Residents of Mubarak Village are on a perpetual holiday

Children happily swim in the sea while adults fret during summer vacations

KARACHI: Splashes and crashes resound in the air as a group of young children dive into the clear seawater at Mubarak Village.

The children are aged between eight and 14 years and are enjoying their summer holidays at the beach. This is the only source of entertainment and amusement for the residents of the village, which lacks basic facilities such as water, gas or electricity.

When The Express Tribune visited Mubarak Village after learning of an oil spill in the area, the water was clear as the summer sky. A villager named Ganj Bukhsh said the water at the beach is clear. “If there was an oil spill in the area we would not be able to stand near the shore. Our eyes would burn, the smell would be noxious and hundreds of sea creatures would die,” he said. He mentioned that the children diving into the water would be kept at home if there was an oil spill in the sea.

Life is a perpetual holiday for the children of Mubarak Village. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

‘Angrez angrez’, shouts everyone on the beach. “I think he is gone,” giggles a child, Muhammad Khan, shouting with glee as a young boy emerges from the water, raising his hands in the air in imitation of cricketer Shahid Afridi.

‘Angrez’ is Dilbod, famous in the village for his fair skin and golden hair. He and some other boys at the village are such expert swimmers that it often seems to the untrained eye they have drowned, before they emerge triumphant from the waves.



This is what we do all day, explained Dilbod, as he grabbed a crab from the clear water with ease. Without a hitch in the conversation, he said from morning till evening they play in the sea, which is why they are such strong swimmers.

Their skin a golden brown, the boys’ skin has been burnt by the sizzling sun as the temperature has risen above 40° Celsius but they ignore the weather to enjoy the chilly sea breeze and splash about in the waves.

When asked if they are afraid of the sea, 13-year-old Khan said their ancestors have lived by the sea for centuries and since childhood their only tou has been the sea. We got used to the environment quickly, he boasted.

The children say they have become experts at swimming. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

The undesired holidays

The elders of the village are also on holiday but unlike the children, they are not happy about it. Every family that resides in the village earns through fishing, however the sea is closed for them during the monsoon season between May till September.

The elders were either lying in the shade created by a large palm tree on the beach discussing politics or were playing carom and foosball. Despite playing a game, their faces show no signs of enjoyment.

We are just killing time, said 27-year-old Sajid Ali Baloch, who was playing carom in a makeshift hotel. He added that now they are having meals three times a day but soon things will get worse and they will be reduced to having barely two meals. Their money dwindles during their ‘holidays’.

The fishing season is like Eid for us, but we do not earn enough that we could save it for days like these, said Baloch while playing rather lethargically.

The elders of the village fret during the summer vacations, as they have no source of income. PHOTO: ATHAR KHAN/EXPRESS

We have adjusted our lives to this village's atmosphere but we have no basic facilities here, he said. We cannot migrate from here, as our ancestors have lived here for generations, he lamented.

He went onto say that some of them have opened general stores in the area and get business on the weekends when people from the city visit the beach.



Lying in the shade on the beach along with his fellow fishermen, Abdul Qadir said all day we see our children swimming in the sea or seeking temporary employment in the area, which is rarely offered.

“This is our life of mixed emotions, the children enjoy themselves and we smile watching them, but soon they will also join our leagues,” said Qadir. “We want them to find better opportunities in the future instead of living this perpetual holiday”.