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Being a girl, I have to respect the values and culture of my Pakistani society. But, none can compromise with education. Today, I’ll be sharing my own personal story with the world.

Hi, I am Arijah Siddiqui. I am an 18-year-old girl, turning 19 this January. My mother is from Karachi. She got married at the age of 19 to my father who’s a mature enough and a well-established young man.  My father belongs to Thatta as he was born there. He’s a businessman and does journalism in Geo News. My father, among his eleven siblings, is the fifth child of his parents. He’s an MBBS graduate. He’s a complete all-rounder though.

My mom, when she came to know that she’s going to Thatta after getting married, she panicked a bit, but then she accepted and got married in 1997. My mom tells me that she has always heard about Thatta and Makli’s graveyard in her books, only. It was a new experience for her. It was quite difficult for her to adjust to such a large family and in an area which was completely strange and unknown to her.

Thatta was called “Iraq-e-Saani” in the early centuries. The word refers to be the center of education. There were about 400 schools and educational institutions for a population of 2 lacs. There were libraries with a huge number of informative, fiction, non-fiction books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. People used to travel from other cities to Thatta in order to pursue good quality of education and vision. In brief, the city of Thatta was the best place in terms of education, society norms, ways of living, and development.

But as we say “Takhta palat jata hai”, yes, this is what happened and changed the image of Thatta completely in front of the people. When my mom got married, in 1997, Thatta was an opposite picture of what it used to be in the early centuries. Everything was changed completely. The living standards of people, society norms, cultural values, traditions, and the most important thing i.e. Education System. This was due to the lack of seriousness from the people of then and the respective authorities that were responsible for these issues of the city.

There were quite only a countable number of schools left in the city and none of them had good professional teachers that could teach the students and make them able and confident enough to face the world, the society, and other individuals. The teachers were themselves uneducated. They were not even college graduates. You can say, women and men, who didn’t get any sort of job, were admitted as staff and faculty in the schools of Thatta. The quality of education standards was declined with a very high graph. The student drop-out rate increased with a high inflation.

My mother was a well-educated lady from Karachi. Hence, she had never seen such fallen social, educational, political, and economic standards ever. Thatta was a place where female stepping out of their home either she is a young kid or a grownup lady, was considered a taboo and is still considered. When I turned the age of 2 and was eligible for going to school, it was then a much anxious moment for my mother and father to decide my educational line and my school where I could get the admission. As I stated above that none of the educational institutions in Thatta were standardized enough that could give me a proper base of study and objectives.

However, after lots of thinking, my parents made a final decision and they decided not to play with my future. Therefore, they admitted me to the Steel Town Branch of Beaconhouse School System, Karachi. It was about a hundred kilometers away from my home. The traveling duration was one and a half hour for one side by own vehicle, whereas two hours through a public bus. It was a very strong and determined decision that was made by my parents.

My father was not too financially strong that he could afford another vehicle for me to travel to school except his own. Therefore, he used to take me early in the morning on a public bus to the school. I still remember those nightly mornings, when I, along with my father used to depart from Thatta to Karachi before even the sun says “hi”. He used to drop me at the school in the morning and then he used to go back to Thatta in another bus as he was a working man and had office hours to complete.

My home time was 1 pm in the noon and my father used to be in his office, that’s why my mother used to come in the public bus to pick me up from the school and return back home in the similar transport. Maa used to depart from Thatta at 11 in the morning and she had never been late in picking me up from the school. We used to reach back home at 3 pm. I still remember my mom used to bring a chicken roll for me every day so that I might not remain hungry during traveling. Several times, the seats of the buses were occupied, so we had to travel the whole by standing.

My parents supported me a lot. We did the same “traveling from, traveling to” thing for about 8 years until I got promoted to class six. I had two younger sisters and that’s why it was not possible for my mom to accompany me regularly during the traveling. I was then mature and confident enough to travel alone. I was a 10-year-old girl that time when I decided not to stop my education for those social reasons, instead, I decided to travel alone from Thatta to Karachi in the morning and then from Karachi to Thatta after my school got off.

This was not the only fact, instead, there were such days when strikes were held. There were sudden roadblocks, sudden protests, sudden rallies, sudden mishaps. Those days used to be the worst nightmares for me because traveling in a public bus alone, and then getting stuck in the midway and then watching violence everywhere and reaching home at 9 pm in the night was not less than a massacre for me. I used to remain hungry during those struggling times unless I reached home.

I did all this for about fourteen years. I was good at studies, always a position holder, that’s why my parents supported me and did the best for me. The traveling period of my life gave me enough confidence to face the world. I can very easily face critiques, give immediate and sensible responses to them. I can speak in front of a crowd, I can put my opinion forward, I can achieve anything that I want. It feels as if I can conquer the world.

Today, by the grace of Almighty, I am studying in Pakistan’s best university in terms of campus, education, facilities, and environment. I am a Pakistani undergraduate student, currently enrolled in the program of Bachelors of Science in ”Social Development and Policy from Habib University, the batch of the year 2020”, on a merit scholarship.

I want to pursue CSS examinations and serve in the foreign ministry of Pakistan after I get to graduate and I am all ready for that. I have to join politics as it is my personal interest since my early years along with pursuing my career in journalism. Journalism is in my bloodline and I have inherited it from my forefathers. My father was and is a journalist and he used to take me with him where ever he used to go for making documentaries and reports. Staying by his side gave me many opportunities of observing and vision.

Meeting political members, leaders, owners of big companies, brought up a vision of success and triumph in my mind. I usually type my father’s reports on computer software and forward them to his relative news channel. I have already broadcasted news for Geo on International Children’s Broadcasting day a few years back. I want to deliver my views and perspectives in front of the audience.

I want people to think from my point of view as well. I believe in the freedom of speech and not compromising on the education because education modifies your personality and fills you up with enough ability to conquer the world. I hope that one day, I will achieve all my goals and make my parents proud of what they have done for me and my blissful future. Thanks, Mom and Dad, Love you.