The story of a man who dared to dream...

Keeriyo never won the seat for PTI, as was expected. The bigwigs did. But his story touched people’s hearts.

This is the second installment of an eight-part special feature, where we look back at some of the major stories of 2013 through the eyes of those who covered them.



                     The story: The man who sold his wife’s jewellery for ‘Naya Pakistan’



The story behind the story

May 11 was fast approaching.  The staff was working late shifts, poring over details of each constituency to make profiles. The electricity in a newsroom at a time when the nation is on the cusp of change is an adrenalin-rush known only to those who have been fortunate enough to experience it.

Being part of the election cell editors, we churned out profile after profile of candidates who had their eyes on seats of assemblies. Influential and often rich people, heroes to local communities — that was the general description of the people in the stories.



One evening, as I stepped out of work, over-zealous family members convinced me to come to a corner meeting of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). “You’ll meet a few nice people and have a nice hi-tea,” they said.

As people came to the podium and shared their experiences, I saw this humble-looking man with a soft face sitting in the front row. He was obviously new to Karachi. They announced him as the candidate for the provincial assembly from a constituency in Sindh. He was a small farmer who had just 12 acres of land to call his own. But he had a vision -- a belief in a political leader and his ideology, and he had his family by his side.

As he began speaking, his sincerity became apparent. The man, Gul Muhammad Keeriyo, had Rs300,000 in savings and a jewellery set of his wife. “When I discussed it with my wife, I told her ‘what if this jewellery set were to get robbed tomorrow? Why not use it for a good cause by free will?’ And she agreed, saying ‘I am doing this for a better Pakistan for my children’.”

Here was a story, I thought, realising that once a journalist, you are always one. You somehow find stories even on public transport, hi-teas and vacations. Texting my desk head, I asked him if he thought this was a good story, to which he agreed. I convinced Keeriyo to sit with me for a while and share his story.

Keeriyo never won the seat, as was expected. The bigwigs did. But his story touched people’s hearts. Even though he lost, I honestly believe that his wife’s jewellery was not sold in vain. The fact that this man dared to dream is an exciting emblem of change. Out of all my work, this is one of my most loved stories.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 1^st, 2014.