Why We have to pay the price?!

Kal to bibi arahi hain… haan dekhtey hain kia hota hai ?

A day before the massive attack a day before bibi's arrival lets see whether classes will continue tomorrow or not? The uncertainties the pangs in the heart the relaxation of another day off another day to stay up late in the night and wake up late in the morning. All karachities lives revolve around such issues. Its been 7 years since I have permanently settled down in Karachi and finally I have got used to handle such situations, the day to day blasts, the strikes the rallies the protests, all have become the norm of the city and there is absolutely no end to this, but what if there is never an end to this! Ultimately it’s us the common karachities paying the price and we are still paying the price.

And paying the price for two reasons:

First we are Pakistani and second we are the residents of Karachi.

What I am talking about is the current situation. Late at night it was announced that all educational institutions will remain closed tomorrow (18th October), it also meant no maid will be coming tomorrow. The whole day is passed in front of the television switching from geo to ary to dawn news to aaj and in between sometimes switched over to dhoom and rung etc and laugh over their newscasters and come back to geo and watch the triumphant return of the ppp leader Benazir Bhutto and listen to such irrelevant news such as “haan to shahid kia muhatarma ke baqi ke members hein ki wo ecconmy mein hain ya phir unke saath first class mein hain?” And then “jee kamran kuch member ppp ke economy mein hain”
‘…nazreen jese ke aap dekh rahey hian ke muharma ke aankhon se aanson rawan they jesey hi unhun ne Pakistani ki sarzameen pe kadam rakha’ and then repeating that slide over and over and over again!!!

That’s absolutely bizarre... and yes we have to go through bizarre situations for instance one of our distant relatives mayun was to be held tomorrow and we weren’t even sure whether it would be held or not because bb was coming and then my cousin's exam was to held today but we weren’t sure whether it would be conducted or not because bb truck was just inching forward and it was expected that she would reach Quaid-e-Azam mausoleum the next day at fajr time and then after 3-4 hrs she would reach bilawal house so what if the traffic flow wasn’t normal what if university points wouldn’t run what if everything remains closed tomorrow what if…. Pata nai kia hoga kal exam hoga and yes it’s the final exam and who cares if someone has an exam tomorrow who cares if someone’s mother is in a state of emergency in a hospital and one can't rush to her because of bb's arrival and the obstruction of the traffic flow and who cares if someone has an important business meeting its obvious no one cares all our country cares about is that Benazir must reach her house safe and sound wave to the people and smile and then get down to her luxurious truck relax then come up and keep a pigeon on her shoulder and we get news on tv …”jeseke nazreen aap desaktey hian muhtarma ke haanth pe gabootar betha hai aur who sabko haanth lherahi hain…”

So what’s new? The common people feel “haan bhai jaldi se apne ghar phocnh jao aur hume kal kaam pe jaaney do ya hume sukoon se paper karney do ya hume araam se shaadi pe jaaney do….” And then came the bomb…!

Eventually its us who pay the price for all the mishaps in the city its us who pay the price for the inflations its us who pay the price for an improperly constructed bridge its us who pay the price for the rivalries between the political parties in the university.

Sometimes I feel like running away from all this and running somewhere where the common peace loving people are the ones important, where people have their civil rights and definitely where people have fresh air and not the smoke of the most polluted city of the world.

But there is always something that rekindles my love for Karachi and makes me love my city again and lightens a spark to do something for my country and keeps the hope alive that inshallah one day things will get better.

Pakistan zindabad