I remember, back in the day, in the mountains of Koh-i-Suleman, my father used to teach children, including me. However, in his absence, an old man, from the neighbouring village, with a white beard and a huge turban would come to teach the children.

In those days, due to the lack of water supply, every family had a donkey to fetch water from the nearest pond. Even today, in areas where there is no proper pipeline or water supply system, people fetch water in big barrels on donkey carts. And the best part in all those trips was when we kids, besides bringing water on donkey carts, would ride on the donkey as a sort of reward — that was pure fun.

However, one thing that I still cannot understand was when that old man came to teach us, after about half an hour of teaching, he would stand up from the charpai and announce in a loud voice, “Children, I’ve lost my donkey and I’m going to find it. You are strictly advised to keep working until I return. If........

© Dawn Young Magazine