KACHRA

KAHANI

A collection of oral histories of our homemakers in Karachi, and an ode to their

indigenous waste management practices
 AUTHORS
Anusha Rayani
Soha Randhawa
Syed Ali Arshad
Areba rehman khan

AKNOWLEDGEMENT
Our Special thanks to Ms. Hira Zuberi
for her constant support and guidance, to Orangi Pilot Project,
especially Mr. Ashraf for supporting and facilitating our research,
to Mr. Farhan Anwar, for advising us throughout the process, to
organizations including Trashit.pk, Gul bahao Trust and Anmol
Zindagi Trust for providing us with their time and knowledge on
this burgeoning environmental crisis. And finally, the wonderful
homemakers of Karachi without whom the content of this
booklet wouldn't have been possible.
INTRODUCTION
This interactive booklet provides a brief introduction to all the traditional waste
management practices, categorized under five major themes. Engaging the reader
with the content, the booklet contains concise guide scripts on how to adopt the
traditional practices in our everyday context. The reflection boxes are there for you
to scribble down your thoughts on the material and to maintain a personal waste
production log to write your own 'Kachra Kahani'.
 SINDHI

Sindhis are an Indo-Aryan group which is native to the

Sindh Province of Pakistan. After the Partition of 1947,
many of the Sindhis, who were predominantly Hindus,
migrated to India. The Sindhis have never been a big
community, dispersed all around the world an estimated
number of 2.5 million and 55 million Sindhi live in India
and Pakistan, respectively.

The community is well-known for their hospitality and

their unique traditional style of living. The Sindhi
literature is dominated by the works of great poets and
Sufi saints, such as Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, and popular
odes to Jhulelal (formerly a Lohana deity) are
reminiscent of their Hindu roots. The “ajrak” and the
“sindhi topi” are unique cultural artifacts that the
community adorns as an everyday wear. The Sindhi rilli
(quilt) work is another artifact, which is intricately
designed using patchwork and applique and can be seen
in many Sindhi households. The Muslim Sindhis found in
Pakistan are composed of the Talpurs, Bhuttos, Junejos,
Gabol, Magsi, Abbasi, Jatoi and Hakro.

The Sindhi homemakers reminded us of how and why

the integrity of traditional practices should be preserved
against the erosion of time.
Shamim Shah, Talpur

Shamim aunty has lived in different parts of Sindh province and after marriage, she moved to
Karachi. With a profound knowledge on Sindhi and Urdu literature, she has taught as a
lecturer in many different universities in the province. Growing up, she lived in the experience
of Sindhi Goths (villages). She tells us that life was dramatically different than how it is today,
not just in terms of geography of a rural-urban landscape, but also in terms of how the overall
culture has changed in a short while. “My father used to teach us simplicity - to take only the
required amount of food on the plate, and to be mindful of what we wear and how we spend
our life”. Shamim shah takes pride in how her cultural roots has taught her well to manage
waste produced in households. To treat things with respect means to value what we have
used, and today’s consumerist culture, which she dubs as no-dolati daur i.e. “New Money
Culture” where people don’t even think about how they have taken things for granted.

To this day, Shamim wakes early and prepares healthy meals of almonds and honey for her
family. She strongly believes in a life lived with ideals of “etedaal” or “mayanaravi” which
translates as maintaining “balance” in our everyday life. Shamim points out that “waste” is
just not what you are throwing out in the dustbins, but waste is also the “junk food” that we
are putting inside our bodies. She told the diet she had in her village was purely organic and
packaged with a minimalist fashion. She recalls that milk, butter and lassi used to come from
Hyderabad and the butter would be packed in peepal tree leaves.

Even today, Shamim points out that her family’s use of plastic is minimal. “Think of how
unhealthy the food must get when you put it in a plastic container and warm it in the oven.
But who thinks about that?” she complained. “Now everything is plastic. Plates are getting
thinner and lighter like a papad. It is convenient but is just so bad for the environment and for
our own health” she continued.
Naushaba Ali, Junejo

Naushaba Junejo spent her childhood in a rural area of Sindh, after her marriage in 1982,
she moved to Karachi and went on to have six children. Hers’ was a love marriage,
something she had to fight for and hence, ended up spending very little time in her maternal
home with her beloved dadi and dada. “It was very difficult realizing I would not get to relish
the time I spent sitting with my dadi learning about various totkas and growing--most of which
I have forgotten completely.”

Naushaba aunty pointed out that when it comes to reusing items they purchased from the
market, they can hardly reuse it because of the low-quality packaging. As a child, in her
mother’s house, ghee (clarified butter) came only in tins. The Junejo household then utilized
the tins as makeshift dustbins and/ or buckets.

She said one change she has visibly noticed over the years is in the material of the utensils--
from terracotta, steel, copper utensils to plastic ones. Every month, we called for the man
who did Kalli that is to clean copper utensils with ash and some water using a jali. In the
short time, she lived in her village she learned how to do rilli work, and today she has
adopted that practice to stitch together leftover pieces of clothes and make beautiful wall
hangings and table runners.
Barni Glass Wala
These vendors in Sindhi villages would come door-to-door, with bags made out of date
palms and would collect old and worn out clothes, broken glass utensils, scrap metals, and
other non-reusable leftovers from houses and pay a small amount in exchange. This system
is similar to that of a Tin dabbay walay in urban areas of Sindh.

Bhoosi Tukray wala

Unlike Barni Glass Wala, Bhoosi tukray wala vendors would only take organic waste which
included leftover food, dried up roti breads and etc. This collection would either be used as
a feed for farm animals, for composting, or for industrial use.
Native Sindhi plant bags
There is an abundance of date palm trees in interior Sindh, and none of its parts would go to
waste. One of the ways they were reutilized in Sindh was how dried date palm leaves would be
made into bags, local name of which was Khajji thailiyan. Besides this, branches and twigs of
native wild shrubs, that would grow at the banks of canals and various other streams of Indus
river, were used to make bags and baskets. These bags would then popularly be used for
harvesting.
Sindhi crockery
Sindh’s saqafat takes pride in its lavish, handmade and almost breathtaking designs on its crockery and
utensils. They come in many different decorations, often embellished with the signature Sindhi ajrak
styles and small different shaped mirror pieces on them. Materials like clay and date palms are used to
make splendid looking pots, plates, hotpots and even pans. These utensils are still very popular in
Sindhi households, which also say it adds its own unique taste to the food cooked in it too. For this
reason, these materials have entire dishes named after them, often referred to as “kunna” in the local
language. Who would need plastic when they can cook and eat in such beautiful and eco-friendly
options?
 MEMONS

Memon are a modest, magnanimous and devoutly

religious ethnic group. They are members of the
merchant class, as were their ancestors, the Lohanas
—a Hindu sect whose métier was business. The origin
of the Memons as a community dates back to 1454
AD corresponding to 824 AH, when some 700 Hindu
families, representing some 6178 people belonging to
the old and famous Lohanas community of Sindh (now
part of Pakistan and mostly, Muslim converts). The
total population of the Memon Community is estimated
at seven to eight hundred thousand at the most. Out of
them more than four hundred thousand Memons live
in Pakistan, nearly three hundred thousand in India,
and seventy-five thousand in other countries. At
present, there are a variety of Memons—namely
Sindhi Memon, Dhoraji Memon, Khatiwar Memon,
Kutchi Memon, Bombaywala Memon, Batva Memon,
Kutyana Memon and so on.

Belonging to a community raised with a business

mindset and religious devotion, they did not believe in
throwing away things before maximum utility is
extracted from them.
Najma Begum, Batva Memon

Najma aunty is born and raised in Karachi, alongside her two brothers. Like most memons
she was also married off at an early age and gave birth to her first child at the age of 20.
Najma begum’s in-laws lived in a joint-family system and at one time in her house food was
made for about 20+ relatives who used to come over for lunch every second day.

As a child, however, a normal day for her progressed from attending school to coming back
home, finishing her homework and going out to play with the neighbours or with her siblings.
Her mother had also hired a governess for them who used to come and teach them English.
Her entire childhood revolved around books or hand-stitched, cloth dolls by her
grandmother.

She remembered her mother stitched them 3-5 clothes for everyday use and about the same
number was kept to wear at occasions. Old clothes were never thrown away rather reused
by way of mix and match or additional stitching to make brand new clothes or given away in
charity. “Nowadays, I try to recycle plastic bottles and boxes, and pizza boxes for diy arts and
crafts.”

Najma aunty now has a habit of carrying cloth bags for vegetable and fruit shopping and
actively refused to accept plastic spoons provided with her takeaway or delivered food. “At
our home, we also have steel straws, one for each member. This is one thing you will always
find inside our car’s storage box and the handbags we carry.”
Afsheen Begum, Bombaywala Memon

Aged 48, Ms. Afsheen is a mother of two daughters and has lived her entire childhood in
Karachi’s North Nazimabad area. Afsheen Begum was born into a devoutly religious Memon
household, where religion was and still is central to the way the family members conduct
their daily lives. At one time in her house they stopped having chicken because of a “fatwa”
(a religious ruling) which proclaimed the chicken feed to be made out of non-halal
(impermissible) ingredients.

The importance of religion strongly reflected in Afsheen Begum’s thoughts regarding the
waste management situation of the city and the consumerist culture. In her words (translated
into English):“Islam is a guidebook on how to lead a minimally simplistic lifestyle. However, in
today’s time we ‘want’ more and more things--without even thinking twice if we need them or
not.”

Afsheen aunty fondly remembered what her father used to tell her as a child and the
practices he had made sure her mother stuck to regardless of whatever convenient
alternative was introduced in the market. Her father encouraged to purchase glass bottles of
syrups and glass feeders over the plastic ones. The choice of material was of course not
very safe in a house of 5 little children but it was nonetheless far more hygienic than plastic
feeder bottles for the little kids.

The fast pace world of today worries aunty a lot, especially because despite high regard for
the traditional and religiously guided practices she feels she was not able to transfer those
into her daughters. “We make food in the quantity that usually none of it is leftover but when
it does why do my daughters firstly think about throwing it away?”
 Homemade shampoo and soap
Before shampoos became available in plastic bottles and before the soap quality improved, the
Memon community preferred using homemade soaps and shampoos over the khulla
(unpackaged) products. The soaps are a by-product of the charbi (animal fat), reused to
produce sufficient quantities of soap that could easily last a year. Shampoos, on the other hand,
were made using natural herbal products and was stored in glass bottles. This practice is
particularly important if we want to look at a world where plastic does not exist anywhere in
health and hygiene.

Homemade Cooking Oil and Wheat Flatbread Gravy (Roti Poha)

Even though cooking oils used to be commercially available, and were actively purchased for
use, there also used to be homemade oil, made from leftover meat and chicken food. Also, what
better can you do with a leftover piece of roti (wheat flatbread) than to either throw it away or
offer to the birds? Do it the Memon way: make Roti Poha ka saalan (gravy) from your leftover
roti. Access full recipe by clicking here.

Dhooni: Scenting using coal

In old times, most of the households used agarbatti (incense sticks) as house freshener. The
incense sticks from being sold without any packaging came to being sold in thin plastic wrappers.
The Memons, however, did something unique which was to recycle coal with some fragrant oil as
the base for scenting purposes. The scent not only lasts for a very long time, but practices like
these can help us do away with containers with harmful aerosol sprays that contain
chlorofluorocarbons.
Leftover food for Parsi-community, owned horses
For some of the memons of Karachi, ‘waste’ played a wider role in fostering inter-ethnic ties and and
in social networking. Similarly, some memon households used to separate and dump their organic
waste in the horse troughs installed by the Parsi community at the end of each street. Which was
later processed and used as fodder for the horses.
 PUNJABI

Punjabis are known for their hospitable, industrious,

and humorous nature. The historical repertoire of the
Punjabis is highly complex and dense, stretching as
far as the Vedic time period i.e. 4th to 5th millennium
B.C. They belong to the Indo-Aryan race, with
Kingdoms that prospered along the banks of Taxila,
Chenab and Jhelum regions. About 68 million of the
total Punjabi population in the subcontinent lives in
Punjab, Pakistan, with the country carrying about 76,
335, 300 Punjabi native speakers. There is a vast
literary scholarship available in the language, e.g.
famous folk tales such as Heer-Ranjha and Sohni-
Mahiwal. The vibrant and ornate socio-cultural
organization is also projected in their dressing,
cuisines, dance styles and wedding celebrations. The
Punjabis found in Pakistan are composed of various
social groups, castes and economic groups—Jatts,
Tarkhans, Dogars, Gujjars, Arain, Khatris, Punjabi
Sheikhs and Kambohs.

The information we absorbed from the Punjabis

mirrors their vibrant lifestyle and hence, the various
methods adopted to treat the organic waste produced
in their households.
Riffat Jabbar, Jatt Punjabi

Riffat Jabbar was a born and raised Hyderabadi girl. After her marriage, she moved to a
village in Badin and soon after settled with her husband and then two-born kids in Karachi.
By profession, Riffat is a doctor and her focus on a healthy diet comes as a part and parcel
of it. Her diet included clarified butter, fresh vegetables from the farm and fresh milk. With an
organic food-intensive diet, the waste produced in her house was mostly offered to the cattle
or used to make beauty products such as orange peel mask.

Riffat recalls using chikkays (baskets made out of date palm leaves), then cloth tote bags
came into fashion and soon plastic bags tucked under mattresses or sofas became a
common sight. In her maternal home, Riffat had a huge garden from where she learned the
art of how to take care of plants. She uses the same techniques in managing her garden,
even pomegranate seeds find their way back into the soil.

Fond of tailoring, Riffat aunty remained concerned about the cloth wastage, the fashion
industry is producing in this day and age. “ In our time, even the tiniest piece of cloth was
brought to use: Use it as a cleaning rag or stitch a new piece of clothing.” Many of the clothes
she wears to new events today also are a mix and match of preloved clothes.
Sobia Basit, Sheikh Punjabi

Aunty Sobia lived her childhood in Faisalabad, where her father had a banking job. She has
two brothers and sisters and in her words, her family lived a rags-to-riches situation when her
uncle’s oil factory saw expansion. Soon after her matric, Sobia aunty was married off to a
businessman and went on to have three kids.

“The food made was made in the quantity, so that nothing is left behind. You see we did not
have the facility of a fridge back then.” Sobia aunty believes that the technology spurt and
innovation has buttressed the use of wasteful packaging. She also thinks that the shifting
cultural and social class connotations attached to the use of a particular material of utensil
plays a major role in our generation’s obsession with plastic cutlery. “Households in those
times used either steel or glass crockery. When I was in 6th or 7th grade, I saw this growing
craze for having plastic utensils when all the aunties used to talk about was how they
purchased a set of imported plastic crockery with beautiful-looking pattern all over it. Steel
which was locally produced was preferred over the import-quality plastic crockery.”
Despite the availability of various kinds of plastic boxes, she had her doubts on those that
claim to be microwave-friendly.

Some of the blame was to be shared by the capitalist economy too which replaced the 10 to
15 years old practice of storing steel or tin biscuit boxes for other use, with fit-for-purpose,
commercially available plastic containers. Aunty Sobia pointed out in those times, even the
plastic feeder bottles cost Rs.35 to 40, over the glass feeder bottles priced Rs. 100-150.

Being extremely fond of tea, sobia aunty misses the smell of the crushed tea leaves that
reached her nostrils as she flipped open a steel airtight lipton jar. She misses the time before
the plastic pouches filled the top shelves of the stores.
Hodi system
The Hodi system involved releasing grey water into a ditch dug either in a shared garden space or
inside the house. The pipes are linked such that the grey water from the kitchen makes its way
into the ditch. Through the pipes on the output then the plants are watered.

Homemade cornstarch
We are all aware of the fiber starch which is packaged and sold in plastic bottles. What did
people used to do before this? The Punjabis used boiled rice water as fiber starch instead of
straining it directly in the sink. Cotton clothes were soaked overnight in the fiber starch. It took
time but the results were nonetheless, effective.
 BALOCH

The Baloch are traditionally referred to as

nomads. The nomadic origins of the Baloch tribe
date back to around three millenniums, when
they settled in the hinterland (called Balashakan)
of Iranian Plateau, and later traveled and settled
in the modern-day, Balochistan, Pakistan. At
present, about 70% of the Baloch population is
found in Pakistan and 20% lives in Iran. The
Baloch culture is full of traditions, arts and crafts
—the Turban is the common headwear for the
Balochi men and wide, loose embroidered shirts
with big pockets in front are the typical Balochi
women dress. By occupation most Baloch are
cattle rearers or herders or involved in related
businesses. Amongst the several Baloch tribes
are the Jamot, Bugti, Dashti, Khosa, Lashar,
Umrani, Nosherwani, Marri, Khidai, Sheedi etc.
 Gaye kee aant, the tripe is also great for plant growth. So it is
considered wasteful to dump it out in sink. It is instead dumped in
the soil and wrks as manure.

Baloch community has traditionally been fishing at bay, especially

the Makranis. They do not throw the water their fish is washed or
boiled in. Instead it is dumped in gardens, and their other plantation.
Its extremely beneficial, backed with scientific journals.
 A solution that saves space and valuable cash, a feasible solution
especially for hostilities and their likes, is using carton and hard card
boxes for keeping clothes and other similar items. Card boxes are
the new handy furnitures!
 CHITRALI

The Kho or Chitrali people are an Indo-Aryan

ethnolinguistic group. They are associated with
the Dardistan region and the kho people speak
Khowar language. Khowar is a member of the
Dardic subgroup of the Indo-Aryan language
family. It has been said that many Kho people live
in the Chitral, Ghizer and Gilgit-Baltistan districts
of Pakistan. The kho culture puts a large
emphasis on poetry, song and dance.
Gulbahar

Gulbahar is born and raised in Chitral. The culture in which she grew up is very different
from her urban culture in Karachi. Because of her studies, she has to live here with her
younger sister and her father. She said that the environment here is so polluted, which
wasn’t the case back in her village in Chitral. She feels that people in her village were very
close to nature, and connected with nature. She said that “I would run around with my friends
climbing trees and rocks and playing our cultural games... I can say that I was very close to
nature while growing up.”

Her favorite snacks included eating chips, biscuits and bubble gum but that was consumed at
a very rare basis, as most of the consumption included dairy products, meat and vegetables
available at homes. The packaging of these snacks was mostly plastic but at some instances
paper like plastic was used for biscuit packaging. Even the packaging of shampoo bottles
was plastic. However, some soaps used to have thick paper packaging.

She still remembers some everyday items that she used for reusing purposes such as the
paper boxes that come with shoes, to keep her books and comb. It was a practice that was
done by her mother as well to keep small things in the boxes so that she wouldn’t have to
search for them elsewhere. She also gave an insight that some of the people in her village
used to burn all these plastic and paper discards as ‘fuel’. “Like we don’t have gas in Chitral,
so it was natural to use plastic or paper to burn with wood.”She uses fruit peels like bananas
and orange as skin products. She has shared a totka that she has used involving orange
peels; “I once made a paste of Aloe Vera and orange peel to treat my pimples. Banana peel
can also be used for such purposes.”

She also mentioned that her village the leftovers of vegetables and fruits was used as fodder
for animals and sometimes was used to make organic fertilizer.
Wooden Utensils
Using wooden utensils in their everyday loves was a common practice in places in Chitral.
However, now the these utensils has been replaced by the plastic ones.
 URDU SPEAKING

The Urdu-speaking community, popularly known

as the Muhajir community has migrated mainly
from North India after the Partition of 1947. In
modern-day Pakistan, most Muhajirs are
concentrated in the urban part of Sindh. There
are several vernacular writers that have written
and published in the urdu language with works of
poets such as Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Allama Iqbal and
Mirza Ghalib. The traditional food, dress and
cultural celebrations of the ethno-linguistic group
is a broader reflection of Karachi’s street food
culture. The Urdu-speaking population diverges
into several ethnicities, namely Bihari, Dehliwala,
Lucknowi, Kanpuri and Hyderabadi. Constituting
the largest community in a cosmopolitan set up,
the Urdu community has come to aspire and
uphold modern values and practices, which not
only stem from their social mobility in terms of
education and employment but also their
experiences as a migrant community which
detached them from their cultural roots.
Sobia Yazdani, Bihari

Sobia, 70 years old, grew up in Dhaka, Bangladesh and got married at the age of twenty.
Soon after, the 1971 war broke out and she migrated to Karachi, Pakistan. Although Dhaka
is predominantly an urban region, Sobia lived in the rural parts of the sprawl and hence her
lifestyle used to closely cling with traditional ways of life. Growing up, she had a great interest
in farming, and would often help her family members prepare rice fields in their subsistence
farms. She also recalls that unlike how children consume snacks today in elaborate
packaging, most of her snacks were either homemade or used to be sold wrapped in banana
leaves or newspapers.

Her adulthood in Karachi was dramatically different. With the aftermath of the war, her family
lost most of their possessions back in Bangladesh and they had to move to a much smaller
house and in a very poverty stricken life. Forced to live a frugal life, Sobia made sure that
every material in the house is completely utilized to its potential, and her knowledge of living
in a bihari household came in handy.

Today, even when her financial situation is good, she holds on to her frugal practices and is
very mindful of her consumption. Sobia comments that “Lawaazmaat”, which can be
expressed in english language is “extravagance” in today’s culture is the primary reason for
today's culture of wastefulness. She also posits that another reason for “overproduction” of
household waste is that people have forgotten what has been taught in religion, such as the
concepts of Taharat (the act of purification from uncleanliness) and Iman (faith) being
fundamentally based on having cleanliness and leading a simple, non-wasteful and
environmentally healthy life. “People have stopped prioritizing all this! There used to be a
discipline that was followed with waste production and maintenance but you do not see that
now, do you?”
Saima Amir, Dehliwala

Saima works at a tax consultant agency in Karachi and is also a homemaker with two kids.
She has spent a great portion of her childhood in the loving care of her nani, who had a
garden in her house. She fondly remembers and recalled how much time her nani use to
spend in the garden, caring for her plants. Her ‘plant care’ routine involved the use of organic
waste produced in the household for the nourishment of the plants. She narrates: “ My nani’s
house had a 6’ by 4’’ inch garha (ditch) dug at the back of the house, where us kids used to
dump the dry and wet waste...it was very smelly so we used to keep it covered.”

During the time she was growing up, she witnessed that most of the packaging they obtained
from outside was exhausted in its reusable capacity. “We knew the shampoo plastic bottles
kept without any label symbolized an oil bottle.” As a child, whenever Saima stayed at her
nani’s for her vacations, she provided her with some of her mother’s preloved clothes. She
recalled the pleasure which came with the sight of a wheatish bori (a sack) in which originally
the monthly stock of vegetables arrived and the feel of wearing the same clothes her amma
jaan (mother) wore once. Often she used to sneak in the store to get her hands on some
clothes for herself but to her dismay came across old copper utensils packed away in the
bori.

Copper utensils were preferred in her household and used by her nani so much so that even
meethai (sweets) brought home came in a thaali (silver tray) and wedding invitations too
went in a copper thaali (tray). “My nani had a copper katora (bowl) with a beautiful flower
pattern embossed on it. She used to drink every type of beverage, be it tea or rooh afza, in
that only. I have it kept as a decoration piece in my house now.”

Saima is very keen on instilling a similar sustainable way of living in her children so she has
separate plastic and dry and wet bins in her house. She told her mother does the same,
however whatever waste she collects she delivers it by the end of the week to Gul Bahao in
a bori.
Lemon peel dishwashing soap
In most households, lemon peels when squeezed are considered useless and thrown away. This
particular community adds the peel in the dishwashing soap bar bowl and uses the organic
waste for washing dishes. It offers a more cleaner and grease-free dish washing.

Jaman seeds treat diabetes

The seeds of the indigo-colored, oval-shaped fruits, which are juicy but leaves one with a dry
feeling in the mouth, commonly finds its place in the dustbins. For this community, all organic
items possess medicinal properties. Similarly, Jaman seeds are dried, then crushed and
spoonfuls are given to the diabetes patients to prevent or heal the disease-related, feet issues.
Thin Film Wrapping
Extracted from the animal fat or the intestines, in the 1970s the Urdu-speaking community was
practicing the traditional method of wrapping meat in ‘thin-films’. The thin films acted as a
good alternative to the newspaper wrappings, whose ink print made it seem unhygienic to use.

6’ 4’’ compost pits

The compost pits dug to specific size measurements found their places in the time-economy, in
the backyards. The organic waste of the house and fallen leaves were separated or picked,
respectively and thrown into these pits. At week’s end of waste disposal, the pit was half-filled
with water and left to ferment (turn to a blackish-lumpy liquid) for 2-3 days. Upon completion,
the compost was used as fertilizer for the plants.
 RAJPUTS

Rajput is a derivative of the Sanskrit word ‘Raj-

putra’—literal meaning “Son of a King”. They are
recognized for their bravery, faithfulness,
uprightness and loyalty. The origins of Rajputs is
a contested topic, however they are unanimously
believed to be originated from the Western,
Eastern, Northern India and some parts of
Pakistan. Belonging to the Kshatriya (warriors
who fought in battle) caste system, the Rajputs,
as a united clan enjoyed their eminence over the
subcontinent in between the 6th to 12th century.
During the 11th to 16th century their stronghold
and unified existence started to disintegrate with
the foreign (predominantly Muslim) invasions,
during the Mughal Era. In modern-day Pakistan,
most of the Rajput population is concentrated in
the Western Punjab, whose ethos reflects an
intense pride in their ancestry and a mettlesome
regard for personal honor.
Shahista Hanif, Rana

Shahista Hanif is a homemaker who has been a city-dweller since her childhood. Her
ancestors migrated from the modern-day area of Rajasthan towards Pakistan 10 years post-
partition in search of better employment opportunities. They settled in Old Karachi and later
moved to in the area of Johar. She got married at the age of 21 and now has four children.

She remembers the time the milkman used to arrive, cracking his typical bell and announcing
his arrivals. That was her cue to take the steel utensil to the door and purchase milk for the
day. During the time they were shifting, a lot of scrap material came with the boxes,
sometimes even thermapol. Shahista aunty cut and used the thermapols as makeshift
jewellery holders. In those times, she would recall “we had more time to indulge in these
activities.”

Now although, Shahista aunty doesn’t have the time but if you walk into her house you may
find elaborate pieces of artwork crafted out of waste material such as used shashlik sticks,
broken mirrors, and cardboard boxes. Instantly noticeable, however, will be the steel glasses
and utensils. Shahista aunty takes great pride in her ancestral style of living so she and her
entire household is not only keen on adopting the ancestral way of using steel crockery for
eating or drinnking but also, finds value in drinking or eating in them. As the traditional design
of the steel glasses allows for more volume of water to be stored.
 Dry Ridge Gourd Scrub
The fancy name for these scrubs are ‘loofah’. We know about the several commercially-sold,
nicely-packaged (read: plastic-covered) scrubs, available in liquid form or a jaali but little is
known about the dried touri (ridge gourd) scrubs. The scrubs are made by peeling an unfresh
touri, which is then sun-dried to extract the jaal (scrub). These organic scrubs disintegrate with
use, leaving behind zero-plastic waste.

Sanitary Pads with Gauze Pad layering

Using pieces of cotton clothes as sanitary pads is an old concept. What’s new here, in the
Rajput community is the use of doris (threads) to design a pad that would function as a cotton
cloth does. Laid upon one another and tied together, a gauze pad or cotton layered in the middle
of the structure, this technique was used a makeshift sanitary pad by the community.
 GUJRATI

Historically, the Gujratis have earned their

reputation as great merchants, industrialists and
business entrepreneurs. An Indo-Aryan group,
the Gujratis originate from Gujarat, India. At
present, the Gujratis of Pakistan number a total of
1,375,000, with a majority residing in Karachi.
The Gujratis diversify into various ethno-religious
groups which include the hindus, shia-twelvers,
sunni and ismailis. Their cuisine can famously be
described as "the haute cuisine of
vegetarianism", with a subtle balance of sweet
and spicy palates. Popular Gujrati snacks include
Dhokla, Khakhra, Thaipla and laddus. In and
across Karachi, the Gujrati delicacies are sold
and enjoyed by the city-dwellers. Their business
mindset and the intergenerational transmission of
traditional recipes not only has curated a culture
of homemade sweets rather has led to the use of
minimal or no packaging. At present in Pakistan
the ethnic division of Gujratis include the
Khatiawaris, kutchis and the Bohras.
Zubaida, Kathiawari, Gujrati

Zubaida is 45 years old, born and raised in Karachi. Her father was a Kathiavari-Gujrati and
her mother was a Kutchi. Both Kutch and Kathiavar are situated in Gujrat. However, both
Zubaida’s parents were born in Karachi. Though Zubaida had stayed spent all her life in
Karachi, she still was tied to her traditional roots because of her mother. Reflecting on her
childhood, she remembered how her financial conditions led her to live a simple, non-
extravagant life. We use to get just ek paisa as our pocket money, and I use to save them to
buy gola ganda. At that time, gola ganda was not packaged in a thermocol/plastic container,
but there were stick golas everywhere.

Also, there were no plastic shoppers that we used before. She remember sewing bags out of
cloth pieces, and then those were used whenever someone from the family goes out for
shopping. She also highlighted that how they used to fetch imli from the tree in their school,
and never use to buy imli.

Zubaida was married in a Kathiavari-Gujrati family, where they use to cook almost all the
sweets and snacks at home. She pointed out to a golden color machine, which were used to
make gathiyas (a type of a nimko) as snacks. She also highlighted that especially in winters,
they use to make kheer-ki-faqi and khoraki ladoo, traditional sweets to keep warmth.
Shanilla

Shanilla was born in India, in Sidhpur Gujarat. While she reflected on her past, she
mentioned that how she followed simple routine of going to school, coming back, playing with
friends and then going to religious education center. She remembers how the village where
they live was very poor, therefore whatever the waste was produced was mostly reused.

Even the cow dung was applied on walls and floors, used as technique to mend floors. After
marriage, Shanilla moved to Karachi with her family. Even then she lived a fairly simple
lifestyle. She was also fond of gardening, so she kept rose plants on the window sill of her
bedroom. Shanilla said, “our roses were beautiful and healthy from our neighbors, because I
used leftover tea for my roses.”

She also mentioned that this consumption of plastic shopper is pretty recent, as she
mentioned until a few years back I used to carry plastic bag, Challa, whenever I went to buy
vegetables. Even the pulses and spices were packed in newspaper or brown paper, and all
the liquid items were packaged in glass.

Shanilla also shared a secret for her long hairs during the interview. She mentioned that how
she sprayed onion water in her scalp twice a month, to have a healthy, long and shiny hairs.
Even now, Shanilla reuses all the containers to keep her jewelry and other stuff.
 Pomegranate peel powder
Pomegranate peel powder is known for many health benefits. Some of the common health
benefit that Shanilla mentioned was using its powder to treat severe vomiting and diarrhea.

Homemade Unpackaged Snacks

Gujratis are known for their delicious food. It is no surprise that many gujrati households use to
cook homemade snacks. Many Gujratis use to cook these snacks that were mostly consumed
during tea time, and use to store these snacks in silver steel cylinderical dabbas. Some of the
famous snacks are, Dhokda, Phaphra, Thepla, gathiya, gur papadi, and monthal.
 AFGHANS

The Afghans have migrated from Afghanistan to

Pakistan from at least the times of the
Ghaznavids in the 10th century. The 1980s
Soviet-Afghan war, ushered in an era of
widespread Aghan migration towards Pakistan
and Iran. As per UNHCR, 1.3 million registered
Afghans are living in Pakistan. With them the
refugees brought in a unique and elaborate set of
traditions. The everyday food of the Afghans
consists of a flatbread cooked on an iron plate,
which is normally dipped and eaten with light
meat stock.The traditional economic lifestyle of
the Afghans is a combination of animal
husbandry and cultivation. The agricultural
lifestyle and access to minimal resources as a
refugee has afforded the community to practice a
minimal lifestyle with a greater level of
dependence on reusable items such as plastic
and glass. The ethnic breakdown of the
community represents Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks,
Hazara, Turkmen and Balochis.
Hijaz

Hijaz is an Afghani refugee who lived in Badakhshan, and migrated to Pakistan in late 1990s.
Reflecting on his lifestyle their, he remembered that as a child he mostly had natural foods.
Nothing was packaged there, all we used were fruits, vegetables and meat. Beside that, they
used natural resources in their everyday lives. He remembers using wood as a fuel to cook
food and to keep themselves warm in cold weather.Hijaz remembered that all the household
items were made at the village, but at times, they also purchased it, like soap.

Hijaz also mentioned that he could not remember any packaged waste to be generated at all.
Also, the glass and plastic bootlegs that they got were always reused as containers for salt,
sugar and many other things. They were never discarded. He quoted that “No, but we usually
reused every object that could be reused, be that bottle or plastic bags.”
 HUNZA

Hunza valley is situated in Gilgit-Baltistan, in the

north of Pakistan. The valley mostly consists of
Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, and have three
different ethnic groups. The upper Hunza area,
from Shiskat extending all the way to the
Khunjerab is known as Gojal, and is populated by
Wakhi speakers. The middle or central region,
which includes areas between Murtazabad and
Attabad belongs to mainly Burushaski group. The
lower part of the valley belongs to Shinaki people,
which stretches from Khizerabad till Nasirabad.
With almost 99% of the literacy rate, the people
of Hunza are extremely hospitable in nature. The
valley of Hunza is also famous for beautiful and
breath-taking views and tourist spots. The main
attractions are Baltit and Altit Forts, Passu Valley,
Eagle nest view, Rakhaposhi view, Attabad lake
and Pak-China border at Khunjerab.
Rashid

Our childhood was very different from here at Karachi. I remember coming home from school
and playing with the slingshot Gulail, to catch sparrows. We used to roam around in the
jungle to catch sparrows. Another child home game that Rashid reflected on was extracting
tyres from large cell batteries. He mentioned that how they use to remove chemicals it and
extract the circular objects from both sides. These were then attached to empty Ghee ka
dabba, and they play with it.

Reflecting back on those days, he also remember how the shoe boxes were reused for a lot
of purposes. Whenever we needed to send fruits to someone, we would quickly pack them in
the shoe boxes. As they grow their own fruits, it was the best way to reuse cardboard boxes.
Rashid also mentioned that he used to love freshly baked items, which were not packaged
as they are today. Also how packaging materials, such as shoe boxes and dalda tin boxes
were reused for everything. Even they use to store the stock of wheat from fields in these tin
boxes.
 SHARED
PRACTICES

Fallen Leaves and petals

Fallen leaves, rose petals and rotten vegetables- these are all the things and more that can be
used as a convenient and all-natural fertilizer for your plants. All it takes is some digging and
throwing and covering.

Reusing Old Cloth peices for cleaning purposes.

Reusable plastic-lawn diapers

Instead of today’s disposable plastic diapers that make up a significant portion of waste for any
household with toddlers, women in bihari community sewed lawn diapers with plastic over them,
and three buttons on their side to tie them up. A piece of lawn cloth would be put under the diaper
(to soak excreta and to prevent rashes) and after that day, the lawn cloth and diapers were washed
and dried..
 Tote Bags were used almost by everyone, as a plastic alternative.

Two sided nipple glass feeder was common among many ethnicities.

Reusable plastic sanitary pads

Big label sanitary pads in the market are all made up of non-reusable. non-biodegradable plastic
material. There still exist households that make use of their old clothes to make clothe sanitary
pads at home. Scientifically, this is also a much cleaner and more hygenic option to its industry
manufactured plastic counterparts.

Shopping Kits, such as tote bags with plastic boxes or plastic Challas were
commonly used.was common among many ethnicities.
 Leftover food is used as Animal fodder in many places

Re-using plastic and steel containers

Re-using Cardboard/shoe boxes as storage

Arts & Crafts.from cardboard boxes and shoe boxes.

Paper Packaging

Glass Packaging