This topic is very painful, and many books could be written about it. Still, it's good to talk about it so we can share our pain. Those who should reduce our pain are busy making it worse. They seem to want to make our lives so hard that we either leave the country or this world. But it doesn’t affect them at all.
Everywhere you look, there are problems; nothing seems good right now. It’s been over 75 years since the country was made, yet we are still far behind. Pakistani engineers, doctors, and skilled people are known worldwide, but they seem unable to fix their own country. Maybe it's too hard to do. Today, even basic needs are hard to get, and it feels like everything is given reluctantly. Earlier, we only heard of electricity load shedding, but now gas load shedding is also causing trouble across the city. It feels terrible when guests come at night, and you can’t cook anything because there’s no gas. Electricity comes and goes as it wants, and despite these issues, the bills are very high because the government wants taxes, even if it drains the life out of us. I think if the government could tax breathing, they probably would. It seems they just haven't thought of it yet; otherwise, more than half of the people would have already been killed off.
I avoid swearing, or else this post would be filled with curses, haha. There are alternatives for many of these problems that let us manage without the government’s help. But one thing we can't control and have no alternative for is the condition of the roads in our area, which are badly damaged and broken. This has been the case for a long time. Our cars and bikes suffer greatly because of these broken roads. During the rainy season, water fills the potholes, creating another big problem, as there’s no proper drainage system. It's as if those who built the infrastructure were either drunk or on some dangerous drugs, resulting in very poor infrastructure.
I don't even remember the last time the government fixed the roads in our area, but I do remember that when a new official took charge of our area, he didn't repair the roads. Instead, he demolished the extensions that people had built in front of their shops, which were illegal. This made the roads and streets even worse. However, once he got the bribes he wanted, the work stopped there. People then repaired the front parts of their shops and extended them again. So, that happened, but the roads remained as bad as ever.
We have now gotten used to such roads. In the rainy season, waterlogging and filling the potholes with temporary fixes have become normal. The government doesn't seem to care; they only come to collect votes, and once their job is done, who bothers? Karachi is a major city in Pakistan, yet the state of its roads is terrible. Even a good car can be ruined if driven around Karachi all day. In our locality, people have gotten used to such roads. The frequent punctures and the high maintenance costs for vehicles are just part of life now. Despite these many problems, we live on hope. I still believe that good times will come, and not just for our locality but for the whole country. Hope keeps the world going.
