We also just witnessed hail the size of baseballs strike Islamabad to leave every second vehicle with smashed windshields that were later held together by tape. When you called a neighbor to confirm they were safe after the storm, they burst into tears because both of their cars were left uncovered, and they cannot afford the repairs.
A classmate texts the group chat asking if anyone else’s home had also been flooded. Oh, just a casual few feet of water, seasonal rains tend to do that, I guess. “All the furniture destroyed,” he informs us, as reports from the Sialkot flooding make waves on social media.
As Kartarpur drowned, 85 villages in the larger Sialkot district evacuated, and thousands were displaced, two mega road projects were announced in Islamabad, amounting to an estimated Rs2.7 billion, to ease gridlocks and modernize traffic control, or whatever.
What is it that allows us to remain so ignorant of each other’s plight? Are we, as people, so removed from each other that the homelessness of fellow countrypeople is just another ticker on the bottom of our TV screens?
We are not apathetic as a people, however. When torrential rains flooded Karachi main roads and people were unable to tell if there were uncovered 13-foot deep manholes, a man sat guard in multiple feet of water to prevent accidents.
