If you ever had the opportunity to live in apartments or more clearly flats as we call it in Karachi, then you might have noticed something very common and prominent with children living there. “Ammi paise deden cheez laani hai.”
Keep aside our parenting method, the direction our country is going to or what’s the standard of our schools and how our children are burdened with heavy bags, and when they come home, they have to go for tuition and, sham mein moulvi saab ayenge, there is something every child needs and loves to do and that is bringing cheez from bahaar.
Now this cheez could be anything.
In my childhood it was a Gogo pan masala.(only for 50 paisa). I absolutely relished on this pan masala and even asked my nani to make a pan with it, I just loved it.
At that young age of 5 or 7 I didn’t realize how this little step of stepping out of my home and buying a 50 paisa candy was teaching me one of the most important lessons of life;
Confidence and independence.
Unfortunately lately this cheez lane waala bacha has been very much criticized by the so called elites living here and by our so called highly respectable citizens living abroad.
I will quote my example here, when I moved from an apartment in North Nazimabad to a house in Defence, one of my family friend who was visiting from the States said, “Thank God tumhara bacha cheez lane waala bacha nahin banega.”
I didn’t comment then but later on I thought over it, and I realized that, Oh boy! Well then I will have to teach him how to become like one.
Lessons from the cheez lane waala bacha:-
- You see what we are today and how we are today is a lot because of how we were back then, if you are confident, you can speak well, discuss and argue, make your point clear and learn from your mistakes, you must have learn’t all this in your childhood.
- When a 5 year old boy or girl asks from his ammi money to buy something; he learn’t decision making. I want it and I will get it.
- When he steps alone out of the house he’s learning self confidence; I can do things on my own.
- When he goes to the shop and asks the shopkeeper for something, he’s learning interaction, money trade, focus, developing his mathematical skills, how to stand up in front of a crowd.
- And when he walks home with his desired object; he learn’t sense of accomplishment.Obviously nobody does such an analysis when they are going through the process, but it’s all a very positive aspect of it.
For children they are just happy, they got their favorite candy and parents well jaao bhai meri jaan chorro.But I must say such parents do a great job by trusting their children and they are somehow building confidence in them.
If you were a cheez lane waala bacha and also traveled in buses in your teenage, you can connect and face the reality of Karachi, or any other city of Pakistan.
But these values are not only important for living in Pakistan, in fact these values are immensely important in anybody lives because without independence, confidence and risk taking potential one can’t stay strong in relationships, career or when pursuing your talent.
Do tell me about your childhood cheez story and what did you enjoy most buying for yourself?
