Falak Sher is a barber by profession. He also works part time as an assistant at a restaurant washing dishes. He does this to support his family. He is my regular barber, and when giving me a haircut he does a lot of talking. A few days back he told me that his wife was expecting and requested for mew to pray that he gets a son this time. Upon this I asked him, how many kids he has. He told me he has two wives and 7 daughters. I can imagine he has married for a second time because the first wife did not bear him a son. So he has 5 daughters from the first wife and 2 from the second.
Two days ago he came to place with a 2 lb cake, he was happy and told me that he has been blessed with a son, after 7 daughters. This certainly was good news. In a country like Pakistan, a son has more weightage than a daughter. There are multiple reasons for this. Some of them are:
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Sons are considered to carry the lineage of an individual.
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Sons take care of their parents when they grow old.
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Daughters are married off and start their families.
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A person not having a son is considered unlucky, in fact he himself starts feeling that after sometime.
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It is a way of showing one’s virility.
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A widowed woman or a widower will never stay with her daughter upon growing old, if she/he does not have a son.
I really hope he starts adopting family planning techniques now, instead going for a second son.
My Random Ramblings 