Published 29 June 2025
SUKKUR:
Since their childhood, life for women like Dulari has never been easy. Looking at their situation, it seems that their lives are stuck in an endless cycle of misery.
New Pind is one of the most densely populated areas of Sukkur, where different communities, including Sindhi, Urdu -speaking, Punjabi, Pathan, Brohi, Saraiki, Hindus and others live without once the basic citizen facilities. The main road, which leads to new stick from Sukkur, is damaged with large craters in some places, and as they are the only main road on the locality, it remains buzzing with traffic all the time except a few hours, from late evening to early morning.
According to a study, almost 90 percent of the population is poor and lower middle class, as most of the people who live there belong to the working class or are low -quality government employees. There are many colonies and neighborhoods in New Pind, including Pathan Colony, Ahmed Nagar, Islam Colony, Mughal Colony, Agha Badruddin Colony, Chachahar Muhalla, Brohi Muhalla, Darzi Muhalla, Mahar Muhalla, Police Lines Muhalla and Mohammadi Jamia Masjid Muhalla. Among these colonies and neighborhoods there are Sochi Para that houses many Hindus who are shoemakers in business. Although there are many sites in New Pind, where a lack of bourgeois facilities is obvious when we talk about Sochi Para, it can be called the most dirty neighborhood in New Pind due to two reasons: lack of citizen facilities and residents’ indifference to hygiene in the area. Most of the people in Sochi Para come from very underprivileged backgrounds. They hardly survive in small and dark houses, built on very narrow streets, often filled with wastewater. The exterior walls of the houses and other structures are tainted with spit of gutka (a form of smoke-free tobacco consisting of Areca nut, slack lime, catechu and sun-dried, roasted, finely chopped tobacco), as most of the inhabitants, including children, are Gutka users.
The whole new stick is inhabited by mostly underprivileged people who are either uneducated or have very basic schooling. Many of them are prone to drug addiction due to the easy accessibility of all types of drugs. A large number of people use free drugs, and drug sellers coinse money in the area under the umbrella of the local police. Games and prostitution are also huge threats in New Pind, pushing the younger generation into the grip of the people who run these illegal businesses. Gambling is a major attraction to make light and fast money, but generally most of the gambles return home the empty hands home. Street crimes are violent and the police seem helpless or unaware of the situation. Electricity theft is quite common throughout the area; Some people are involved in this fraud with the context of some SEPCO officials, while others steal electricity on their own.
Dulari, along with her husband and six children, lives in a one-bedroom house in Sochi Para. Apparently, she has compromised to the conditions in her area and looks happy, or she pretends to be. Her husband Parru is, like other men in his community, a shoemaker and works at the center of SUKKUR to earn a livelihood for her family. His income is too lean to fully meet the needs of eight people. Dulari is an expert in producing Rilli (a type of traditional quilt or bedspread derived from SINDH). Sewing small pieces of cloth together, the process involves a great deal of hard work, and the completion of a rilli requires at least fifteen days. “Today it takes to prepare an Rilli a lot of time and money, and the price that store owners offer us is not even enough for the material used to produce an rilli,” says Dulari. According to her, electricity remains in her area suspended for approx. 18 to 19 hours a day, making it impossible for her to complete even her domestic duties, leave alone to make an rilli that requires proper light. “So I try my best to finish my rilli work during the day, because after sunset, nothing except can be done except to withdraw in bed,” she says with a big smile showing her Gutka -colored teeth.
When we talk about her children, Dulari says, “neither my husband and I have ever been to school nor our children want schooling; a shoemaker’s son must become a shoemaker, and most of our girls learn to get rillis or other patch to work to help support their families.”
Answer a question about the use of drugs in her area, Dulari says it is quite common and no one is interested in it. “When people are without enough money, they are attracted by crimes and drug use is one of them,” she said, adding that even children and young girls are dependent on drugs. “Gamblers rob the youth relentlessly, and the greedy youth, to make money, often lose their hard -earned money on the game’s its.” According to her, the people who run gambling and prostitution states, so powerful, they continue their “business” without any fear of any consequence. Sometimes the Raid Police’s gambling and prostitution and also make arrests, but the next day the suspects are released. In her area, it is the poor who have to pay the price.
Kamla is another woman who lives in Sochi Para, and without any work to keep her busy, she continues to roam around the whole area of gossip sessions with her friends and acquaintances. Kamala, in the late 40s, has three daughters -in -law and ten grandchildren. She is a very popular figure in the area as she is interested in resolving the conflicts in society and is notorious for using violent language, which is a routine practice for many men. Before talking to Express Pakinomist, she reached into the sidelines of her Kurta and pulled a bag of naswar (a damp, powdered tobacco product), expertly made a small ball and placed it inside her lower lip. She says, “All men in our location are too busy to give time to their families, but they have enough time to spend on the drug and gambling.”
Answer to a question of using Naswar, Kamla says: “I also used to prepare bhang (an edible mixture made of the buds, leaves and flowers in the female cannabis or marijuana, plants) sometimes besides chewing gutka, which is quite common in our locality.” In response to another question, she says, “Why should I stay busy in domestic duties when I have three daughters of daughters? Now it’s their turn to serve me?” When asked what would happen if her daughters -in -law refused to serve her because they have to take care of their children in addition to doing the daily duties. In response, she spits on the floor and uses abusive languages against the father -in -law, “They can’t dare say no to me because I can beat them black and blue.” To another question, Kamla answers and smiles proudly, “As for my sons, they don’t have the gut to meet me when I’m angry. You can ask people in the locality and they will confirm my claim. I am ‘badmash’ in the area.”
When asked why the residents of her locality are not approaching the bourgeois authorities to keep their area clean, Kamla says: “They are busy getting money and do nothing for the welfare of the people in this area who live as animals. I think it is good for them because they have no sense of how to live as responsible people. Let them die as animals.” Her tone is angry tone as she passes violent remarks against the bourgeois authorities and the people of her locality.
Another story of suffering is Mai Anwari, a widow of the late 60s selling Samosas and boiling potatoes in the area. Tells her story to Express Pakinomist, she says her husband was a worker and used to work in a dandelion. According to her, her husband died three years ago after being ill for a year. “My sons are now working in the same dandelion, but their wages are too little to feed our family of ten people,” she says, adding, “That’s why I used to sell Samosas and cooked potatoes to make some extra money.”
Mai Anwari lives in a two-bedroom house with his two sons, one daughter-in-law and four grandchildren. Answer to the question of why she sells Samosas and boiled potatoes in a location where most of the residents are poor, she says: “I sell a samosa to Rs.10 and a boiled potato to Rs. 5 and make good money to meet the needs of my big family’s. My daughter -in -law clothes to add income from the family.” When asked how much her daughter-in-law is doing, she replies: “My daughter-in-law sews ten to fifteen two-piece dresses a month and accuses Rs. 400 to Rs. 600, depending on the design of the dress.”
