“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” – Abraham Lincoln

It’s July/August 2005. I arrived late in an inaugural session of a training program at SF. Lucky for me that I was asked to sit on a chair reserved for guest as other portions were occupied already. Few minutes later the chief guest arrived. At my left are two teachers. After that sits a young smart Chief guest, a man unknown to me. The oval sitting brings him almost in front of me. Without wasting any time he is invited. He starts an impressive speech. He tells his listeners (professionals mostly) that he recently arrived from USA. He talks humbly, objectively & to the point. I remember his reference to Ataturk on few occasions. He refers his tough experience of using public transport & expresses his concern. He wants to resolve city issues & want to include all sections of society because its his city & he had his early memories with it. For a moment it felt as if Karachi has a new leader in him if he means what he said.
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I saw this picture in some (relatively old) newspaper which shows the protest of Saddar “dukkan walas” in which they did not open the market and it was just 10 years back!

I hope this does not happen this year despite of the KESC’s “aankh macholi”.

( Im not sure if the picture is clear, no matter how much I tried to search it on the Internet I ended up taking a snapshot from my cell phone.)

Wikepedia defines Graffiti as “images or letters applied without permission to publicly viewable surfaces such as walls or bridges”, adding, that “when graffiti painting is done without the property owner’s consent, it can be considered vandalism, which is punishable by law in most countries”.
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According to a report
“The bandits in various parts of the metropolis snatched at least 69 cell phones, 17cars and 25 motorcycles on Wednesday.”

Source: The News

Now, that is unbelievable! How could bandits be so active?
How do the bandits escape? don’t they get stuck in traffic jams :-s

I didn’t get a chance to see today’s paper until a few minutes ago. At first, I couldn’t make what was folded-in-half was actually the front page of Dawn’s Metropolitan. There is a larger than life picture of a Ranger’s black boots covering 85% of the folded page area. It was the same pattern yesterday. And day before.

Is this just me or others feeling the difference too? What is it? Lack of contents or a design policy change? May be KMB and its loyal readers are snatching most of the stories from the Dawn’s Metropolitan. :)

“Twenty percent of our population is going towards the 21st century and 80 percent of the population is still living in the 14th century”

said the inspirational Kishwar Naheed once & after reading this story one wonders if equation is worse if only women are considered here.

Last month, near KPC, i saw 2-3 young guls putting up a banner. Don’t know if it’s same story but how come these protests don’t reach the responsible? And why the heck the IG has to be reached for this. Was that not supposed to be a thanna matter at first?

It’s ironic that almost every such case has to reach poor president or CJP (that too by media) to be able to qualify the status of something-to-work-on. If our officers could lessen guarding VIP’s (6000 policemen) they may concentrate on more important tasks & these people don’t have to go to KPC to protest.

Also Does the IG ever bother to read papers? Its 5th year since police reforms in 2002. Where the women should go to buy mercy if an IG is not giving a response?
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We curse KESC to our heart’s delight if in the scorching mid-day heat, we are deprived of our afternoon siestas in air conditioned rooms.

We whine.

We complain.

We protest.

These kids who’ve probably never known the comfort of an air conditioner prove more resourceful. They find their own swimming pools to splash into.

The weather is hot and melons are in demand. Usually to attract potential buyers the fruit sellers cut a red pyramid shape watermelon chunk and decorate it on their pushcart but this young (Camera shy) fruit vendor went an extra mile by turning melons into melon art.

Sometimes it so happens that the government tries to do something good, but due to their previous record, which is nothing to be proud of, they are totally misunderstood and face unnecessary resistance and challenges in carrying out their plans.

You can’t blame the people, for they have suffered enough to trust the authorities blindly.

Many fellows act as if education gives them a license to disregard others. I hardly complain to illiterate & so friends accuse me of being anti-educated. Thankfully these daily stories give me a strong reason & save me from the typical “you generalized” accusation..

Its sunny & the sun is your enemy. You are on your way from Saddar towards MA Jinnah towards right after signal, blue arrow (1). Traffic is coming from Numaish towards Eid Gaah (2) & its opposite traffic is coming from Eid Gaah towards Numaish/Mazar (3). There is a small lane in front of you (4) from where motor cycle & rickshaw’s appear once in a while.

You realize the traffic jammed & its halted. You think its heavy traffic or the signal is red. The former being true the later wrong. You wait. Now its well over the expected time. The traffic is moving slowly/hardly. You reach near the turn (towards right). The next scene makes you . . . What the (pick a sweet word from dictionary).
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