Karachi Dreams

Karachi Dreams,

Incredible how I find myself living in the middle of this cold boston winter and in karachi all at the same time.. at times.

As real as you make it, I insist it`s a dreamland, a fairy tale, far far away.

A place that seems light years away, but can be reality if only I`d hop on, on that god for saken boeing to fly me home.

Okay, okay.. I`ll stop with the reminisce already..

I`m most intrigued to see if this piece gets clobbered and tied in with Religious and Political Issues..

See, Anne will be the culprit here.. The target, the instigator.. our fine prejudiced society will find a way to chew her apart.. Regardless a fine read..

Regards,

Samuel.

Shandana,

Don`t know if it was your intention, but this piece lends a certain macabre character to --what was it you once called it? -- sea lizard coming out to sun itself?

I gotta tell ya though, I`m not comprehending the magic anymore, and the dreamin` often enough causes cold sweat break outs.

Hope I`m still `one of us`.

btw, this is bit of a blend of the `old` and `new` SM, I think.

rgds,

P.

PS. `` not miserable enough to want to burn paper with acidic vitriol``? Who can blame him -- with all that love-love-love going around in his immediate environs! :-) Ruined a perfectly good poet did you! :(

i wish more should have been written about karachi and karachiites instead of some pieces of prose by read by different personalities.there is so much to be written about karachi,the city itself. karachiites have a certain psychology,i have observed. they are awed by the vastness and denseness of their city. but yet most of the karachiites are totally umaware about the surroundings of their city. to them london, newyork, chicago is closer then memon goth which lies just few miles away in the east.

the rugged and arid mountains in the north of the city which are just another mountain range with no name to the people of karachi. they are so much busy in their every day life that they might have not even thought that they are very much part of sindh and baluchistan`s mountain range. ask them wheather they know about ``rehri village`` which is located on the coast of arabian sea in korangi area i doubt any school going children in nazimabad or clifton would be able to tell about it. karachiites call the people of small cities ``Kuwain ka mendak`` (frog of well),but for me karachi itself is a big big well and karachiites its frogs who are unaware of their immediate surroundings but like to about the newyork, chicage and sydney.ask any common karachiites what was the history of the city,when was it established,who ruled it, had it been ever part of baluchistan,how did the names of kharadar and meetha come into being,i doubt they would know the answer.and that`s why you have found so little about karachi and karachiites in the this article from ms.minhas.

A poetic aftermath of A big city(could be

karachi). The title could have very well have been ``City dreams``. The sentence ``Maybe if he had

psychoanalysis we would be able to know more. But

who can psychoanalyze these Maulvis?`` is of

particular interest. the question is that are

the maulvis(or any other religious figure`s)the

criterion for sanity and morality? Do we risk

being called atheist if we dispute their Man

bestowed authority. The sad thing about this is

that while we keep shut about it the meek get

scorched, and we give each other assurances `` oh

the fire is still in the outskirts, it wil die

out there never to come in this town.`` Now

thats what I call leap of faith.

At the risk of generalising, this absorbingly fascinating piece could be about Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Bombay (now Mumbai) sort of morphed together but without (as yet) the AK47s . . . thanks . . . when can we have more on the ``real`` Pakistan, one where Kashmir does not pop out from behind every divan and sofa?

Cheers/Veeresh

ps: The only time I went to Karachi was on an airplane that stopped there for repairs and stuff . . . and they didn`t let us out . . . but some of did ``manage`` and in that case too. how similar, no??

The [supposed] magic fails to charm ....

I wonder why does the first line start with that ``us and them`` divide....

And were you talking about this city.......

``In this city of blinding lights and corporate promises

Heroine addicts, smugglers and petty skirmishes;

Paranoid proud ethnic groups, power holders,polluted waters and a brisk pace,

Life smolders day by day as the haze blurs the maze

& Retirement, house and a car, some cash and ``jahez``

Devours the life of an ordinary face.``

Masd #2:

Welcome to Chowk!

Please send in a write up of the other Karachi. True, any metropolitan area is a sum of its parts. I am familiar with your lament. There are folks in that city who visit other cities and countries more times in a given period than say Kharadar or the fort in Manora or Chaukandhi tombs or even the other side of the river Lyari.

Will you consider my request to write on Karachi?

In the meantime I will introduce you to a friend’s site. His name is Sheheryar Hasnain.

http://www.angelfire.com/il/sheher/

His write up is wonderful and I cannot decide whether his pen or lens is more powerful.

regards,

temporal

i liked this gibberish. it was about nothing and everything all at once.

but everything in the context of the book reading...

city folks are so artsy fartsy

masd #2 I must admit that I skimmed over this one as well, thereby causing the profound thoughts that are no doubt embodied in this article to skim over my head as well. I realize that it is physically impossible for me to skim over the article and the article to skim over my head at the same time - but we are talking metaphysics here, man. The rules of physics do not apply here.

Why dont you write to fill the gap that you indicate exists in writings about karachi?

Stuka:

It does feel good to trash Pakistanis and Pakistan ONLY -- on Chowk -- doesn`t it -- but once a while -- not a bad idea to examine the beams in ones own eyes -- as well.

``Don`t be so thin skinned when criticism comes from within.``(Truth) -- is right -- helps to cleanse the system.

Dost-mittar:

So whatever is happening in Kashmir -- it`s the nature of the beast -- kind of justification --should make all human rights violations hunky-dory palatable -- we should not lose sleep over it?

And as such -- the Delhi`s Dumbos (I mean the police!) should not be made to pick the Dale Carnegie book by their ears -- How To Make Friends And Influence People?

masd,

i`m gonna have to go with temporal here. shandana`s sharing the stories she has... in no way is she saying that there are no other stories. If you have more stories, do share.

arif

i wish these eleven interactors could see the smile on my face once i`ve scanned it up and down, peeked under rocks for masd`s comments, read from overhead the flattened lines in the gorgeous but deadly weeds of temporals thoughts speaking of the secret patterns within, you know what i mean. i wish you could all see the smile on my face. it`s not the regular smirk (i swear that`s a defense can`t drive the silly thing away, more like a natural tugging at the corners of the mouth, one slightly higher than the other emphasizing the lop sidedness of the visage.
masd, you can dream of rehri and kharadar. if you believe they are of worth, why invalidate them by reducing them to personal, enrolling them in a voyeuristic competition, and eliminating their possible significance to the `larger` question of your life?
pm, i flatter myself each time i think there is an `old` and a `new` `me`. i`m trying to discard the notion of any kind of division. only one `whole` (did i pick the wrong spelling again?)
rehan, stop tossing these titillating stones my way. i am not a pool, i am a mudpit, i can offer no reflection, but rather a huge surge of pity at the sordid nature of it`s contents.
scout, if this is artsy fartsy, then two kissans hissing occasional words to each other over the rhytmic thak thak of their labour is also artsy fartsy. will you tell them or shall i?
and gobble degook to all of you too.

shandana

This article has all the ingredients to be a success at Chowk. It offers great opportunity to all Hindus, Christians, Quadianies, and Bay-Haya liberals for Pakistan and Islam bashing. I wonder what has happened to the ``good`` sense of all these people. C`mon guys I am getting bored and my fingers are begining to itch too.

I can undersatnd the silence of Solitude. It must have brought back some ``painful`` memories. If you know what I mean :))))

Shandhana #

True you have described the Karachi of drawing room meetings with each group of Literature loving people vying for their supermacy with their introverted thoughts.

If your Karachi is what you described ``Teen Talwar`` and road to Clifton, I am sorry to say that you should come out of your castle (flat as you described probably in Clifton) and live in Gizri very near to your house.

It is almost 7 years when I left Karachi but let me relate very few of my incidences.

I was working night shift near TV station. My brother enroute from Liaquat National Library visited me for some purpose. There was a killing of Pathan in Light House (Lunda Bazaar). As he was leaving I told him to call from home in Federal B Area, as soon as he reached, for fear of his safety.(a small incident)

In another incidence, I was driving in ``Gully`` on Motor bike. Two riders. (And there was ban on Two riders). Suddenly police erupted and put both of us in Police van and took us to Jail. Fortunately my friend`s brother was in Police himself and we were released rightaway after some admonishing.

I also remember eating in Restaurant in Tariq Road in evening time when me and my newly wed would come from job for eating there.

I remember very well waiting for Edhi Ambulances for almost daily killings.

I can feel the suffering which Karachi people suffered during Operation clean up and its aftermath and praise their tolerance.

Although you twisted it to Maulvi in a story fashion, but it is more prevalent in all segments of society, may be the story teller was telling his story in the name of Maulvi.

Karachi where price of one meal range from 10 Rupees to 1000 Rupees is different for different eyes.

This should make veerash malik feel good.

The definition and examples for the word trash need be reviewed on chowk.

Must we be third-degreed this way by chowk staff.What have we done to deserve THIS?

`O death where is thy sting`

Talking of Karachi dreams… What is the most cherished dream (apart from landing a job with PIA, Customs, Excise etc. or a US visa/green card) of Urdu speaking majority of Karachiites?
In my view, it is recognition of their sub-national identity (Mohajir identity) within our multicultural, and ethnically diverse Pakistan. Are Karachiites justified in their demand to be recognized as the fifth sub-nationality/ethnicity in Pakistan?

What are the reasons that we Pakistanis don’t have an identity matrix, which appeals to an overwhelming majority including Mohajirs of Karachi? Why have we failed to come together as a nation? Are Punjabis to be blamed for East Pakistan debacle and for all the ills that currently haunt us? Or is it unfair and unjustified to single out Punjabis? What do we know about the origins of ethno-politics in Pakistan? Who is to be blamed for violence in the name of ethnicity? Should the ordinary citizens of Pakistan take some blame for what has become an endless cycle of lawlessness and bloodshed that we witness in the name of ethno-politics and sectarianism?

Let us divert the discussion on this thread from a boring personal mudslinging to a much broader and open-minded mudslinging :) I know, I know, this has been discussed to death before, but it is still lot more interesting than ganging up on poor Slink…

Urstruly writes:

“This article has all the ingredients to be a success at Chowk. It offers great opportunity to all Hindus, Christians, Quadianies, and Bay-Haya liberals for Pakistan and Islam bashing. I wonder what has happened to the ``good`` sense of all these people. C`mon guys I am getting bored and my fingers are begining to itch too.”

Is criticism of Mullahs (especially their disgusting behavior in religious schools) synonym with bashing of Islam? What is bayhayai? To speak out against the crimes committed in the name of religion/race/ethnicity (rape and torture of innocent kids in religious schools for example or the killings of young people in the name of ethno-politics) or to pretend that it doesn’t happen? And why drag Christians, Quadianies, and liberals into this sh-t… what have they got to do with what is wrong in Karachi? If anything, these people are the only ones not involved (directly or indirectly) in the bloodshed and crimes that haunt karachi.

Masd,

Why is it such a big deal to know why kharadar was named kharadar and meetha dar was named meetha dar? Who gives a sh-t? I know kharadar like the back of my hand .... what do you know about the culture of Karadar? why is it different to rest of Karachi? what are the various grouping/identities amongst khuchis and memons of Kharadar? why are khojas known as khojas?

Masd, isn’t it more important to know what is wrong with Karachi? Why is there so much crime in the city? Why are the people of Karachi so dissatisfied? Why do they vote for a party, which is racist? Isn’t it more important to think about how can we turn the Khari environment of this beloved city of ours into a meethi environment? Khara ghar into meetha ghar? If you claim to know so much about Karachi and rural Sindh, tell us how can the differences of Sindhi-speaking Sindhis and Urdu-speaking Sindhis be resolved? Why don`t the people of Sindh aspire for a national identity (as Pakistanis)?