Islamabad: A widow, a mother, a fruit seller, a hero; meet Yasmeen Kanwal.
A widow by fate, Yasmeen made sure to not let that determine her children’s future. When her job didn’t suffice them, Yasmeen decided to set up a fruit cart.
While speak to ARY News, Yasmeen told us that she has been doing this for approximately 2 years now, “I have been doing this for 1.5 years. When I used to work, my salary couldn’t meet my house expenses that is why I put up a fruit stall so my children can study”
Reminiscing the last day of her husband with a heart full of pain and eyes filled with tears, Yasmeen said, “He hung his coat here from his own hands and my daughter asks me to not remove it as it smells of her dad. Today it has been 4 years to his demise.”
Every morning, Yasmeen wakes up early and after preparing breakfast for her children, and dropping them to school, Yasmeen goes out to local market to buy fruits for her stall. From her house to the busy streets of the city, Yasmeen pushes her cart in the hope of selling all her fruits.
But the society is not always merciful for a single woman. While many support her, there are also some who leave no stone unturned to shatter her self-esteem. Yasmeen narrates that many people who come to her to put her down which leaves her heart broken, “Are you telling us your rate or the fruit’s? This makes me angry and my heart hurts too”
Her son, however, does not plan to let this continue forever wishing to take care of her mother like no other, “I will take a lot of care of my mother when I grow up just like father used to. I will not let my mother work, I will work day and night and earn.”
