KARACHI: The day after the Thursday bomb blast near gate No5 of the Gizri graveyard in Defence Phase V that left two dead and several injured, several employees of the Cantonment Board Clifton were busy cleaning up the road and repairing the damage before the area could be reopened to the public.

In a deserted corner behind the graveyard wall, the sweepers had collected shards of glass, broken tree branches and leaves before the arrival of the garbage truck.

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Some folks from the neighbourhood were taking photographs of the damage such as the crater in the road, the broken windows of the houses or the tattered billboard. Someone pointed to an area outside the plant nursery just under the big water tank to show where Abdul Ghafoor, who had come out for some exercise and fresh air, was killed.

The other casualty took place just a few steps away where the blood stains were still clearly visible on the road. That was where Kaleemullah, a fast-food delivery boy, lost his life.

It was being said about Abdul Ghafoor that he lived somewhere nearby in Phase IV or V. Some said he was in his car at the time of the blast and was injured fatally by the shards of glass. Others said he was out for a jog or walk at the time.

Some people at the blast site on Friday said that he was a businessman who resided in Zamzama. But almost everyone knew the delivery boy, Kaleemullah, a familiar face at the khadda market, off Khayaban-i-Shamsheer where the Hanifia Hunter Beef and Burgers outlet is located. Kaleemullah worked there as a waiter and delivery boy for the past 13 years.

“He was not just an employee. He was like a son to me,” said owner of the fast food chain Mohammad Saeed, his eyes brimming with tears. “He had such an innocent baby face, you would have thought he was in his early teens,” he added before becoming quiet and going to sit with the people praying for the departed soul in the little shop where he had arranged for Quran khawani for the young man.

Mohammad Ikram, the victim’s cousin also working as waiter with another fast-food joint in the same commercial area, shared: “I jotted down a pizza order from a car and chatted with Kaleem while waiting for it to be ready in our kitchen. It was while I was bringing it to the car that he got on his motorbike to make a home delivery. That was the last I saw of him.”

The cousin said that he had come to Karachi from Rahimyar Khan with Kaleemullah 13 years ago. “We were both in our late teens then. Kaleem had passed middle [class 8],” he said.

“Kaleem soon found a job at Hanifia and I got one at Mash n’ Bangers right across it. Kaleem was the second of six brothers and two sisters. Soon two of his brothers also followed him to Karachi and found jobs as waiters here.

One found employment at Hot & Spicy and the other right here with Kaleem at Hanifia. The family owed a lot of money to a landlord after getting one daughter married and acquiring a small home back in Rahimyar Khan and Kaleem worked hard to help pay off that loan.

“After adding the tips and the salary, we all manage to make between Rs12,000 and 15,000 a month. He would say that he was saving up to send his younger brother, who worked with him at the same fast-food joint, to Saudi Arabia and was trying to get him a work visa for it.

“We had rented a small quarter in Gizri, where he would often tell me these things. The last time we had a long talk in which he shared his dreams with me was the day before yesterday when he said that he was going to get all his brothers and sisters married before settling down himself,” the cousin said. fighting a lump in his throat.

Published in Dawn, September 27th, 2014