It is often said that in moments of one’s glory and triumph, another must suffer. I don’t really know if that’s said, but it sure does fit with my misfortune of the moment.

The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) was conducting the 3rd series of its entrance tests. Aspiring young students travel from across the country to appear in the entrance test of this prestigious institution.

It just so happened that Pakistan recently became the epicentre of world peace ( a remarkable triumph), which led to a security shutdown of the capital, Islamabad, home to NUST’s main campus.

Hundreds of families who had traveled from across the country to appear in the entrance test on the 9th and 10th of April were informed of the postponement of the test at 22:24 the night before.

Such short notice is more than enough to cost a household Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 30,000, considering a modest budget. And the fact that it’s rescheduled to about a week later means the total cost to appear in the test now exceeds Rs. 50,000.

Thus, while Pakistan marks a milestone event with the brokering of a peace deal between the United States of America and Iran, the populace must grapple with troubling consequences.

The financial strain, mental stress, and sheer waste of time can only be attributed to a failure of administrative foresight. The system was unable to ensure that an educational proceeding could take place at a reasonable distance from a high-profile political event, and at the very least, could not alert the institution until late in the night that all proceedings of the next day must be postponed.

This is the collateral damage of global diplomacy: Where peace is on paper, and chaos is on the ground. Where certain factions can benefit from this time, and the common folk have to shoulder the burden.

For now, the students and their families can only act upon what they’re given. And even under the ‘kifayat-shauari-mohim’ (which was a result of the war), they must bear the expenses of the increased fuel prices and other expenditures, for they did not come to Islamabad to broker cross-continental peace agreements; they only came all the way to Islamabad to give their child the best chance at a future that they could.

Thank you for your reading time. I wish upon you peaceful negotiations and timely updates regarding important news.