"Charpoy" getting unpopular in urban areas of Pakistan

MULTAN (APP) - With the emergence of new fashion and styles in our society, the use of "Charpoy"(cot), a light traditional bed made of wood, knitted with palm leaves, ropes or jute and one of the cultural identity of sub-continent, is getting unpopular amongst dwellers of urban areas these days.

Charpoy is traditionally made of wood and its feet or "Poy" are beautifully carved or decorated with colourful paints. It is knitted with date palm leaves or a rope made of Jute by an expert weaver. The charpoi has also been made of iron pipes and knitted with plastic ropes these days.

Charpoy is equally popular in rural areas of Pakistan and India. It also serves as a place to sit as well as bed at night sleep. The guests are offered charpoy to sit down and relax. The world biggest charpoy, commonly known as Hamacha (local name), is present in Dera Ghazi Khan and nearly 50 persons can sit simultaneously on it.



Citizen, Rashid Qureshi, resident of MDA Chowk, talking to APP informed that his kids did not prefer "Charpoy" as a bed for night sleep. He added that his two sons and three use sofa-cum-bed and mattress after laying it at ground for sleep or taking rest. Rashid further informed that he was also not using charpoy for last two years as he had backbone issue and doctors had suggested him to use tight bed for taking rest.

Shamim Bibi, a house-wife and resident of Pul Bararan informed that there was not a single charpoy in her house. She added that her house is small and had not enough space to keep charpoi. All the members of her family used to sleep over beds or floor.

Muhammad Imran Wasli, a social scientist, stated that world has become global village. Different cultural trends of world are becoming popular in our society almost in every walk of life. Sofa-cum-bed, mattress and carpets have been replacing Charpoy especially in urban areas. Massive urbanization had shrunk residences as families are also being observed living in even three marla houses.



However, charpoy are still common at driver hotels and rural areas. He recalled that villagers used to put charpoi under shade of trees for wayfarers so that they should take rest for some time, Razi recalled.

Muhammad Iqbal, a carpenter said that he was thinking to shift to other business as charpoi demand is decreasing and citizens were purchasing floor mattress.



Mian Tabbu Khan Daha, an expert in weaving charpoy with ropes,recalled that he used to weave four to five charpoys in a day in past but now he was weaving one or two charpoi per day. He stated that
people seemed disinterest towards putting charpoy in their homes.