing in a queue at an HBL Konnect agent waiting to collect her payment when the woman ahead of her mentioned she’d … Read more
My mother-in-law discovered Utility Stores three years into living in Karachi. She’d been shopping at the same private kiryana for years — familiar faces, delivered to the door, buy now pay later on trust. It was convenient. It was also roughly 20 to 30 percent more expensive than it needed to be for the basic … Read more
Every Ramzan, the same thing happens in our neighborhood. The announcement comes out — government is distributing subsidized flour, ghee, pulses, and sugar through designated stores and utility stores. Prices cut significantly. Limited stock. First come, first served. By day three of the announcement, half the neighborhood still doesn’t know about it. By day seven, … Read more