Two jobs but still unable to make both ends meet

Islamabad
Sonia’s delicate hands were full of cuts from continuous threading. The young trainee at a busy beauty parlour served 50 clients since Thursday morning.
“I haven’t eaten anything since morning. It is such hard work that I kept standing all day. I also deal with customers wanting manicure and pedicure done and assist makeup and hair experts,” said Sonia, who also works as a receptionist at a private company. “Since Eid vacations have started in the company, so I have made myself available for working at the parlour all day,” she said, clearly looking overworked.
“I have no choice; I am the only bread earner in the house these days,” she responded when asked why she had two jobs. “You know that one job is not enough to even fulfil the basic needs of any family. One pay goes towards paying off bills only; and we live in a rented house,” she said.
Sonia, a skinny girl, has just recovered from a heat stroke. She is paid only Rs4,000 for her work at the parlour that earns a lot every day. “The experts are paid not more than Rs25,000,” said Sonia oblivious of that fact that her pay is way below the minimum wage announced by the government — a scale that is never implemented in the private sector.
The parlours across town witnessed a mad rush on ‘Chand Raat’ with women getting impatient because of the preparations to be done at home. “I have been waiting for my turn for two hours; have to head back to prepare for Eid. This is so unprofessional,” one angry customer shouted at Sonia.
“Everyone is stressed and tired on the last two days of Ramazan but they should also understand that we are humans. At least they should respect us,” she said.
The rush at parlours starts from 25th Ramazan and continues up to ‘Chand Raat’. The majority of the women visit parlours for haircut, hairstyle, manicure, pedicure, facial, polishing and henna designs. Some parlours are open even on Eid day.
“We are open on Eid days as well. A big number of our clients have bookings to get hairstyle and party makeup on Eid day,” said Fatima Azeem, owner of a parlour in Sector G-11.
Such parlours grant leave to Muslim workers on Eid day. “We have a big number of Christian employees. So we don’t have any dearth of workforce on Eid,” said Fatima.
Though, the story of Sonia and other such girls does not seem rosy, she sees a bright future in this field. “One day I will open my own parlour. That is my aim in life. I love my field of work.”