The two institutions amid the malodorous slums are just the agents of change. The physical changes are not yet much in evidence. But the slum folk are facing the onslaught of a younger generation that is schooled, trained in social etiquettes and no longer ready to be dictated to by the slum-lords. Says Dr. Taj Shaukath, the parents of her school children are now pressing for a college. They pay their wards tuition fee for the year in one go.
Housewives discipline their intoxicated husbands.
Uniforms are not as stained as before. There are fewer users of the school toilet than before. Muslim elite harbour a few myths about the Muslim society. But a chat with Dr. Taj dispels many a wishful assumption about the moral fibre of the society. How would the Muslim society look at Muslim housewives who fall victims to flesh trade, appear at the hospitals for termination of illegitimate pregnancies but would not agree for tubectomy to restrict the family size, the very reason for poverty.