It was a typical day off from work, hailed a bike using the nifty online travel apps to travel 25kms- halfway to my home from where I travel the remaining half by a local Qingqi or a rickshaw- the grand total of the distance from my home to the office, a measly 45kms plus, not too shabby eh?
As is the case with most of my days, the bike I hailed was met with an unexpected flat tire at 1AM in a not so safe city of Karachi, hazards of being an idealist working odd hours in the doldrums of the media industry, trying to make ends meet and probably make a little name for myself in the process.
The situation of the city has improved drastically from the one I had grown up in and was used to, it was not too long ago when I had my first phone stolen at the infamous Shahrah-e-Faisal. I have a general hypothesis that, approximately every Karachiite has had at least one of their phones snatched during the course of their life in the mega city.
With all that aside, the law and order situation of the city has seen a very welcomed shift in it’s paradigm and the crime rate has decreased dramatically in the past 5 years or so.
Continuing my story from where I left, I called another ride and endured the remaining journey crouched on the backseat as my back got cramped and my feet went numb from the hour long ride, my obesity certainly adds to my trouble.
Even avid motorbike enthusiasts shudder at the thought of dropping me off at my desired location after calculating the time consumption, distance traveled and weight management troubles, I only take motorbikes to somehow keep my travel costs in budget, although my attempts usually go futile.
After the first hour was complete and my first pit-stop reached, I then started to search for my next mode of transportation to carry me to my ultimate destiny, home.
Finally found one and hopped on to a Qingqi along with other exhausted and drowsy individuals.
Midway through the journey we witnessed an accident, an overspeeding motorcycle had plunged into a footpath at full speed.
A few people had gathered at the place of the incident and my Qingqi driver too parked his vehicle and went on to inquire upon the health of those on the motorbike, the passengers were revealed to be husband and wife who had lost control due to over speeding and could not see the footpath due to it being night time and negligible street lights or distinguishing cat-eyes adjacent to the footpath.
I immediately contacted the emergency ambulance service but the injured were already being brought towards the Qingqi with the help of a few locals who had gathered at the scene.
The woman was somehow adjusted on the uncomfortable seats of the make-shift vehicle and the man was loaded onto another motorbike, sandwiched between a rider and another person who was trying to help.
The nearest hospital was at a five minutes drive from the site of the accident, all of us rode to the emergency section of the hospital and stretchers were called out and the injured offloaded, as I was going through a mix of emotions and thinking to myself how the driver of this Qingqi has probably helped save two lives on a deserted road in the middle of the night, the driver who was by then walking back from the emergency section towards his vehicle to drop off me and the other passengers did an about turn to demand money from the family of the injured who had by then reached the hospital obviously distraught by the development.
The driver came back walking with a sense of achievement but I thought it was a little low on his part to demand money from a worried family whose loved ones were facing life and death circumstances.
The passengers alongside me then started telling me tales of their near-death experiences while traveling and how humanity is a lost cause and ‘no one came to help them in their hour of need.’
“My rickshaw had tipped over and my spectacles flew a long way away from my reach, I had endured a few bumps and bruises but was essentially safe from any major injuries, while I was down on the ground I asked a pedestrian standing next to where my spectacles had fallen to pick them up and hand them over, but he ignored my cry for help and walked away from the scene, I was practically blind at the moment,” said a fellow passenger.
It’s an interesting life, certainly not boring or mundane and no matter what people say, I still believe in the power of the people to be the guardians of their fortune and the purveyors of their fate, humanity is not lost on the deeds of those termed bad or evil, likewise it is not found due to the actions of the good and the pious.
Humanity is not a commodity, it is a necessity for positive human evolution and an innate feeling which is nurtured, preserved, matured and replenished through focus, determination and concerted efforts.
In a frantically changing and morphing world of fast paced operations and automation, we must not let go of what makes us human. We must guard our most prized possession and let it grow and encompass all that is around us to make a world more viable to living.
