AS transport fares went up and the cost of living made it impossible for many to use even motorcycles for their daily commute, a lot of students of the University of Karachi changed their routines and started using the university transportbuses, called points.

These points used to be overcrowded already, and with all the additional numbers they have to carry now means a ride has become a test of one`s endurance.

You have to be in the bus to know what it is like to be there. And then you have to be there in the bus every day, twice a day, for years to realise the misery of the students.

From personal experience, being a university student myself, I tell you it is beyond your imagination. I, like thousands of others, suffer on a daily basis. Even breathing is an effort in those overcrowded buses. I have begun to wonder if my education should come at the cost of my health.

The university administration and the relevant government functionaries should show some level of empathy towards the students of middle class families. We, the students, are the future of this nation. We want to contribute, to succeed, and to build a better Pakistan.

But how can we do that when we are struggling to breathe? Let us breathe.

Let us study. Let us learn. Let us hope for a better, more affordable Pakistan. Let us contribute to building such a Pakistan.

Maila Soomro Karachi