After working over six months in the private firm on Lawrence Road I made up my mind to leave the Company as there was no prospect for me. It was a bold move on my part as I had a family to support in a new country without many friends. However, I always had faith in God who gave me strength to survive the crises.
Each day for twelve days I used to leave home after supplying the kitchen needs to Khurshid, to look for a suitable job in many industries where I thought I could fare well. It was surprising that I never felt depressed or dejected in the new environment with hardly any resources except for hope in providence. Finally I succeeded in getting a job in Orient Airways which became PIA after a few years. This was my line where I felt at ease. This was beginning of my success story during which I had to cross quite a few hurdles with courage, fortitude and sometimes luck.
As I go along this narrative I shall highlight a few important incidents which came my way.
Time went on as we watched families after families pouring into the city of Karachi. The surprising aspect was that there was no hooliganism or any planned mischief to loot the people. In fact there was sympathy in every heart and people never hesitated to help those who were in need of help except a few cases where a few opportunists used to take advantage of helpless refugees, particularly women folk. These were however rare cases.
Pakistan it appeared was getting along well taking rapid strides towards progress when all of a sudden on Sept. 11, 1948 the Quaid-e-Azam died. This was a big blow to the new country and everyone felt that it would be very difficult to survive as there were many a problems yet to be resolved. However God gave the Pakistanis hope and Shaheed-e-Millat Liaquat Ali Khan picked up the threads to march towards prosperity.
Don't be alarmed, I am not trying to write the history of Pakistan instead of our own family history as I am neither competent to do so nor have the intention. Only a few related incidents will be highlighted which I feel should be a part of this effort.
Everyone knows that India was against the creation of a separate country for Muslims and as such they never let go an opportunity to harm or destabilize Pakistan.
First they started a war in Kashmir and annexed a big chunk of that state. The next blow fell on Hyderabad Deccan on the very next day after the death of Quaid-e-Azam.
Small Muslim states of Junagarh and Manavadar were declared to be part of India.
Pakistanis never felt discouraged and carried on the process of building a strong Pakistan with determination, although there were many efforts to squeeze out the enthusiasm during the early stages. Here is an example as to how Pakistan faced the malicious attempt by India.
The Railways were operating on coal which was being supplied from that country. They stopped the supply abruptly so that the Railways could come to a standstill causing a great havoc on not only the economy but also the supply of essential items from one place to another.
There was a conference and concerned persons said that they will not accept defeat and will show as to how Pakistanis can counter this attempt through sheer grit and determination. In one month's time the coal operated engines were converted to operate on furnace oil which was available. During that one month the coal that was stocked was used sparingly. When the Indians learnt about this they did not believe that this could happen in one month and a team visited to ensure that it was actually performed. They were stunned.
Likewise Pakistanis were dependent on India for cloth and many other requirements. Wealthy people who had migrated started giant textile mills and other necessary outfits to frustrate the enemy's attempts and in a short time Pakistan became totally independent of Indian supplies.
There came a time when Pakistani goods were being smuggled to India. Such was the will power among people without which Pakistan would have collapsed in a few years.
Another minor example was that there were no safety matches in Pakistan. They had either to be imported from foreign country at enormous cost or had to depend on supplies from India who stopped supplying. Mir Laiq Ali of Hyderabad started a trust factory which served the purpose although it was of inferior quality.