For the past three days, Larkana’s outside temperature has been above fifty degrees. In the daytime, the temperature is so high that even “mad dogs and Englishmen,” to borrow the proverbial phrase, would be afraid to step outside.
The major business districts of the city, Jiles Bazaar, Anaj Mandi, and Resham Gali, are still empty, with only a few stores and lodging establishments remaining open.
Meanwhile, a heavily perspiring Ali Muhammad is kneading dough into balls on Station Road, flattening them with his hands before clapping them into his flaming tandoor.
He has no choice but to stay on his perch, even though it seems scorching than the gates of hell. He says news, “I feel like I’m burning here,” as he darts in and out of the tandoor’s roaring mouth.
Arif, a pushcart vendor in Jinnah Bagh who sells rice and haleem, shares his predicament. He bemoans, “I am burning in this heat, but I have no other source of income,” explaining that his meagre Rs. 400 a day must go a long way in order to support his family.
