Adding to the complete madness of horrifying traffic, every major road being under construction, one week old rain water standing on the roads, terrible amounts of dust and people who believe that horns are meant to be checked every five seconds is the wonderfully quaint little concept of potholes. As I have said I fit in Karachi. So does my exteremely decrepit Khyber fit in all of these potholes.

Though I could never understand why people swerved right and left to avoid them. Then I sat in my mothers car. One pot hole. All hell broke loose. And then it dawned upon me that the buses careening across the road arent trying to kill me, they are trying to avoid the potholes.

In case I havent been clear. I hate potholed roads!

I am done with both emotionally ravaging dialups and emotionally challenging cable nets.

Can someone please tell me the options that I have for a decent internet connection; DSL, ISDN or whatever else that there may be in this great city of ours?

- Habib Bank Plaza
- MCB Bank Tower

The physical appearance of the city is changing at a rapid pace. Underpasses, Roads, Buildings, Hoardings, Shops and Houses spring up from the ground as if Dwarves from stone. Glass structures jostle with Jhimpir Stone for the face of the city. It is an interesting competiton; one get’s to see what we are ready to replace and what we tenaciously hold onto.

Does anyone else here also get lost because of the removal of older buildings that we use to remember places by?

Is that wrong?

Should we live in a continuous state of change?

During this time, one plays with ones cell phone, waits, sends messages, makes the odd phone call, waits, orders coffee, looks at the smoke rising from the group on the next table, waits. But most of all - contemplates an ash tray. Square in shape. Wooden as well as metallic. Soft wooden corners and harsh metallic points. And then your idiot friend shows up.

The moral of the story? Costa Coffee has this absolutely wonderful baked cheesecake that is just divine. It is so completely divine that if you listen intently while eating it you can hear Mehdi Hassan signing in Darbari with absolute abandon. How can a western dish evoke this response you ask me? Well, I don’t know.

Of course that stops as soon as you get the bill and end up paying 10% of your bonus for one completely acceptable meal. But it is worth it, every cheesecake bite worth it.

Why the topic? They have nice ash trays and one can smoke on the premises.

The current block on blogspot sites stops us from telling the world how we feel. This act will make us an invisible community in the international arena of ideas and ensuing decisions. Allow us to show the world what we stand for. Allow us to teach the world what we are about. Allow us. Free us. Stop blocking.

On, and yes, I am not even going to talk about the huge pink elephant sitting on most of the city right now.

Reminded me of the time I had a fight with my sister and I ended up destroying her Little Mermaid video cassette.

Is it me or does Karachi seem cleaner, greener and with better roads all of a sudden?