Karachi Metblogs » kar_rabayl

Karachi - Snapshot of the City

kar_rabayl — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:37:05 +0000

The seasons are discriminated only in the sky. All that tells you of springs coming is the feel of the air, or the baskets of flowers brought in from the suburbs by peddlers; it’s a spring cried in the marketplaces. During the summer the sun bakes the houses bone-dry, sprinkles our walls with grayish dust and you have no option but to survive those days of fire indoors, behind closed shutters. In autumn, on the other hand, we have deluges of mud. Only winter brings really pleasant weather.

The town itself, let us admit, is ugly. It has a smug, placid air and you need time to discover what it is that makes it different from so many business centers in other parts of the world. How to conjure up a picture, for instance, of a town without birds, without any trees or gardens, where you never hear the beat of wings or the rustle of leaves - a thoroughly negative place, in short?
Perhaps the easiest way of making a town’s acquaintance is to ascertain how the people in it work, how they love, and how they die. In our town (is this, one wonders, an effect of the climate?) all three are done on much the same lines, with the same feverish yet casual air. The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits. Our citizens work hard, but solely with object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, “doing business.”
What is more exceptional in out town is the difficulty one may experience in dying. “Difficulty,” perhaps, is not the right word; “discomfort” would come nearer. Being ill is never agreeable, but there are towns that stand by you, so to speak, when you are sick; in which you can, after a while, let yourself go. An invalid needs small attentions, he likes to have something to rely on, and that’s natural enough. But here the violent extremes of temperature, the exigencies of business, the uninspiring surroundings, the sudden nightfalls, and the very nature of its pleasures call for good health. Think what it must be for a dying man, trapped behind hundreds of walls all sizzling with heat, while the whole population, sitting in cafes or hanging on the telephone, is discussing shipments, bills of landing, discounts! It will then be obvious what discomfort attends death, even modern death, when it waylays you under such conditions.

This is a passage from the novel “The Plague” by Albert Camus. When I read it, I could not believe he was NOT talking about Karachi. It seems such a unique description that applies to our beloved city as well. Don’t you think?

Hurricane Expected

kar_rabayl — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 21:46:52 +0000

Storm headed toward Karachi and is expected to hit in the next 6 hours. It is 150 km away in the Arabian Sea as I type.
Wherever you are, please head home. The traffic is likely going to be ugly and with added rainfall and strong winds it is advisable to not be out on the roads.

CNN predicts heavy showers and thunder over the next four days.

http://weather.cnn.com/weather/forecast.jsp?locCode=OPKC&zipCode=354328257765

Fire at Mobile Zone Building

kar_rabayl — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:45:59 +0000

Fire erupted this morning in Clifton at the Mobile Zone market, also called the CTC building. No deaths confirmed yet, casualties yet to be counted. As reported by Indus News, shopkeepers fled out everyone helping themselves and their neighbours. 3 hours after the fire shopkeepers complain that no one was formally helping them out. They complain that the government sends helicopters when there is a fire at a government owned building but no rescue helicopter has been sent as yet even though fire has spread to all floors of the building.

Watch this space for updates.

WARNING - Power Failure Threat Looms Large

kar_rabayl — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 06:44:09 +0000

Inconspicuously cushioned in the middle of today’s DAWN, is a notice that many might fail to notice. It is alarming to note that KESC has officially published a statement that all of Karachi will witness a power failure on Sunday morning from 6:30 a.m to 12:30 p.m.

That’s right. The precious few hours of sleep we get on Sunday mornings and that’s also taken away.

KESC continues to outdo itself on the pretext of “system upgradation”. Systems are upgraded everywhere in the world. Pray do tell, why doesn’t this happen in any other country? Stop for a moment and rethink. All this jubilation about this year’s budget being the ‘best budget’ in Pakistan’s history, is it really making any difference in our lives?

And oh, I wanted to post this 9 hours ago but power failures have taken up most of the day.

The Revolving Restaurant

kar_rabayl — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:50:21 +0000

Pakistan recently became the 42nd country in the world to have a revolving restaurant. Since its inaugration, Karachiites have been going in hordes (as per custom) to check out this wonder. Last night I decided to check it out for myself.

Old souls like myself should remember that Karachi had a revolving restaurant many moons ago but for reasons unbeknownst to myself, it was shut down around a decade ago.

Sitting on the 16th floor of the Ceaser Tower on main Shahra-e-Faisal, the view from the top is magical. At night you can truly see the city of lights in its full glory (except the areas where the power is out, hehe). Sitting on your chair you can get a 360¬∞ view of the city within 45 minutes flat.

The environment is Lal Qila-esque and the quality of food will give the Village a run for its money! I hogged on the Chinese delicacies especially since I’m a big Chinese food-aholic.

The prices comes out to be about Rs. 500 per head but the variety on the buffet menu is worth the empty pocket later on. Or not.

All is not peaches and cream, however. Those who suffer from motion sickness or are easily prone to nausea are advised not to visit. For confirmation, you can ask my mother who complained about feeling sick the whole time !

For the rest of you, bon appetit!

KSE’s bulls running out of control!

kar_rabayl — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:16:31 +0000

Karachi Stock Exchange crossing the 13000 mark today, reaching a historical high. What are the implications? This robust financial hub of Pakistan is ablaze with activity, but is it necessarily a good for the economy in the long run? Higher stock proces and larger volumes don’t translate to higher earnings for investors. Is it mere speculation and game-play or are our companies really doing that well? Are we really growing at a pace matching that of Chinese and other Asian economies?

So many questions in my head What does everyone else think?

Jazz concert rescheduled

kar_rabayl — Wed, 23 May 2007 18:52:03 +0000

Due to the announced wheel jam strike from May 25 to May 27 in Karachi, the concert of

Michael Schiefel (Jazz Vocalist)

will be shifted to Thursday, May 24, 2007. Starting at 8:00 pm at the Arts Council Auditorium, Karachi. Tickets are available from now on for Rs. 300 at the Goethe-Institut, the Alliance Fran√ßaise and at Agha’s Supermarket.

Civil Hospital doctors feel “over-burdened”

kar_rabayl — Tue, 22 May 2007 21:52:48 +0000

The City News recently reported that as per recent government orders all rape cases in Karachi would be directed to the Civil Hospital’s medico-legal department whereas previously the Civil Hospital and Jinnah Hospital both shared the burden of handling rape and assault cases in Karachi. This was done because they wanted to centralize all cases under one jurisdiction (Civil falls under provincial government and Jinnah falls under federal government).

The drawbacks that were highlighted are summarised as follows:

a) The doctors at Civil Hospital were not consulted nor were they informed formally.

b) The Civil Hospital is already inundated with cases and has major resource constraints. They lack the necessary equipment and facilities to handle all the cases in Karachi and the already unreportedness of rape and assault will be adversely affected. Sometimes the doctors claim they have to pay out of their own pockets to help the victims.

c) Further exacerbated by the fact that victims find no relief in treatment where they have to be rushed and face a dearth of resources and plays havoc with their already maimed psyche.

This centralization of legal cases may make sense in light of coherence in legislative procedures but realities show otherwise. The most heinous crime in the city, the most traumatic experience for any human to go through, hundreds of cases in this enormous metropolis, dealt single-handedly by one hospital: is this fair?

A question comes to mind whether this move reflects the nominal number of cases that do get reported; are the rapes in this so underreported that the government feels that one hospital will be able to deal with the quantity all on its own?

Alternative Electricity Options

kar_rabayl — Sat, 19 May 2007 07:18:10 +0000

Contributed by our reader, Zeeshan Syed.

There are Chinese generators available all around Karachi. Now, we all know China produces both Category A, B, C maybe even U but the point is that you can get a generator that will not prove to be heavy on your pocket.

People tend to buy and install UPS systems. I tend to disagree with the whole UPS idea. UPS needs time to recharge. In a city where electricity is a major problem and where power failures can even extend 24 hours, you can not expect to have UPS working for ya without getting fried!

It needs time to recharge. We have 2 hours of load shedding here - twice or thrice in 24 hours. That means at least 4 hours of UPS usage. Your UPS will get recharged properly and this will have a major impact on the life of your UPS.

With generators, you have the power to produce energy for as long as you want. Generators do not cost as much as a UPS costs. You can get a small generator which runs on Petrol for as low as 4.5k, while a domestic made UPS costs somewhere between 10k-14k. The small generator’s fuel consumption is not bad if you ask me. It can run up to 2 hours/liter and I guess that’s pretty impressive. It can light up 4 fans and 4 tube lights (or 8-10 energy savers).

These generators though have no guarantee and they can run straight for 2 years or won’t even work for a year and this what happened to me. I also made a huge mistake of NOT running it throughout the winter season. I should have ran it for a couple of minutes. I am sure that’s the reason why my generator malfunction.

I am getting a nice deal. Let me explain about the generator that I am looking forward to buy. I am getting a Chinese-made generator that will produce enough power (when running on Petrol) to run the following:

3 to 4 Tubelights (or 10 Energy Savers)
4 Fans
1 Television
1 VCR (or DVD player)
1 Fridge

The generator that I am talking about is also a Chinese product. It will Self-start. It means that I won’t have to pull that string kinda thingie and hurt my back every time I run it. Self-starting generators can easily be turned ON or OFF by using a KEY. Pretty much like how you start your car. The non self start generators work like starting a motorcycle engine or a rickshaw.

The best thing about the above generator is that it can produce a good amount of electricity running on natural gas. Natural gas and that does not mean you will need a CNG cylinder attached. Your normal SUI GAS will do the job. Please keep in mind that every generator works like a car/motorcylce’s engine. That means, you will have to run it on Petrol for at least a month (after buying it) and once the engine has start to run smooth (jub generator RAWAN ho jaye), then you can run it on GAS. Pretty much like any brand new or overhauled car engine.

How much does it cost?

Well, it will cost you somewhere near 19,000-21,000.

What can I run once I start running my generator on SUI GAS?

Basically, all the stuff that I mentioned about but running your Refrigerator would be a difficult on FULL load is not a good idea. If you want to run your Refrigerator then turn off a couple of lights and that’ll do the job.

Should I trust these Chinese brands?

If you can buy a decent Japanese made Generator then go for that. Because Japan’s third quality products are still better then Chinese’s A grade products.

Any after-sale support?

This is not a BRANDED generator (like HONDA, Yamaha etc). The shop keeper though is promising “2 free services in a year”. He has clearly told me that if there is a fault with any “parts” then I’ll have to pay for that.

Any alternative to Chinese generators?

Honda is officially operating in Karachi. ABN Amro Credit Card users can get a HONDA generator on 6-10 months on 0% mark up. Anything that exceeds 12 months of repayment schedule and you will have to pay mark-up.

Are HONDA generators made in Japan?

They are also made in China. Difference is that the company is here and the deal is legit. They have service centers in major areas of Karachi (Gulishan, Shahra-e-Faisal, Defence etc) and they promise ON YEAR HONDA WARRANTY plus a FREE HOME DELIVERY. Unfortunately, this offer is only limited to ABN AMRO CREDIT CARD users.

Moving forward..

kar_rabayl — Sat, 19 May 2007 02:37:33 +0000

In the wake of the horrors of World War 1, people found themselves grappling with the consequences of violence, not knowing how to react. No system seemed to make sense and all the isms capitalism, communism, tradionalism, Marxism, looked unworkable. This feeling of helplessness and growing unrest led to the what is known as the Dada revolution.

Dadaism was artistic movement that was against traditional form of art and traditional form of movement. It was a collective outcry of artists and writers toward the injustice they had just witnessed. A lot of inspiring art and literature was born out of it, including the genre of surrealism and pop art. I will not go into further art history but there is a point I’m trying to make here.

Dadaism still exists today in the minds of many artists who personally revolt against the system in creative ways. A modern example, a personal favourite, can be found here: http://dadada.com/gallery/whosane.html
The events of last week happened in a frenzy, but now we need to look forward. The skies of hope look bleak and waning, but we must persevere. A lot has been said but there is little to be gained from the blame game we play in our minds. We must move forward.

I believe that only writers, philosophers, thinkers and artists can ultimately save the world where politicians, propagandists and media moguls have failed. We need a revolution but first we must cleanse our minds of the hate, the anger and the indifference. To be of any value to our city and our generation we need to look past petty follies and ask ourselves “What I have done in this world that was not already done before, what new did I bring to the table?”
We must create, not just procreate. We must produce, not just reproduce. We must move forward. Only with acceptance comes advancement. You never know what impact you will have.