KARACHI: The biggest crowds for Eid shopping are getting on the Green Line Bus these days.

The final days of Ramazan witness people heading to malls and shopping centres all of which remain open till very late. Anticipating this, the management of the Green Line Bus service here also extended its hours. The bus service, which was operational from 7am till 10pm earlier, is now open till midnight to facilitate shopping.

Entering the Green Line Bus station at Numaish after Taraveeh prayers you find a family of seven — mother, father, three kids, phuppo and chacha excited to be taking the bus.

“Our Eid shopping is done, more or less. We just thought of going out to enjoy the ronaq [festive atmosphere] as we were getting bored sitting at home. It will be like a late night long drive without the driving,” said the mother. “And while we are out, if we remember anything that we forgot to get or like something that we see, we might get it, too,” she added.

Women travelling by Green Line for Eid shopping say they feel calm and secure, even until midnight

It’s has been over three months since Green Line became fully operational and the management of this service must be commended for keeping the buses as clean as they were when they first arrived on the road.

There were not many folks on the bus leaving Numaish. Not many got on or off at the following stops of Gurumandir, Lasbela Chowk, Sanitary Market Gulbahar, Nazimabad No 1 and Inquiry Office, either. But then at Annu Bhai Park one noticed more people waiting to get on the bus.

An elderly mother and her grown-up son carrying big blue plastic bags asked where the family section was before finding two comfortable seats in the middle of the long bus. “We did some Eid shopping from Lalukhet before taking the rickshaw to this station as we now want to head home to Surjani Town,” said the son.

“The rickshaw charged us Rs300 and here we will be travelling all the way home for peanuts. Green Line is such a blessing,” added the mother.

Again, not many passengers got on the bus at the Board Office Station but things changed dramatically at the Hyderi Station where the bus doors opened to gulp in an avalanche of women, young, very young, middle-aged and old ... they all carried shopping bags, even those who said they were at Hyderi for a bit of window shopping.

“Oh this? It’s just some hair clips for my little daughter,” said Arshi, young mother of two-year-old Hoorain.

With so many passengers coming in simultaneously there was hardly any place left in the bus to sit. The elderly woman who had got on from Annu Bhai Park picked up the two-year-old and sat her down on her lap so that she wouldn’t bother her mother, who smiled at her gratefully. Her son also got up from his seat then to give it to the young mother.

Another elderly woman with many shopping bags was trying to find space to put them somewhere near her seat.

“I was Eid shopping for my daughter-in-law,” she explained. And where was the daughter-in-law? “Oh she is yet to come home. She is still my daughter-in-law to be. This is all her Eidi,” the woman laughed as one heard an echo of giggles from the other female passengers sitting at the front of the bus, the ladies section.

Friends Huma and Rabia, who could not find a place to sit, didn’t seem to mind much.

“It was only last year when we forced our grumbling husbands to accompany us for shopping. My husband wouldn’t refuse to take me out for shopping but I could see he was not too happy braving the traffic. And after the traffic jams there would be further challenges such as finding parking. Noticing his discomfort, I also could not enjoy my shopping.

“I used to hurry up so that he wouldn’t have to wait for long outside because he often had to double park and stay there with the car. And haste makes waste. I often got the wrong size or colour in my rush to get back, which meant that I had to come back again to exchange items. Now there is no such issue. He is relaxing before the TV at home and I’m here doing my shopping without any such hassles,” said Huma.

“I wish there were more bus services like this also running in Saddar and Tariq Road,” said Rabia.

“See, it is almost midnight and we are travelling alone without our husbands or brothers to do Eid shopping at big malls. We are not even worried about our safety. I mean what can be better than this?” She smiled.

Published in Dawn, April 26th, 2022