A Voice in the Wilderness

re: Arif Abrar

The last comment to this article is also five and a half years old, but I simply had to acknowledge that yes I too caught Arif Abrar!!!!

I grew up in Lahore, so cannot even pretend to understand on merely general principles of empathy the rawness of life that so many of the writers on this website claim for Karachi, but I have a feeling that pretty much any Pakistani who has lived with his eyes open has seen and heard stuff that seems completely divorced from reality (like the stark naked, escaped `mental case` enacting her fears (or God knows what) at the Sarwar Road-Abid Majid Road chowraha one December 2001 evening just before iftaar).

So, I won`t/can`t join the almost ``clubby``, self-congratulatory, I-survived-Karachi themes here, but I do hope that wherever Arif is and whatever he`s doing, he gets my thanks! Maybe one day, his ego will get the better of him and he`ll do a Google on Arif Abrar and this page will pop up. Here`s hoping!

The sad part is that I have a very weak auditive memory, so don`t remember any of the songs he played, just his self-effacing, so-what-do-you-think-of-this-next-track style. I seem to remember one or two speeches and I think FM100 even got him to field calls on some shows, but I guess he must have put his foot down. Generally melancholy, sometimes defiant, always but always great music that you can`t help listening to (and yearning for it to be played again, out of the blue, waisey-hi, when I next dare to tune in to an FM station).

Hope you`re doing well whoever you were Arif, hope you at least put up your playlists somewhere accessible.

re: teachers resource center

i was intrigued by a lecture/discussion yesterday, tagore, by a couple from bengal. its focus was tagore as trail blazer in theatre and tagore as a teacher ... while the first part was interesting the second was extremely enlightening (pardon my ignorance).

the relevance here is the continuity of thought i found in this project that shandana`s talked about and tagore`s emphasis on `breaking down the walls` to return childhood and education to the children and to nature ...

there is indeed hope !

out of curiousity shandana - is there a connection, besides the presumably coincidentally perceived one on my part ?

re saad

huh? did i miss something? i am only using the author`s words (read the title please). in my mind, those and that who are responsible for the violence and anarchy in karachi are the wilderness, not the other side of the bridge.

Bad Girl states:

`` ...there seems to be an entire orchestra in the wilderness and it is truly heartening.``

This is exactly what I am talking about. Whatever else may be out there, Bad Girl, it`s not `wilderness.` It`s real people, a society of humans. I know what you`re trying to say, but the choice of metaphor is still telling - enough to make Joseph Conrad proud.

saad

re shandana

thanks for sharing that with us. definitely keep us updated. the project and the children sound amazing.

i am not surprised with the clifence children`s responses though - i`m still trying to fight that pampered, protected, looked-after, being-told-what-to-think/do mentality. as far as the `other` children go: there seems to be an entire orchestra in the wilderness and it is truly heartening.

re saad:
the kids have yet to meet each other.that will happen in the last three days only because the trc doesn`t have the resources to ferry 30 kids from 5 different locations to one as yet.eventually we would like to see them sharing their ideas with each other. as for dividing along distinct lines, that will probably happen, but experience says it will be the more fortunate ones who will be reluctant to mingle initially.last year the school i work at had a joint sports day with special athletes. once they got out of the ``ohmigawd these kids are retarded!`` rut they seemed to enjoy themselves. and this is exactly the point, the kids who have more seem scared, the other ones seem interested.
nope, in fact i shouldn`t have called him an architecht because i think dont think he calls himself one either. he has ``a background in architechture``..whatever that means. his name is zain mustafa.

shandana

Shandana,

Very interesting and commendable. I wonder, though, about the nature of the interaction between the angrezofied kids and their lalukhet counterparts. Has the whole group coalesced into subgroups divided along obvious lines ? Or does the format encourage some mixing, like teaming up the angrez and the non-angrez with each other rather than against each other ?

BTW, the architect working on this project with you ... is that Safdar Abidi by any chance ?

saad

re bg:
i was just waiting for an excuse :)
the teachers resource centre is having it`s annual event on nov 9th. it will be a three day mela/exhibition with the theme of ``tommorows world``.it will include topics as diverse as agriculture in tommorows world, values/rights in tommorows world, fashion in tommorows world etc..the list goes on. there is a group of trc staff and volunteers working on each topic with the schools that wish to take part.the group i`m with is `fine arts and living spaces`.it consists of one fashion designer/college proffesor/architect, two graphic designers, one artist/trc person, and me.the schools we`re working with are in lalukhet/liaquatabad, north nazimabad,kharadar,single lane, and clifton.the conceptualising was done over the last one month and two days ago we started going to the schools to conduct workshops with the kids. the first task we set them was to bring in ten things that they saw on their way home that they either really liked (and would like to see more of in the future) or really disliked (and would like to see disappear). eventually we`re going to direct them towards using this material to present their concept of what their world will be like. the second task was mapping. where were they in the city? could they find their way home? did they remember how to get there?we asked them if they had all drawn maps with pencil, ruler and paper, when they said yes we told them that was exactly what we didn`t want them to do. we wanted them to do something they`d never done before, using material they would ordinarily not associate with ``art projects``. the kids from clifton were pretty clueless as most of them have drivers/parents drive them home and they pay absolutely no atttention to their surrroundings, the kids in lalukhet could find their way home blindfolded. the clifton kids kept pestering us to TELL them what to bring, the lalukhet kids had already brought in their items. nearly everyone brought in a cigarette or and empty ciggie pack (they want those out of the future), some brought broken glass, a toy blender, a mobile phone (toy) etc etc.they were infinitely more interested, motivated and responsive than their `angresofied` counterparts. the last couple of days have been like a revelation to me, it`s such a pity to think of the others out there who fear to venture out of the insular world of defence and clifton, but i suppose that is understandable too. to each his own.
shandana

shafqat

Bro, I understand how my comment may have sounded to you when I described about my understanding of Karachi 2 and `The Bridge`.

I did not ever intend to say that there is any moral difference in people living in Defense/Clifton and people in other parts of the city. I might have come across wrong but my true meaning was the `General` (Keyword) outlook of people living in Clifton/Defense and people from the rest of the city.

You live in Karachi and so have I, we both know that what ever happens to the rest of the city, Clifton/Defense keeps on chugging along. You see, the point I was trying to make with the author was that her positive-ness might not be returned from people who don`t live in safe havens!

My view of a bleak outlook in life does not point out a guy from Nazimabad! That would be ridiculous but more ridiculous would be the denial of the fact when `conditions` go bad in karachi, both these areas are affected the same!

So, in the end I believe that people from across the bridge get MORE affected by the gun culture (thus have more of a negative view of things) then people in Defense/Clifton where all the beauracrats, army personnel, etc etc live who will protect themselves at any cost!

Corruption was the underlying meaning here. Nothing more....

A

re: shandana

great story about the teacher who walked all that way!! knowing what you know, i am not surprised at your optimism. please tell us more about the workshop.

re: safwan

good for you, proud nazimabadi!

guess what, karachi-ites in NYC have re-created some of these divisions. a typical `burger` variety (the sort who thinks karachi = clifton/defence, sindh club, KGS and agha`s super market) would not be caught dead living in queens or brooklyn or the bronx or staten island. because manhattan is, in general, the most expensive borough in NYC, this is where every pretensious pakistani will try to live. many of these people also refuse to socialize with anyone who lives in any of the other boroughs or other not-so-hip neighbourhoods/suburbs like new jersey. it is mostly a class issue, but there is a bit of the angreziat theme here too, which blows my mind as we are in a western city!! here one is subjected to a double interrogation: where does your family live in karachi and where do you live (in the new york metropolitan area)? as they say, you can take the `burger` out of clifence (=clifton+defence), but you cant take clifence out of the `burger`...

...sorry, to go off on a complete tangent

Shandana,

I live abroad, and have basically been out of touch with Pakistan for some time now. While I do visit every year, I don`t really pay much attention to what goes on there. I`ve chosen to live elsewhere, at least for the time being, and try not to look back too often.

Having said this, this is the first time I`ve looked at a Pakistan-oriented website. And I was impressed (like the others at this forum) by your optimism and persistence, more so that you could maintain it in the face of, well, my God, the times that people in Karachi as well as Pakistan face. Your attitude is commendable. I`ve lived in a few places in the world where tragic, horrible things have happened, where people have done grotesque things to each other, etc. And the thing I did learn was that if the troubles ended, they did so because there were people willing to push ahead, to re-build, to say that they just had to go on. I don`t know, I`m not trying to exaggerate your, our, situation here, but in any case, press on. Good luck. Unfortunately, success is not guaranteed, but then you probably know that. (and yes, you have managed to induce some guilt at this end...)

On a more trivial note, just wanted to respond to ``anotherwoman```s query. Mitsou is awesome, in her ridiculous, kitsch manner. The spirit of French Canada, ha ha. Don`t mock it! This d.j. sounds great. I wish I could listen to the station.

Best,

AK

Reference: Reply #: 15 by Saad Shafqat

My home is in North Nazimabad - could we be related? One of [soon after I joined] my NED University memories is of ``somebody`` being surprised that I was getting on a ``point`` [bus] that was going to North Nazimabad. Since my family had just moved to Karachi from Hyderabad I had no clue about this subtle stereotyping and asked, ``Why the surprise?`` The response was, ``You dont look and talk like a Nazimabadi!!`` Since that day I have struggled to be recognized as a Nazimabadi, because that is who and what I am. Over the years I have been accused by many for carrying a ``grudge`` and for being obnoxious and rude to anyone who leverages ``angreziat [western demeanour].`` Perhaps, someday I will forget all that nonsense and forget the Naali of filth that runs through the fabric of our society.

I come from a family with members scattered all over Karachi, including PIB Colony, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, and Azizabad. It disturbs me to hear people so readily set apart Clifton/Defence from the rest of Karachi. This kind of attitude is patronizing and serves little purpose other than expose one`s prejudices. It`s fine to fight for trendy issues, like women`s freedom, prisoners` rights and environmental protection, but take a moment to also examine a much more malignant evil in our society: discrimination on the basis of angreziat. Since affluence is widely present on both sides of `the bridge`, differential angreziat is, in my mind, the primary basis for the prejudicial and patronizing attitude towards non-Clifton, non-Defence Karachi. It is a kind of orientalism, a sort of white man`s moral burden towards the backward, except that the morally burdened are not white, they`re just trying to be white. It is a misplaced pity that doesn`t do anyone any good.

saad shafqat

you know, ive heard this show a couple of times, and its usually really good. but i wonder which changeling child takes the place of the dj, when he plays that god awful quebecoise `singer` Mitsou. i have problems understanding how the words `bye bye mon cowboy/ bye bye mon gigolo` could possibly help any one get through the day.

shandana

You weren`t just going on! :) You made a good point, I am pleasantly surprised at the amount of confidence you have in the people of Karachi.

Although I still believe that Karachi 2 people have a pretty bleak outlook towards the future, but there is no denying the fact these people have, are, and will always defiantly face all the atrocities of Pakiland.

I wish you all the best bud and god`s speed with you.

A

re anwar:
first things first..thanks :)
second..in response to your query about whether the people `on the other side of the bridge` feel the same way, let me tell you a little story.i`m working on a project with the trc (teachers resource center).the project is their annual mela and the theme is tommorows world. the group i`m with is handling arts/living spaces and we`re trying to get the children from different schools in different areas to share their vision of the future with us. the workshop will continue for a month. the schools we`ve picked are in lyari,liaquatabad, north nazimabad, kharadar and clifton.
first point..the schools that showed the most entusiasm were the ones from across the bridge.
second point..not only were they more entusiatic, they were also more creative and disciplined
third point..we had a meeting yesteday at the trc which is opposite the iba city campus (omi if you like), the art teacher from lyari was 45 minutes late and apologised profusely when she walked in. when asked why she was late she explained how there had been no public transport because of the strike and so she had just walked it. from pib colony.that`s an hour, in 40 degress, to attend a meeting about moving forward.
i think if and when we do progres, it`ll be because of people like her who are willing to make the effort, regardless of where they are. the ones in clifton and defence are more apathetic and have other options, but these people are powered by desperation yet their approach to life here is by and large, more positive.
am i making sense or am i going off on a tangent again?
thank you for bringing that up
shandana