Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Make Money Online
-----------------------------------------
Make Money Online - Tips & Articles
about Make Money Online
-----------------------------------------
Make Money Online - Tips & Articles
about Make Money Online
-----------------------------------------
Blogging - The most popular way to make money
This article is intended to teach you step by step how to get started and more importantly, make money blogging. We will teach you how to start a home based blogging business. Please leave us comments, questions, or success stories so that we can improve this guide.
According to Wikipedia, "A weblog, which is usually shortened to blog, is a type of web site where entries are made (such as in a journal or diary)." (Wikipedia, March 2007) It was not until recently however, that people have been using blogging as a full time home based business and have been making enough money to make it worth while.
So, how do you start to make money blogging? Believe it or not, It's actually fairly easy to get started. If you have a access to a computer and internet it can even be completely free! If you do not have a computer at home, you can always go to your local library and blog from there. So, if you are serious about making money blogging, there should be no excuses stopping you.
Once you decide that blogging is right for you, you need to find a blogging platform. There are a number of web sites that will allow you to host your blog. Alternatively, you can create you own website and blog using wordpress. If you decide that making your own blog web site is a little beyond your technical skills, you can use any of the following companies.
Obviously there literally hundreds of other blogging sites that you can use. Feel free to do a search for "free blog" in your favorite search engine.
Once you have a platform from which to start blogging, you need to decide on your "niche" market. Think about the last time you searched on the internet for a topic that you wanted to learn more about? Perhaps you even found our site by doing such a search. The simple fact is, people go to the internet to find information. If you can supply that information, you will begin to accrue readers and profit from that web traffic.
By choosing a niche market, like make money blogging for example, you are funneling the search traffic into a select group of people who will actually be interested in what you have to say. So, rather than coming to your blog and hitting the back button, the reader will see that your blog is about their interests and will stay and read.
The next step is to blog every day. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes new bloggers make is thinking that they can post a blog and forget about it. This is NOT the case. In order to make it big, you have to keep readers interested and coming back to your blog again and again.
It's really not hard to do, especially if you chose a niche market that you are interested in. People really do want to know what you have to say, even if it is only opinions or your daily life story. Once you get someone interested, they will come back time and time again and that is where the money is made.
Next, you need to throw up some ads. You can choose from any number of ad companies but for beginners we suggest either Google Adsense, or Yahoo Marketing
Once you have your ads up and once you attract enough readers, sit back, continue blogging and watch the money come in. Each time someone views your blogs, there is a chance (usually around 2%) that they will click on an ad and you will get paid. Talk about an easy home business! The more readers you get, the more money you will rake in. Some blogs make well over 6 figures a year and the sky is the limit. So why not get started and begin making money by blogging...
GOOGLE TIPS
Google is by far the most popular search engine in the world. Currently Google is involved in one of every two searches performed on the Internet. Most people I know use Google to search. Google has also become a verb now with people googling all the time. I have been running this website for almost 9 years now and right now 90% of my traffic comes from Google. If you have a website, its important that you understand how to tune your website for Google. This section of my website offers tips on how to improve your rankings in Google.
Besides the search, Google offers other programs such as those listed below and my sites offers tips that should make your site more successful in case you are participating in those programs.
- Google Tips - These are tips that should help you improve your page rankings in Google
- Google Adsence - This is a program that allows publishers to publish Google Ads on their site and earn revenues.
- Google Adwords - This is a program that allows you to purchase Google Ads that will either show up in Google's Search results as sponsored links or appear on the web pages of other publishers
- Google Sitemaps - Sitemaps allows users to specify all the links on their site and submit it to Google for inclusion in their index.
A lot of "Google SEO Experts" will charge you money and make promises that they can get you the top position. I don't believe that such claims are truly possible for popular keywords and even if they do get you a top position you must understand which keywords they will use to get you the top listing. If they are getting you top position for your company name, then its no big deal. If they get you top position for your business keywords, then by all means pay them. I would even suggest that you hold back part of your payments till these promises come good. Here is a good read on this from Google itself.
I have used all of the above Google offerings to increase the traffic to my website and earnings. I have had a 10x increase in my traffic in the last 18 months and also have had a15x increase in earnings too. Look at the term "Famous Logos", "World Famous Logos", "India Jokes", "Bollywood Jokes", "India Careers", "Nike Logo" and you will find me on top or in the Top 5.
I have learn't a few things about Google, purely based on my experience with the tools and I will share these Google tips for free on a regular basis. I don't claim to be an SEO expert but these tips should help you improve your site's position in Google. I have personally used to tips and seen them work. The changes you make will not push your ranking up overnight. Sometimes it takes a few months for the changes to happen so be patient with your changes. In some cases I have been able to quantify the difference it has made. Try these out, wait for a couple of months and you should see a difference.
So why am I offering these tips for free when others are charging so much money for it? I personally don't think anyone should pay for it because they are just tips. If I was personally sitting and editing your sites then probably, I would charge some money. Also, these are tips that have worked for me and may not necessarily work for everyone so why charge some. If you do wish to thank me for these tips and if you are not a member of Adsense, then I would appreciate it if you signed up for Adsense using the link below.
Sardar's Answering Machine
A Sardar took an answering machine home and fixed it
home somewhere in Rajasthan,but two days later disconnected it
because he was getting complaints like "Saala phone utha ke
bolta hai ghar pe nahin hai" (Idiot! He's taking the phone and
saying he's not there.)
home somewhere in Rajasthan,but two days later disconnected it
because he was getting complaints like "Saala phone utha ke
bolta hai ghar pe nahin hai" (Idiot! He's taking the phone and
saying he's not there.)
Sardar wins the Lottery
A Sardar buys a ticket and wins the lottery.
He goes to Delhi to claim it and the man verifies his ticket number.
The Sardar says, "I want my 20 lakhs.
The man replied, "No, sir. It doesn't work that way. We give you one lakh
today and then you'll get the rest spread
out for the next 19 weeks."
The Sardar said, "Oh, no. I want all my money right now! I won it and I want
it."
Again, the man explained that he would only get a lakh that day and the rest
during the next 19 weeks.
The Sardar, furious with the man, screams out, "Look, I want my money! If
you're not going to give me my 20 lakhs right
now, then I want my five rupees back!"
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Pathan names born in different situations:
Born in Jungle ..........Sher Khan
Born in summer ------- Sharbat Khan
Born during war ------- Barood Khan
Born near ocean ------- Samunder Khan
Born with abnormal features ------- Ajab Khan
Born premature ------- Masti Khan
Born near garden ------- Gul Khan
Born in anger ------- Ghazab Khan
Born in horror ------- Haibat Khan
Born funny ------- Nadia Khan
Born After Sucide Bom ------- Bhadur Khan
Born with talent but no brain ------- Shahid Khan Afridi
Born with Proud of Pakistan-------- Abdul Qadir Khan
Born in Pervaiz Musharaf Goverment ------ Bardasht Khan.
Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020 (KSDP 2020)
Someone has to check how this master plan is implemented, say experts
Staff Report
KARACHI: Speakers at a workshop have asked the city government to form an oversee committee to monitor the implementation on the Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020 (KSDP 2020). They have also demanded the city be managed by one authority so uniform policies are maintained. They also stressed the city government publicize reports from the sectors as they have yet to be incorporated into KSDP 2020.
The second KSDP 2020 workshop was organized by NGO Shehri-CBE in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung FUR DIE FREIHEIT on Saturday at a local hotel. The speakers were Roland deSouza, Amber Alibhai, Shahab Ghani, Masood Jaffery, Qaiser Bengali, representatives of civil society and senior members of Shehri-CBE. The aim of holding the workshop was to discuss the role of the city government in implementing the plan throughout the city besides discussing the inefficiencies and hurdles in the way.
EDO Master Plan Group of Offices Iftikhar Qaimkhani and his team attended the first workshop held last month, but were reluctant to come to this one. “They literally refused to take part in this session, even as observers,” said Shehri’s Amber Alibhai.
Renowned town planner Masood Jaffery recalled the background of the KSDP 2020 and said that the city government initiated the project as Master Plan 2020 only to later change it to Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020 as it was getting confused with the Planning Commission’s Vision 2020. “Though they changed the name, they did not fulfill the formalities on paper,” he mentioned.
In the meantime, when the city government finalized the document, most of its studies were outdated as they did not take a lot of the stakeholders on board. The whole plan lacked numeric data as well as commitments for implementation.
Commenting on the housing sector, as mentioned in KSDP 2020, Masood Jaffery said that there was no need for new housing schemes, but the houses in ‘katchi abadis’ should be leased to fulfill the need for housing facilities for low-income groups.
Similarly, the Mass Transit System has been approved for the last 25 years but no one has taken any action to implement it. Jaffery asked why this was so? Suggesting a solution, he said, “The time has come to improve the overall infrastructure of the city and develop a one-window solution. The city government should bring in representatives from the local transport sector, including tanker operators and trade unions, like the ones present today (Saturday) on one platform, and present a common solution after debating relevant issues,” he said.
Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners Chairman Shahab Ghani Khan suggested that the capability of the Master Plan Group of Offices be increased and that sectoral reports should be brought to the surface for the public.
Meanwhile, economist Qaiser Bengali questioned the motivation behind preparing this plan as there are no donors funding the projects. “In the previous two Karachi master plans there was funding from foreign donors. There is no such thing here either,” he said.
Questions were also raised over the city government’s violation of its own condition that no one was allowed to grab coastal land, as it says in the KSDP 2020.
One of the speakers also mentioned that in 1974 the government directed all cantonment areas in the middle of the city to be given to the local administration, which was not done. Instead, in 1983, another cantonment board, the Clifton Cantonment Board, was established.
Speakers agreed that the city government should form an oversee committee of distinguished citizen to monitor the implementation of the master plan and suggested that the control of all land in the city should be given to one authority including all stakeholders, such as cantonment boards, KPT, CAA, the Pakistan Railways.
Karachi: The Descent Into Alienation
From May 8, 2002, when a bus attack in Karachi, killed 11 Frenchmen and two locals, there have been a series of events, almost like the domino effect, of terrorist attacks. Many have been killed, and even more have been wounded, and these were the people who were not in the remotest sense connected to anything that would cause controversy.
Things started becoming worse with the June car bomb blast the same year, which exploded near the heavily guarded US Consulate killing 12 people and wounding over 50.
But these terrorist incidents are not new to this multicultural terror struck city. Karachi has been experiencing political upheaval on the basis of almost every kind of terrorism since back in the early 70s, when Z. A Bhutto became Prime Minister, and the Sindhi resistance against Karachi’s Mohajir enclave became stronger. In the long term what followed was a tug of war of power between the Mohajir community and the others, which took a solidly ethnic turn especially after the MQM was born.
The army then, sick of patronizing the MQM, and now wanting to weaken it, helped build a base of the MQM’s newest foe the Haqiqi group, who were regarded as dissidents of the Altaf group.
Nevertheless, these were, unlike the MQM (A), without any political goal and based themselves on extorting money from neighborhoods and spreading nothing but hostility, so they did not receive any popularity among the masses. The situation developed onwards till 1996, after which the city faced a cooling down period.
Now after the latest government has assumed power, attempting to promote peace and harmony, along with other elements important for a stable state, since 2002, there have been at least two bombings every year only in Karachi, which is the most sensitive city in Pakistan. The targeted bomb blasts have been alleged to have links with Al Qaeda, but there have been others that have been the work of banned sectarian organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In fact, credible sources report that the city police are worried about there being links with the Abdullah Mehsud group from Afghanistan as well.
The biggest suicide bombing took place last year, at the Nishtar Park, and was thought to be a clash between the Wahabi and Barelvi schools of Islamic thought. 60 people were killed in it, including leaders. Then came the killing of the Shia leader Allama Hasan Turabi.
In this entire game of death, played between the leaders of various organizations, and in some militant group’s attempt to show that the current government is incapable of maintaining peace in the metropolis, it is the common man who is caught in the web, and pulled in towards his death.
Surprisingly as many would think, the people of Karachi have not shown themselves to be suffering from mass paranoia, even after this newest series of suicide bombings in the past few years. In fact, there is a running emotion, or perhaps better put, lack of emotion in the entire scenario.
One would think that the entire city would be enveloped in a shroud of fear: fear of stepping out of their houses, fear of going to any kind of public place, in short fear of almost everything. That is not wholly incorrect insofar as stepping out into the crowd is concerned.
Sajida a housewife, claims she is not scared of anything but once she starts thinking about the possibility of what might occur, she could be fearful for everything.
“If I start thinking about things that may happen, about the crime scene in Karachi, I will be scared even when I am in bed, in my own house. So I try not to think of these things. Keeping that in mind, I don’t feel scared of anything as such.”
But Abdul Rehman, a clerk shows a slight level of mistrust, and says that ever since the suicide-bombing trend has started, he is fearful of going out into public places.
“Once upon a time, the only thing we could feel scared about was open firing, but even that would have some kind of a personal vendetta attached to it,” he says, “Now this new trend of bombing, is too much to take. I cannot come to terms with it.”
Perhaps this seemingly paranoid situation is only among some people. The rest happen not to tilt to such an extensive degree.
“I’m not scared when I’m alone, or at a private place,” says Zeeshan, a student, “I do however feel scared when I’m at a crowded place, where I might think a bomb blast may occur, such as the railway station. I travel quite a lot using trains so I feel that whenever I am sitting at the platform waiting for my train.”
Others have completely given up control over their lives.
Mehmood, a paan seller, says that he doesn’t care about what happens, as such, as ‘his life is in God’s hands’. He thinks the whole game is about religious differences, and that there are groups that target each other for these personal differences.
Babu, a Rickshaw driver agrees.
“I work all day, but I’m not really scared of bomb blasts. What worries me more is a hold up, and me losing my day’s earnings. Otherwise, I hardly think about these things. If I have to die, I’ll die.”
The emotion showed by these people, most of which belong to the comparatively lower socio-economic classes, and who comprise the masses of Karachi’s population, points towards a trend that spells out disconnection or more appropriately, alienation. Perhaps it is lack of awareness that has led to this kind of emotion, but in general this may not be the exact cause. The reason is, Karachi becomes a chaotic mess whenever a blast occurs where dozens are killed. The general population is aware of what has happened, and many do react violently.
But when a bomb explodes and no one is killed, even though the media airs many opinions concerning the involved group, or several programs are shown where the situation is analysed, there is still a general indifference shown by the public. Therefore, the indifference is not in common the result of a lack of awareness.
On the other hand, this indifference is not present a little up the socio-economic ladder.
Kashif and his wife, who occasionally go to local hotels, for an exhibition, openly showed their fear. They say, they cannot rest in ease when they are present in such a place. In fact, they use the phrase “intense fear” to describe their state of mind at almost all times, when in public places.
Khalida Ashraf who has come to Karachi for a vacation too, was afraid of what could happen any time. “We put our lives at stake to come to this city, because no one knows what might happen next. She says, that in her opinion, such killings are political in nature, but it is the innocent people who are killed.
Another man, who wished to remain anonymous said, he was struck with trepidation every time he visited a local hotel in Karachi, because the last time, there was a bomb blast, which had killed a US envoy, he had left the place only an hour ago, so he could have very well been someone affected by it. He remains pessimistic about the situation saying nothing could be done to straighten it, and perhaps many other attacks on the top leaders of Pakistan, have been staged in order to gain sympathy, and to clear their own way.
Salman Haq, and Hissam Yusuf, however, remain unaffected.
“We were born and bred in Karachi, and we were always taught to never see the other person as a ‘different being’ regardless of his sex, his religion or his caste. For us everything may as well be an adventure, including life itself,” they say.
But they do agree that in Karachi a common trend of alienation has begun, where the person on the road has become immune to these things.
“It [terror] has happened to such an extent, that it has lost its effect. Now most people don’t even blink an eye when such a thing happens. But that is not to say that they don’t sympathise with it. It’s just that they are not scared anymore.”
Even someone with as sensitive a job as a valet in one of the hotels has not let his job go. He prefers to remain insensitive to any kind of potential threat rather than give up his well-paid job.
The running emotions that Karachi faces, is not just pathetic, it is also worrisome. To say that Karachi has been through such trauma, and the people have now been caught up in a web of both paranoia and indifference, brings up a situation, that simply shows that the city is going through a process of depoliticisation, and alienation and where it will all end no one knows.
The city is the victim of rape and torture, and has still not recovered from it. There is nothing of the sort, which is showing any kind of sign in which Karachiites might return to their state of vitality and once again, feel. There is in fact nothing but mass numbness.
Things started becoming worse with the June car bomb blast the same year, which exploded near the heavily guarded US Consulate killing 12 people and wounding over 50.
But these terrorist incidents are not new to this multicultural terror struck city. Karachi has been experiencing political upheaval on the basis of almost every kind of terrorism since back in the early 70s, when Z. A Bhutto became Prime Minister, and the Sindhi resistance against Karachi’s Mohajir enclave became stronger. In the long term what followed was a tug of war of power between the Mohajir community and the others, which took a solidly ethnic turn especially after the MQM was born.
The army then, sick of patronizing the MQM, and now wanting to weaken it, helped build a base of the MQM’s newest foe the Haqiqi group, who were regarded as dissidents of the Altaf group.
Nevertheless, these were, unlike the MQM (A), without any political goal and based themselves on extorting money from neighborhoods and spreading nothing but hostility, so they did not receive any popularity among the masses. The situation developed onwards till 1996, after which the city faced a cooling down period.
Now after the latest government has assumed power, attempting to promote peace and harmony, along with other elements important for a stable state, since 2002, there have been at least two bombings every year only in Karachi, which is the most sensitive city in Pakistan. The targeted bomb blasts have been alleged to have links with Al Qaeda, but there have been others that have been the work of banned sectarian organizations, such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. In fact, credible sources report that the city police are worried about there being links with the Abdullah Mehsud group from Afghanistan as well.
The biggest suicide bombing took place last year, at the Nishtar Park, and was thought to be a clash between the Wahabi and Barelvi schools of Islamic thought. 60 people were killed in it, including leaders. Then came the killing of the Shia leader Allama Hasan Turabi.
In this entire game of death, played between the leaders of various organizations, and in some militant group’s attempt to show that the current government is incapable of maintaining peace in the metropolis, it is the common man who is caught in the web, and pulled in towards his death.
Surprisingly as many would think, the people of Karachi have not shown themselves to be suffering from mass paranoia, even after this newest series of suicide bombings in the past few years. In fact, there is a running emotion, or perhaps better put, lack of emotion in the entire scenario.
One would think that the entire city would be enveloped in a shroud of fear: fear of stepping out of their houses, fear of going to any kind of public place, in short fear of almost everything. That is not wholly incorrect insofar as stepping out into the crowd is concerned.
Sajida a housewife, claims she is not scared of anything but once she starts thinking about the possibility of what might occur, she could be fearful for everything.
“If I start thinking about things that may happen, about the crime scene in Karachi, I will be scared even when I am in bed, in my own house. So I try not to think of these things. Keeping that in mind, I don’t feel scared of anything as such.”
But Abdul Rehman, a clerk shows a slight level of mistrust, and says that ever since the suicide-bombing trend has started, he is fearful of going out into public places.
“Once upon a time, the only thing we could feel scared about was open firing, but even that would have some kind of a personal vendetta attached to it,” he says, “Now this new trend of bombing, is too much to take. I cannot come to terms with it.”
Perhaps this seemingly paranoid situation is only among some people. The rest happen not to tilt to such an extensive degree.
“I’m not scared when I’m alone, or at a private place,” says Zeeshan, a student, “I do however feel scared when I’m at a crowded place, where I might think a bomb blast may occur, such as the railway station. I travel quite a lot using trains so I feel that whenever I am sitting at the platform waiting for my train.”
Others have completely given up control over their lives.
Mehmood, a paan seller, says that he doesn’t care about what happens, as such, as ‘his life is in God’s hands’. He thinks the whole game is about religious differences, and that there are groups that target each other for these personal differences.
Babu, a Rickshaw driver agrees.
“I work all day, but I’m not really scared of bomb blasts. What worries me more is a hold up, and me losing my day’s earnings. Otherwise, I hardly think about these things. If I have to die, I’ll die.”
The emotion showed by these people, most of which belong to the comparatively lower socio-economic classes, and who comprise the masses of Karachi’s population, points towards a trend that spells out disconnection or more appropriately, alienation. Perhaps it is lack of awareness that has led to this kind of emotion, but in general this may not be the exact cause. The reason is, Karachi becomes a chaotic mess whenever a blast occurs where dozens are killed. The general population is aware of what has happened, and many do react violently.
But when a bomb explodes and no one is killed, even though the media airs many opinions concerning the involved group, or several programs are shown where the situation is analysed, there is still a general indifference shown by the public. Therefore, the indifference is not in common the result of a lack of awareness.
On the other hand, this indifference is not present a little up the socio-economic ladder.
Kashif and his wife, who occasionally go to local hotels, for an exhibition, openly showed their fear. They say, they cannot rest in ease when they are present in such a place. In fact, they use the phrase “intense fear” to describe their state of mind at almost all times, when in public places.
Khalida Ashraf who has come to Karachi for a vacation too, was afraid of what could happen any time. “We put our lives at stake to come to this city, because no one knows what might happen next. She says, that in her opinion, such killings are political in nature, but it is the innocent people who are killed.
Another man, who wished to remain anonymous said, he was struck with trepidation every time he visited a local hotel in Karachi, because the last time, there was a bomb blast, which had killed a US envoy, he had left the place only an hour ago, so he could have very well been someone affected by it. He remains pessimistic about the situation saying nothing could be done to straighten it, and perhaps many other attacks on the top leaders of Pakistan, have been staged in order to gain sympathy, and to clear their own way.
Salman Haq, and Hissam Yusuf, however, remain unaffected.
“We were born and bred in Karachi, and we were always taught to never see the other person as a ‘different being’ regardless of his sex, his religion or his caste. For us everything may as well be an adventure, including life itself,” they say.
But they do agree that in Karachi a common trend of alienation has begun, where the person on the road has become immune to these things.
“It [terror] has happened to such an extent, that it has lost its effect. Now most people don’t even blink an eye when such a thing happens. But that is not to say that they don’t sympathise with it. It’s just that they are not scared anymore.”
Even someone with as sensitive a job as a valet in one of the hotels has not let his job go. He prefers to remain insensitive to any kind of potential threat rather than give up his well-paid job.
The running emotions that Karachi faces, is not just pathetic, it is also worrisome. To say that Karachi has been through such trauma, and the people have now been caught up in a web of both paranoia and indifference, brings up a situation, that simply shows that the city is going through a process of depoliticisation, and alienation and where it will all end no one knows.
The city is the victim of rape and torture, and has still not recovered from it. There is nothing of the sort, which is showing any kind of sign in which Karachiites might return to their state of vitality and once again, feel. There is in fact nothing but mass numbness.
A Karachi Summer
Satirical comment on the City of Lights
It is 6:36am; Karachi morning, and being a regular Fajar prayer person; which is to be said before the break of dawn, I am up so early unlike several Karachiites. Though the citizens asleep in their beds at early hours follow the same religion; apart from the foolish pride belonging to tens of different sects each one better than the rest, but the slumber pacifies them more than a note of thanks to God. Amazing, how they would be spending the day on their knees in front of different people muttering forceful notes of thanks and pleases. Life in Karachi is very superficial.
I do not know whether it is my obsession with spiritualism rather than materialism which make me enjoy the calmness every morning. But beneath the peaceful surface of the city’s early pre-sunrise hours there lies chaos and commotion.
As I draw the curtains of my terrace window open; in a suburb house where I have lived for the past decade, I glance at the morning scene. The Akhbaar wala; news paper man, on his scooter is jumping up and down on his seat as he jerks the vehicle to a stop at each gate and while supporting his weight and the scooter’s on one foot as he reaches into his sack. It is not the only weight he supports, there is a responsibility on his shoulders for his wife and several children who have woken up to consume another day’s meals. He throws a newspaper roll bounded like a college degree which he can only dream of for his children. The innocent looking roll of newsprint lands with a thud on the garages safely concealed behind the wooden or iron gates locked with a hundred locks for safety the night before. It feels like the dropping of dynamite in the four walls of a highly concealed foreign embassy for behind the innocence of the black and white paper roll there are stories to run a chill up one’s spine.
A cool breeze blows during the early morning hours on a June summer; an ideal deceit because towards the day’s climax, the heat would have killed many Karachiites. I look up at the grey skies which are constipated like myself. My reason is the severe diet I am on in an attempt to fit into the glam world of social butterflies who speak with an ethos of Miss Universe pageant winners. But the skies have better reasons, testaments from God, probably for the people.
Expectant, I search for signs of rain because the monsoon season hits late July. I look for the typical plump clouds which may break the silence and the rain may decide to show up earlier than expected like the many fresh grad students who would line up for interviews in different firms today, eager to get jobs. But unlike the striving young people in the city, the rain is as disappointing as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation which keeps the City of Lights in a continuous blackout every summer, in the name of load shedding.
I sip my glass of chilled Olper’s milk sweetened with a tablespoon of Langnese honey, wondering how many people would die today because of the heat stroke. Five times prayers are simply not enough to thank God for the life He’s blessed me with but the comfort displeasingly pricks me each time I am confronted with a reality tale very different from my life. And then when the lights would go off and the elephant generator that my father had installed for us; falling prey to the excellent marketing of people who make these ostentatious summer goods, it would start with a mighty growl returning the power back to normal. I cannot answer my siblings who tease me for my anti-luxury and pro-modesty thoughts because I cannot bring up an explanation on issues like ‘why have I been anti-diamonds since there was a report on Blood Diamonds that I saw at college?’ , ‘why do I wince when my sister leaves food in her plate ever since I have the image of protruding ribcages and bloated bellies from Ethiopia?’ and ‘why am I at ease when I sweat in the sultry heat like the majority of Karachiites?’.
As I listen to sparrows chirp hymns in the praise of God as fluttering from one electric cable to the other, I ponder the ironic turn of events planned for later when the serene morning echoes in praise of God would be drowned by city sounds. These sounds differ from people to people, area to area, neighbourhood to neighbourhood. In lavish and ignorant luxury areas these sounds maybe coming from the stereos of modified cars blasting with rock songs proudly announcing western possession of the mind; however, in slums and city off skirts, these maybe from the rifles and guns firing another round to gift eternal slumber to someone’s father or son, sister or daughter in the name of politics, cast, creed or religious sect. The early morning broadcasts of holy verses on radio and television would convert to a newsfeed which would be counting the toll of people dying due to heat strokes or gunshots like counting the falling wickets of the Pakistan cricket team in a match on which the nation’s pride depends. The senior citizens would keep the political spirit alive and television screens would boast of the authority figures who care more of their pet dogs rather than the country and who would bark louder than them in beating about the ‘Bush’ rather than tending to the electricity issue.
The early morning hours are ones which I spend alone with myself and a glass of milk even though the river of thoughts flows with its regular might. I spend the time to reflect upon myself and acknowledge the benefits and discomforts of the life I live in and decide what niche I occupy in the world. My uneasiness grows; but my hypnosis doesn’t break, as the sun treads up the horizon announcing its might like Hitler or Stalin for that matter. There is an unusual comfort that I wake up early to experience which is missing most of the day; the chirping of the birds, the hissing of leaves with the early morning breeze and the sweat on my back as the heat starts to accelerate.
My trance breaks when I hear the servant call bell and my mother’s voice to call Nasreen the housemaid; a rural woman being forced to work by her husband under the threat to marry another woman because she is labeled useless for bearing no kids. Each person in this cosmopolitan has a story of her or his own. I wonder if my mother needs another errand run before she returns to bed to sleep a little longer giving in to her muscular dystrophy or she is finally up? Stress and anxiety in this city life can gift you with degenerations and disorders like fibromyalgia, anxiety neurosis, social anxiety and osteoarthritis because you have no time to give to yourself in an attempt to pull your loved ones along in life.
But my doubts that the day has finally started are confirmed when my cell phone beeps with an sms from Raza, my ‘Late to bed late to rise’ friend. The ‘late to bed’ routine unlike the stray Karachi youngsters is not because of drugging or drinking with a peer group but because of wrapping up the final college assignments, hanging out with a few decent friends who do not subject him to peer pressure, tending to family issues and spending a little time with himself in recreation. In a place where backstabbers and advantage winners are running loose like maniacs, he is one of those crazy few who would go the extra mile for you without seeking benefit. He and I are of the same age but I find an element of stability in this youth, an internal calmness and satisfaction that I do not have, bursting like the Fourth of July fireworks from this youth. Despite the fact that he would be spending the whole day driving through the traffic jams, sweating in the heat, facing the delays and hunger pangs in his already acid prone stomach, getting labour for the paintjob being done at his place, while his family shops and plans for his elder brother’s wedding, he is wishing me a very good morning with a Salam.
The Salam is a rare commodity from a particular breed of Karachi youngsters; labeled ‘Burgers’ by a satirical comic DJ on radio. The term is an allegory which signifies those who have cast aside their own morals in preference of the western attitude. So, Hi and Bye are considered to be the ‘IN’ thing and when criticized I am asked to ‘Chill Out’ which is slang synonymous for ‘Shut Up’.
The shrill sms puts a spring in my step as I brace myself for the humdrum that would follow during the day. Listening to positive influence; in contrast to the nagging ungrateful one who sip the Red Bull all day to get a boost of energy, works best to make me realize that not everything is bad about Karachi life.
Maybe it is people like these because of whom God’s wrath has not been unleashed like it was on Moen-jo-Daro when the city turned over, Atlantis which sank to never being found, Pompeii which was buried under the volcanic ash of Vesuvius.
You just wish to listen to the pacifying tone of such voices to combat the Karachi summers. Despite the painful blur created by the mixing of noises and images; the scooter engine of the Akhbaar wala, the thud of the newspaper on the garage floor, the chirping of birds, the servant bell, the political speeches and the gunshots, the horns and honks on city streets, the yells and screams of the agitated citizens, there is a sweetness in such voices. There is a message: ‘Life is one big show that must go on’ – a sweetness sweeter than that Langnese honey.
I do not know whether it is my obsession with spiritualism rather than materialism which make me enjoy the calmness every morning. But beneath the peaceful surface of the city’s early pre-sunrise hours there lies chaos and commotion.
As I draw the curtains of my terrace window open; in a suburb house where I have lived for the past decade, I glance at the morning scene. The Akhbaar wala; news paper man, on his scooter is jumping up and down on his seat as he jerks the vehicle to a stop at each gate and while supporting his weight and the scooter’s on one foot as he reaches into his sack. It is not the only weight he supports, there is a responsibility on his shoulders for his wife and several children who have woken up to consume another day’s meals. He throws a newspaper roll bounded like a college degree which he can only dream of for his children. The innocent looking roll of newsprint lands with a thud on the garages safely concealed behind the wooden or iron gates locked with a hundred locks for safety the night before. It feels like the dropping of dynamite in the four walls of a highly concealed foreign embassy for behind the innocence of the black and white paper roll there are stories to run a chill up one’s spine.
A cool breeze blows during the early morning hours on a June summer; an ideal deceit because towards the day’s climax, the heat would have killed many Karachiites. I look up at the grey skies which are constipated like myself. My reason is the severe diet I am on in an attempt to fit into the glam world of social butterflies who speak with an ethos of Miss Universe pageant winners. But the skies have better reasons, testaments from God, probably for the people.
Expectant, I search for signs of rain because the monsoon season hits late July. I look for the typical plump clouds which may break the silence and the rain may decide to show up earlier than expected like the many fresh grad students who would line up for interviews in different firms today, eager to get jobs. But unlike the striving young people in the city, the rain is as disappointing as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation which keeps the City of Lights in a continuous blackout every summer, in the name of load shedding.
I sip my glass of chilled Olper’s milk sweetened with a tablespoon of Langnese honey, wondering how many people would die today because of the heat stroke. Five times prayers are simply not enough to thank God for the life He’s blessed me with but the comfort displeasingly pricks me each time I am confronted with a reality tale very different from my life. And then when the lights would go off and the elephant generator that my father had installed for us; falling prey to the excellent marketing of people who make these ostentatious summer goods, it would start with a mighty growl returning the power back to normal. I cannot answer my siblings who tease me for my anti-luxury and pro-modesty thoughts because I cannot bring up an explanation on issues like ‘why have I been anti-diamonds since there was a report on Blood Diamonds that I saw at college?’ , ‘why do I wince when my sister leaves food in her plate ever since I have the image of protruding ribcages and bloated bellies from Ethiopia?’ and ‘why am I at ease when I sweat in the sultry heat like the majority of Karachiites?’.
As I listen to sparrows chirp hymns in the praise of God as fluttering from one electric cable to the other, I ponder the ironic turn of events planned for later when the serene morning echoes in praise of God would be drowned by city sounds. These sounds differ from people to people, area to area, neighbourhood to neighbourhood. In lavish and ignorant luxury areas these sounds maybe coming from the stereos of modified cars blasting with rock songs proudly announcing western possession of the mind; however, in slums and city off skirts, these maybe from the rifles and guns firing another round to gift eternal slumber to someone’s father or son, sister or daughter in the name of politics, cast, creed or religious sect. The early morning broadcasts of holy verses on radio and television would convert to a newsfeed which would be counting the toll of people dying due to heat strokes or gunshots like counting the falling wickets of the Pakistan cricket team in a match on which the nation’s pride depends. The senior citizens would keep the political spirit alive and television screens would boast of the authority figures who care more of their pet dogs rather than the country and who would bark louder than them in beating about the ‘Bush’ rather than tending to the electricity issue.
The early morning hours are ones which I spend alone with myself and a glass of milk even though the river of thoughts flows with its regular might. I spend the time to reflect upon myself and acknowledge the benefits and discomforts of the life I live in and decide what niche I occupy in the world. My uneasiness grows; but my hypnosis doesn’t break, as the sun treads up the horizon announcing its might like Hitler or Stalin for that matter. There is an unusual comfort that I wake up early to experience which is missing most of the day; the chirping of the birds, the hissing of leaves with the early morning breeze and the sweat on my back as the heat starts to accelerate.
My trance breaks when I hear the servant call bell and my mother’s voice to call Nasreen the housemaid; a rural woman being forced to work by her husband under the threat to marry another woman because she is labeled useless for bearing no kids. Each person in this cosmopolitan has a story of her or his own. I wonder if my mother needs another errand run before she returns to bed to sleep a little longer giving in to her muscular dystrophy or she is finally up? Stress and anxiety in this city life can gift you with degenerations and disorders like fibromyalgia, anxiety neurosis, social anxiety and osteoarthritis because you have no time to give to yourself in an attempt to pull your loved ones along in life.
But my doubts that the day has finally started are confirmed when my cell phone beeps with an sms from Raza, my ‘Late to bed late to rise’ friend. The ‘late to bed’ routine unlike the stray Karachi youngsters is not because of drugging or drinking with a peer group but because of wrapping up the final college assignments, hanging out with a few decent friends who do not subject him to peer pressure, tending to family issues and spending a little time with himself in recreation. In a place where backstabbers and advantage winners are running loose like maniacs, he is one of those crazy few who would go the extra mile for you without seeking benefit. He and I are of the same age but I find an element of stability in this youth, an internal calmness and satisfaction that I do not have, bursting like the Fourth of July fireworks from this youth. Despite the fact that he would be spending the whole day driving through the traffic jams, sweating in the heat, facing the delays and hunger pangs in his already acid prone stomach, getting labour for the paintjob being done at his place, while his family shops and plans for his elder brother’s wedding, he is wishing me a very good morning with a Salam.
The Salam is a rare commodity from a particular breed of Karachi youngsters; labeled ‘Burgers’ by a satirical comic DJ on radio. The term is an allegory which signifies those who have cast aside their own morals in preference of the western attitude. So, Hi and Bye are considered to be the ‘IN’ thing and when criticized I am asked to ‘Chill Out’ which is slang synonymous for ‘Shut Up’.
The shrill sms puts a spring in my step as I brace myself for the humdrum that would follow during the day. Listening to positive influence; in contrast to the nagging ungrateful one who sip the Red Bull all day to get a boost of energy, works best to make me realize that not everything is bad about Karachi life.
Maybe it is people like these because of whom God’s wrath has not been unleashed like it was on Moen-jo-Daro when the city turned over, Atlantis which sank to never being found, Pompeii which was buried under the volcanic ash of Vesuvius.
You just wish to listen to the pacifying tone of such voices to combat the Karachi summers. Despite the painful blur created by the mixing of noises and images; the scooter engine of the Akhbaar wala, the thud of the newspaper on the garage floor, the chirping of birds, the servant bell, the political speeches and the gunshots, the horns and honks on city streets, the yells and screams of the agitated citizens, there is a sweetness in such voices. There is a message: ‘Life is one big show that must go on’ – a sweetness sweeter than that Langnese honey.
Karachi Back in Business
The melting pot of Pakistan is back on the international cricket map
The peaceful conduct of the one-day international against England has raised the hopes of India agreeing to play a Test on their forthcoming tour early next year, a Pakistan Cricket Board official today said. "The Karachiites have given a good demonstration of their knowledge and love of the game. The PCB is now extremely hopeful that after the success of this match, the Indian government will have no objections on its team playing a Test here,"
PCB's General Manager-Administration, Javed Manj, said. "We are peace-loving people and want to see good cricket," was one of the banners that read during the third one-day international between Pakistan and England here at the National Stadium on Thursday.
The PCB has reasons to smile since the success of this match strengthens Karachi's claim to earn a nod from the Indian Foreign Ministry who are to give the Indian Cricket Board formal approval for playing a Test here from January 30 to February 3 next year. Not so surprisingly, the enthusiastic spectators rightly proved their words as Pakistan notched up a comfortable victory to lead the tourists 2-1 in a five-match series. England had arrived in Karachi Wednesday evening with a fear of the unknown. They had earlier refused to play a Test in the port city citing security concerns -- an excuse given by most of the leading Test playing nations. (Sourced from a report)
- - -
Over the last few years, a lot has been made of Karachi as an international venue for sports, and not without reason. The gun-violence and terrorist activities were getting worse and Karachi was unsafe for its own people, let alone visitors. As a result, the junta of Karachi suffered.
However, in the last couple years, some normality has returned to this port city. Violence and terrorist activities have been stamped down to an extent and as a result a lot of positive vibes have been generated within the metropolis. People have started getting out of their houses even late in the evenings, and feel more secure about themselves while commuting or at work.
This, however, did not translate into the hosting of international matches rightaway. Cricket teams were wary of Karachi after the 2002 bomb blasts near the New Zealand team hotel and the Pakistan Cricket Board did little to dispel the fears. The PCB, on most occasions, was apologetic and submissive and were always willing to offer alternate options to visiting teams. They were unable to convince the other cricket boards of the improved law-and-order situation in the city and in fact the entire country.
Over the last three years, a paltry three one-day matches have been played, all by Asian teams. The test count is even worse, with only two in the past three years, again by Asian teams.
In that context, the Pakistan-England clash on December 15 was even more significant. To say it was thoroughly enjoyed by the Karachites would be an under-statement. A fresh mix of western and desi-style celebrations showed that the crowds were having a blast!
It was, perhaps, the most outstanding sporting spectacle the tour has witnessed. And the Karachi fans got exactly what they wanted - a thumping Pakistan win on a ground that has been a fortress for the Pakistani teams of the past.
With the massive success of this game, Karachi is back on the stage of world cricket in the most emphatic of fashion. The PCB has proposed a test and a one-dayer in Karachi for the Indo-Pak series at the start of next year. With such beautiful pictures from this beautiful city, being beamed right across the globe, the Indian cricket authorities would find it hard to resist the proposal.
PCB's General Manager-Administration, Javed Manj, said. "We are peace-loving people and want to see good cricket," was one of the banners that read during the third one-day international between Pakistan and England here at the National Stadium on Thursday.
The PCB has reasons to smile since the success of this match strengthens Karachi's claim to earn a nod from the Indian Foreign Ministry who are to give the Indian Cricket Board formal approval for playing a Test here from January 30 to February 3 next year. Not so surprisingly, the enthusiastic spectators rightly proved their words as Pakistan notched up a comfortable victory to lead the tourists 2-1 in a five-match series. England had arrived in Karachi Wednesday evening with a fear of the unknown. They had earlier refused to play a Test in the port city citing security concerns -- an excuse given by most of the leading Test playing nations. (Sourced from a report)
- - -
Over the last few years, a lot has been made of Karachi as an international venue for sports, and not without reason. The gun-violence and terrorist activities were getting worse and Karachi was unsafe for its own people, let alone visitors. As a result, the junta of Karachi suffered.
However, in the last couple years, some normality has returned to this port city. Violence and terrorist activities have been stamped down to an extent and as a result a lot of positive vibes have been generated within the metropolis. People have started getting out of their houses even late in the evenings, and feel more secure about themselves while commuting or at work.
This, however, did not translate into the hosting of international matches rightaway. Cricket teams were wary of Karachi after the 2002 bomb blasts near the New Zealand team hotel and the Pakistan Cricket Board did little to dispel the fears. The PCB, on most occasions, was apologetic and submissive and were always willing to offer alternate options to visiting teams. They were unable to convince the other cricket boards of the improved law-and-order situation in the city and in fact the entire country.
Over the last three years, a paltry three one-day matches have been played, all by Asian teams. The test count is even worse, with only two in the past three years, again by Asian teams.
In that context, the Pakistan-England clash on December 15 was even more significant. To say it was thoroughly enjoyed by the Karachites would be an under-statement. A fresh mix of western and desi-style celebrations showed that the crowds were having a blast!
It was, perhaps, the most outstanding sporting spectacle the tour has witnessed. And the Karachi fans got exactly what they wanted - a thumping Pakistan win on a ground that has been a fortress for the Pakistani teams of the past.
With the massive success of this game, Karachi is back on the stage of world cricket in the most emphatic of fashion. The PCB has proposed a test and a one-dayer in Karachi for the Indo-Pak series at the start of next year. With such beautiful pictures from this beautiful city, being beamed right across the globe, the Indian cricket authorities would find it hard to resist the proposal.
Karachi Travel Guide
The best resource for sights, hotels, restaurants, bars.
There was nothing much at Karachi until the Mirs of Talpur seized it from the Khan of Kalat in 1795 and constructed a mud fort at Manora. Under its protection, a small town grew up, whose population had reached 13,000 by 1818.
Not much happened thereafter until 1st February 1839, when a British ship - the Wellesley - anchored off Manora. Two days later the little fort surrendered without a shot being fired on either side. The fickle finger of fate had
suddenly shoved the sleepy back-water towards becoming a megalopolis, a world city.
WRESTED FROM THE SWAMPS: The settlement was remote and swampy, isolated by hundreds of miles of bleak desert in every direction but the sea. Nonetheless, within four years, the capital of Sind was transferred there and building began in earnest. By 1847 the Napier Barracks (now governinent offices) were completed. A census next year showed that the population had already reached
50,000. The filth and squalor proliferated, everything became plastered with smelly black mud from the mangrove swamps, so a Municipal Committee was formed
to levy funds and provide public utilities. In 1848 the municipality's income was Rs.6,000; in 1849 it was Rs.18,000 and in 1850, Rs.27,000 - an increase
reflecting the mind-boggling population explosion.
The committee laid out a whole network of roads, named after itself; in what is now Central Karachi. Preedy Street was named after the Revenue Commissioner; McLeod Road after the Collector of Customs and so on. Even in those days Karachi had a traffic problem. There were so many carts and carriages that the roads had to be paved with gravel chippings (an unheard of refinement, way ahead of London.) The streets were watered daily by municipal bullock carts, to damp down the dust. As revenues increased, public works were undertaken on a grand scale. Frere Hall (a museum and library) was finished in 1865,
Mereweather Clock Tower in 1867, Boulton Market in 1883, Empress Market in 1889... The town turned into a city.
As people poured in, the drinking water problem, always difficult, became acute. There is no natural source of water in Karachi; all water consumed there must be fetched from somewhere else. Last century, water drawn from the Indus was brought by camel train to the cantonment. The wealthier merchants sent mule carts to the sweetwater springs in nearby Clifton. Less fortunate people bought
drinking water from municipal watercarriers until household pipes could be laid. Though provision proceeded apace, demand has always been ahead of supply. Karachi's poor, in places like Korangi, are still waiting for safe drinking
water. At the turn of the century a public tram service commenced from Saddar (the cantonment) to the new harbour at Kiamari. The horses wore straw hats to avoid sunstroke and water for them was provided by the philanthropic "Drinking Trough Society of Karachi." The troughs can still be seen here and there in the city. Modernising the harbour commenced in 1860, proceeding by fits and starts. By
1882 the Mereweather Pier was completed and pilgrims for Mecca no longer had to embark at Manora. By 1900, Karachi was one of the the biggest and best outfitted ports in the world. Nonetheless, it continued to be troubled by the ague and the plague until the sanitation system was completed, just after the first World War. The war itself brought immense prosperity to Karachi's
merchants. Clifton's promenade, pier and park were gifted to the city by Sir Jehangir H. Kothari OBE in 1919. The complex Cost Rs.300,000 to build, an absolute fortune in those days. Other public parks, including the Zoological
Gardens on Garden Road were laid out at this time. Even more new roads and buildings were constructed in the interwar period. As the population approached the quarter million mark, those who could moved out to the suburbs, building houses in a style best described as "South Asian Hollywood." commuting arrived with a vengeance and one of the world's first rapid transit systems was inaugurated.
MELTING POT: The building of Karachi attracted Goan cooks, Anglo-Indian bartenders, Sikh bricklayers, and Chinese washermen. Parsi, Hindu and Jain merchants came from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Until Partition, their camel
caravans regularly crossed the Thar. The Parsis built a Tower of Death out at Korangi. A few of the merchants' big mansions still remain downtown. The Lebanese community became sizeable. People of African descent can also be seen in and around Karachi. Abyssinia i.e. modern day Ethiopia is called Habashah in Arabic, Persian and Urdu. This became a generic name for all persons originating from Africa except for those coming from North Africa. Africans were captured and sold as slave to Persian and Baluchi rulers. These people who populate Makran are called Makranis or Habashi.
At Partition, Hindus, Armenians and Jews left the city en masse. Muslim refugees from India, calling themselves Mohajir, migrated in by train, boat, air, truck, even on foot. It is not known how many millions arrived. Karachi,new capital of a new country, was so pushed for space that its government servants had to sleep in the public parks and gardens in tents! The travler further diversify the ethnic mix of the city. Many English stayed on, their ranks now depleted by age. Vintage couples can be spotted at their usual watering holes, the Metropole Hotel and the statelier clubs in the early evening.
Subsequent decades have seen the influx unabated. The Karachi Development Authority instituted the upgrading of amenities on a massive scale: new housing colonies, public buildings, roads, schools, colleges, markets, bazaars, business centres, to keep pace with development needs. Cycle rickshaws have now been replaced by thousands of scooter-rickshaws.
After Pakistan's civil war in 1971, thousands of Biharis (Urdu-speaking Muslims from Bangladesh) arrived by boat. In the 1980s Afghan refugees joined migrant workers from the Frontier who have laboured as dockworkers and porters for decades. Meanwhile, "economic refugees" from Pakistan's less developed areas, like Gilgit, Chitral and Hunza head for Karachi in search of jobs. The original
Sindhi speaking population is now a minority in the city.
Gas supply lines from Sui in Baluchistan were laid, the Hub Dam Scheme extended the Greater Karachi Water Project and the Circular Railway was completed. In the 1960s, two huge industrial areas were built, at Sind Industrial Estate and Landhi and in the 1970s three more: the Export Processing Zone, Pakistan Steel Mills Complex and Muhammad Bin Qasim Container Port. In the following decade, work on KANUPP, Karachi's nuclear power station, was inaugurated. Industrial growth has been spectacular.
RICH AND POOR: Original home of Pakistan's film and music industries, Karachi in the 1980s made more films and exported them to more countries than Hollywood. It houses the very latest in modern technology. The city works and sleeps in a haze of brick dust as buildings barely 30 years old are relentlessly torn down and replaced with something more up to date. The population of seven, maybe eight, million now extends over several hundred
square kilometres along the coast and into the desert, residing in modern apartment blocks, prestigious cooperative housing societies called "Colonies",
seaside mansions and sprawling shanty towns on the outskirts, areas of such appalling poverty that it is difficult to see how residents will ever be extricated from their plight. Working 16 hours a day, poor youths toil like
slaves, earning a pittance to produce elegant costume for the city's elite.
The Truth About Karachi
Like many of you, I read an article in this week’s Time magazine entitled “To Have & Have Not - Kidnappings, bombings, assassinations, extortion, bribery—just another week in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most populous city”. The title was warning enough, but I’ve never been one to listen to common sense, so I read the entire story from beginning to end. And then when I got to the end, I had to read it all over again so I could tell my grandchildren what a hatchet job in print looks like.
And the victim of the hatchet job? Karachi, of course, the city that fourteen million of us live in, work and play in, sweat and die in. Megalopolis, teeming slum-city, whore, angel, this city suffers insult and abuse and still continues to grow and thrive despite everything. Perhaps the growth is healthy; some of it is definitely cancerous, yet it still grows, beyond all understanding or explanation.
It seems that the plague that began in the offices of the New York Times, where Jayson Blaine fabricated dramatic tales of weeping soldiers’ wives and children when he had never even visited them, has spread to the offices of Time. Its symptoms are telltale: over-dramatization, over-simplification of the facts, an inability to write with balance and sensitivity, trading complexity and perception for visual gore and sensationalism. The sound bite reigns supreme – after all, it’s so easy to get a few quotes from a shadowy criminal and a colorful hairdresser and reassemble an entire city in four thousand words from the bones of their statements.
My objection to the Time article has nothing to do with its accuracy. I accept the fact that Karachi suffers from all the problems outlined in the article: yes, we have corruption on a massive scale. Yes, we have kidnappings and terrorism. Yes, extortion is the biggest industry. How can I deny the disparity between the rich and the poor? I was in the city the day of the explosion outside the American Consulate. I know people who were in the gym of the Sind Club when the bomb went off and tiles from the roof fell off and landed on their heads as they exercised on their treadmills. And that’s almost funny compared to the real scenes of horror only two hundred yards away, outside the consulate, where pieces of bodies littered the street and hung from the stately trees in the park surrounding Frere Hall.
But I take exception to the accusation in the article, never stated in so many words, but shouting from every line nonetheless: that the people of Karachi accept this state of affairs. That those unaffected by violence have no feelings for the turmoil and chaos that is a way of life for the poor. That as long as everything appears normal in Defence and Clifton, the educated and the elite can ignore what happens “across the bridges”.
How can this be possible? It’s like saying that when you’ve got a brain tumor, the unaffected parts of your body go around as if nothing’s wrong. In actuality, when any part of the body is unwell, the rest of the body feels it acutely. The whole body displays signs of suffering; fever, malaise, fatigue and weariness. And this is what Karachi is going through right now: a massive dis-ease that affects body and soul, mind and heart. Our ancient methods of medicine, Hikmat and Aryuveda both tell us that when the body is ill, it means it’s out of balance. Karachi is out of balance, and you can feel it whether you live in Issa Nagri, New Karachi, Nazimabad or Clifton.
The Time article was only able to touch on the most glaring signs. In fact, it gloats on them. How exciting that the criminals of Karachi use Black & Decker drills on the kneecaps of hapless victims. Look, you can get a Russian hooker or a forty-carat diamond with just a phone call. Women go around the city shrouded in burqas; a religious man looks at rich Karachiites eating McDonalds’ hamburgers and feels angry. Even the good people of Karachi play roles you could only see in Hollywood blockbusters: Edhi goes around collecting dead bodies after the “nightly bout of violence” (does he do it with his bare hands?), Ardeshir Cowasjee tracks corruption in his silk pajamas, Jameel Yusuf was kicked out of the CPLC because of his “ties to the Americans”. You can just imagine the Time correspondent growing more and more excited as he contemplates how to portray the lawlessness and hostility of the Karachi landscape; what words and phrases would give Karachi the garish, overbright tones of a City Gone Wild?
The Time article fails utterly in conveying the pain that we feel in seeing what is happening to our city. We feel two levels of pain: one, when we are affected directly by a violent, senseless act – a kidnapping, a dacoity, or even the grinding burden of bureaucratic bribes and being afraid of the police. The second level we feel is when we see others affected by it. It’s in the newspapers. It’s on television. It’s on the streets you drive through, on the faces of every person in the city, rich or poor. It’s in the drooping lines of the people that work in your house, or in your office, the ones whose only ambition in life is to save up to buy a motorcycle or get a daughter married. No matter how many rock concerts you go to or how many rave parties or how many salons for a Dynasty hairstyle, you can’t escape it. The city calls to us in pain and no deafness or blindness stops us from seeing and hearing it.
The article also fails to uncover the deep links between all levels of society. It tries to assert that there is a massive disconnection between poor and rich, between secular and religious, ethnic groups, social classes. But this is simply not the case in any modern city, and least of all in Karachi. Anyone who lives in Karachi knows that we are all interconnected, entangled with one another, entwined in the fabric of daily existence. The same hungry, poor, desperate people feed off the rich, spoiled, bloated ones, and vice versa, each taking what it needs out of the other. Similarly, the goodness and benevolence of the poor affect the rich, and the generosity and humility of the rich can and do benefit the poor. To ignore the connections is to misunderstand on purpose what makes this city tick.
Finally, the article fails to understand the fundamental truth about Karachi, but I’ll tell it to you for free. The truth is that Karachi epitomizes the global fight between good and evil. The criminal elements of society are well matched by citizens who hold honesty, decency and integrity dear to their hearts, who fight hard to help those crippled by poverty and corruption, no matter what their social status, who try every day to turn Jinnah’s vision of a thriving Muslim nation into a reality.
Those of us living in Karachi know full well we’re not Singapore or London, but that makes most of us even more determined to vanquish the villains and make a success of Pakistan’s greatest asset. Ardeshir Cowasjee and Jameel Yusuf are our city’s heroes; terrorists and gangsters are its enemies. The rest of us stand scattered across its spectrum, from the poorest slum-child to the richest industrialist, all of us joined by where we live, and all of our hearts beating to its collective pulse.
And the victim of the hatchet job? Karachi, of course, the city that fourteen million of us live in, work and play in, sweat and die in. Megalopolis, teeming slum-city, whore, angel, this city suffers insult and abuse and still continues to grow and thrive despite everything. Perhaps the growth is healthy; some of it is definitely cancerous, yet it still grows, beyond all understanding or explanation.
It seems that the plague that began in the offices of the New York Times, where Jayson Blaine fabricated dramatic tales of weeping soldiers’ wives and children when he had never even visited them, has spread to the offices of Time. Its symptoms are telltale: over-dramatization, over-simplification of the facts, an inability to write with balance and sensitivity, trading complexity and perception for visual gore and sensationalism. The sound bite reigns supreme – after all, it’s so easy to get a few quotes from a shadowy criminal and a colorful hairdresser and reassemble an entire city in four thousand words from the bones of their statements.
My objection to the Time article has nothing to do with its accuracy. I accept the fact that Karachi suffers from all the problems outlined in the article: yes, we have corruption on a massive scale. Yes, we have kidnappings and terrorism. Yes, extortion is the biggest industry. How can I deny the disparity between the rich and the poor? I was in the city the day of the explosion outside the American Consulate. I know people who were in the gym of the Sind Club when the bomb went off and tiles from the roof fell off and landed on their heads as they exercised on their treadmills. And that’s almost funny compared to the real scenes of horror only two hundred yards away, outside the consulate, where pieces of bodies littered the street and hung from the stately trees in the park surrounding Frere Hall.
But I take exception to the accusation in the article, never stated in so many words, but shouting from every line nonetheless: that the people of Karachi accept this state of affairs. That those unaffected by violence have no feelings for the turmoil and chaos that is a way of life for the poor. That as long as everything appears normal in Defence and Clifton, the educated and the elite can ignore what happens “across the bridges”.
How can this be possible? It’s like saying that when you’ve got a brain tumor, the unaffected parts of your body go around as if nothing’s wrong. In actuality, when any part of the body is unwell, the rest of the body feels it acutely. The whole body displays signs of suffering; fever, malaise, fatigue and weariness. And this is what Karachi is going through right now: a massive dis-ease that affects body and soul, mind and heart. Our ancient methods of medicine, Hikmat and Aryuveda both tell us that when the body is ill, it means it’s out of balance. Karachi is out of balance, and you can feel it whether you live in Issa Nagri, New Karachi, Nazimabad or Clifton.
The Time article was only able to touch on the most glaring signs. In fact, it gloats on them. How exciting that the criminals of Karachi use Black & Decker drills on the kneecaps of hapless victims. Look, you can get a Russian hooker or a forty-carat diamond with just a phone call. Women go around the city shrouded in burqas; a religious man looks at rich Karachiites eating McDonalds’ hamburgers and feels angry. Even the good people of Karachi play roles you could only see in Hollywood blockbusters: Edhi goes around collecting dead bodies after the “nightly bout of violence” (does he do it with his bare hands?), Ardeshir Cowasjee tracks corruption in his silk pajamas, Jameel Yusuf was kicked out of the CPLC because of his “ties to the Americans”. You can just imagine the Time correspondent growing more and more excited as he contemplates how to portray the lawlessness and hostility of the Karachi landscape; what words and phrases would give Karachi the garish, overbright tones of a City Gone Wild?
The Time article fails utterly in conveying the pain that we feel in seeing what is happening to our city. We feel two levels of pain: one, when we are affected directly by a violent, senseless act – a kidnapping, a dacoity, or even the grinding burden of bureaucratic bribes and being afraid of the police. The second level we feel is when we see others affected by it. It’s in the newspapers. It’s on television. It’s on the streets you drive through, on the faces of every person in the city, rich or poor. It’s in the drooping lines of the people that work in your house, or in your office, the ones whose only ambition in life is to save up to buy a motorcycle or get a daughter married. No matter how many rock concerts you go to or how many rave parties or how many salons for a Dynasty hairstyle, you can’t escape it. The city calls to us in pain and no deafness or blindness stops us from seeing and hearing it.
The article also fails to uncover the deep links between all levels of society. It tries to assert that there is a massive disconnection between poor and rich, between secular and religious, ethnic groups, social classes. But this is simply not the case in any modern city, and least of all in Karachi. Anyone who lives in Karachi knows that we are all interconnected, entangled with one another, entwined in the fabric of daily existence. The same hungry, poor, desperate people feed off the rich, spoiled, bloated ones, and vice versa, each taking what it needs out of the other. Similarly, the goodness and benevolence of the poor affect the rich, and the generosity and humility of the rich can and do benefit the poor. To ignore the connections is to misunderstand on purpose what makes this city tick.
Finally, the article fails to understand the fundamental truth about Karachi, but I’ll tell it to you for free. The truth is that Karachi epitomizes the global fight between good and evil. The criminal elements of society are well matched by citizens who hold honesty, decency and integrity dear to their hearts, who fight hard to help those crippled by poverty and corruption, no matter what their social status, who try every day to turn Jinnah’s vision of a thriving Muslim nation into a reality.
Those of us living in Karachi know full well we’re not Singapore or London, but that makes most of us even more determined to vanquish the villains and make a success of Pakistan’s greatest asset. Ardeshir Cowasjee and Jameel Yusuf are our city’s heroes; terrorists and gangsters are its enemies. The rest of us stand scattered across its spectrum, from the poorest slum-child to the richest industrialist, all of us joined by where we live, and all of our hearts beating to its collective pulse.
BUSINESS in Karachi
Karachi prides itself on being one of the most livabe cities in world. An interesting and colorful combination of the old and new traditions offers more than 18 million residents the opportunity to taste, touch, and experience things from diverse cultures. The narrow twisted lanes and alleys of the old city throb with e along-side the wide metalled roads and elegant modern buildings. It is also the center and focal point for major industrial, financial and commercial activities of Pakistan.The narrow twisted lanes and alleys of the old city throb with life along-side the wide metalled roads and elegant modern buildings.
CITY DISTRICT GOVERNMENT KARACHI
In 2000, the Government of Pakistan designed a new devolution;'financial resources and responsibilites'. This plan abolished the earlier second-level division and merged the five districts of Karachi into a Karachi DIstrict. When the devolution plan was implemented in 2001, this district officially became a City District, with the City District Government of Karachi handling its government, Karachi now has a three-tier federated system, formed by:
- The City Disctrict Government Karachi (CDGK)
- Town Municipal Administrations
- Union Council Administrations
The City-District of Karachi is divided into eighteen towns governed by elected municipal administrations responsible for infrastructure and spatial planning, development facilitation, and municipal services (water, sanitation, solid waste, repairing roads, parks, street lights, and traffic engineering), with some functions being retained by the CDGK. The towns are sub-divided into 178 localities governed by elected union councils (UC's),which are the core element of the local government system. Each UC is a body of thirteen directly elected members including a Nazim (mayor) and a Naib Nazim (deputy mayor).In the local body elections of 2005, Syed Mustafa Kamal was elected City Nazim of Karachi to succeed Naimatullah Khan & Nasreen Jalil was elected as the City Naib Nazim. Mustafa Kamal was the provincial minister for information technology in Sindh before assuming office as the city's mayor. Mustafa Kamal is advancing the development and has been actively involved in maintaining care of the city's municipal systems.
 | President of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf President General Prevez Musharraf envisions Pakistan to be a progressive, modern and moderate Islamic state, poised to take its place amongst the developed nations of the world. more |  | City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal |
 | Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani was sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan on 25th March 2008.He was the Vice-Chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party and belongs to a prominent political....more |  | City Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil |
 | Governor Sindh Dr. Ishrat-ul-Ebad Governor Sindh has promulgated an Ordinance to provide fort the establishment of an authority known as Sindh Technical Education... more |  | DCO Muhammad Javed Hanif |
|
|
PLACES TO VISIT
- Major attractions
- Mazar-e-Quaid - tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan
- Mohatta Palace and museum
- Karachi Port Authority's Water Jet fountain
- Masjid e Tooba - largest single-domed mosque in the world
- Beaches and Waterfront
- Clifton Beach
- Beach Park
- Jehangir Kothari Parade
- Hawke's Bay Beach - breeding ground for endangered turtles
- Paradise Point - rock promontory in the sea with a natural arch
- Sandspit Beach
- French Beach
- Museums
- Pakistan Air Force Museum
- Karachi Expo Centre
- PIA Planetarium
- Pakistan Maritime Museum
- National Museum of Pakistan
- Colonial Buildings
- Merewether Tower
- Frere Hall
- Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Karachi
- Sindh High Court
- Empress Market
- Islands
- Clifton Oyster Rocks
- Bhit Shah Island
- Buddo Island
- Bundal Island
- Churma Island
- Manora Island
- Clubs
- Karachi Boat Club
- Creek Club
- Marina Club
- Arabian sea country club
- DHA Golf club
- Sindh club
- Karachi club
- Amusement Parks
- Go Aish
- Safari Park (
- Sindbad
- PIA Planetarium
- Polo Ground (PIDC)
- Fiesta park (super highway)
- Sun Way Lagon (near nooriabad)
- Cheekoo water park (super highway)
- Go Aish
- Famous Avenues
- Zamzama Avenue (famous for its designer outlets & clubs)
- Beach Avenue
- Karsaz Road (Karachi's pride)
- II Chundrigar Road (Karachi's Wall Street)
- Shahrah-e-Faisal
- Tariq Road (Shopping street)
- Burns Road
ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMY
Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan. It accounts for the lion's share of Pakistan's GDP and generates about 65% percent of the national revenue providing a Gross Metropolitan Product of PKR. 1.607 trillion or $265 Billion at PPP and a GMP per capita of $21,917 rivaling Western European and American cities. Most of Pakistan's public and private banks have their head offices in Karachi. Besides banking and finance, Karachi also hosts the offices of foreign multinational corporations as well as corporations based in Pakistan. It is home to the largest stock exchange of Pakistan: the Karachi Stock Exchange. This financial boom helped Pakistan to achieve its ambitious goal of exceeding a seven per cent growth in GDP for the fiscal year 2004-05.
Business Districts
I.I. Chundrigar Road (formerly McLeod Road) was once the main business district of Karachi, but in recent years many businesses have moved to other areas such as Sharah-e-Faisal, Clifton and Defence. The traffic congestion in I.I. Chundrigarh Road has made it difficult to travel to the center of the city in a timely manner.
Sharah-e-Faisal has seen a spate of building with high rises, show rooms and institutions. Its proximity to Karachi Airport has been a significant factor. Dozens of new manufacturing units are also being built near the Pakistan Steel Mill. Farm businesses line the SuperHighway route. SITE Manghopir is the biggest industrial area of Pakistan with more than 4000 factories. New Industrial zones have come in the past like Landhi, Korangi, FB Area, North Karachi, Dhabeji and Port Qasim.
Business Districts
I.I. Chundrigar Road (formerly McLeod Road) was once the main business district of Karachi, but in recent years many businesses have moved to other areas such as Sharah-e-Faisal, Clifton and Defence. The traffic congestion in I.I. Chundrigarh Road has made it difficult to travel to the center of the city in a timely manner.
Sharah-e-Faisal has seen a spate of building with high rises, show rooms and institutions. Its proximity to Karachi Airport has been a significant factor. Dozens of new manufacturing units are also being built near the Pakistan Steel Mill. Farm businesses line the SuperHighway route. SITE Manghopir is the biggest industrial area of Pakistan with more than 4000 factories. New Industrial zones have come in the past like Landhi, Korangi, FB Area, North Karachi, Dhabeji and Port Qasim.
Industrial Revolution
Karachi has a huge industrial base. There are large industrial estates on most of the fringes of the main city. The main industries are Textiles, Pharmaceuticals, Steel, and Automobiles. Apart from these, there are many cottage industries in the city as well. Karachi is also known as software outsourcing hub of Pakistan. It also has a rapidly flourishing Free Zone with an annual growth rate of nearly 6.5 per cent. An expo center has also been set up in Karachi and is now available to host many regional and International exhibitions.
Karachi is also home of major automobile manufacturing companies. Toyota is in the process of increasing production capacity to over 120,000 units per annum. Suzuki Motor Company is also located in Karachi. The manufacturing plant located in Bin Qasim has a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year. Among others Millat Tractors, Adam motors, HinoPak Buses and Trucks manufacturing plants are also located in Karachi.
Banking Sector
The Sector which has reaped the benefits of industrialization in the real sense is the Banking and Insurance Sector in Karachi. One may see new branches of local and international banks all over Karachi. From bank to credit cards, paper money is becoming the order of the day in this city.
Transportation
Despite the growth and development of transport infrastructure elsewhere in the country Karachi remains the country's transport hub. Currently the city's 2 ports, Port of Karachi which is Pakistan's largest and Port Qasim, are central to nearly all shipping in Pakistan. The airport of Karachi, Jinnah International Airport, also known as Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, is the largest & busiest airport in Pakistan and handles 10 million passengers a year. The airport also receives the largest number of foreign airlines, a total of 27 airlines fly to Jinnah International predominantly from the Middle East and South East Asia. All of Pakistan's airlines use Karachi as their Primary hub including Pakistan International Airlines, Aero Asia International, Airblue and Shaheen Air.
Fisheries
Karachi is the biggest fisheries hub in Pakistan. Fishery plays an important role in the Karachi's economy. It provides employment to about 300,000 fishermen directly. In addition, another 400,000 people are employed in ancillary industries. It is also a major source of export earning. The Karachi Fish Harbour and Korangi Fish Harbour are two major fish harbours in Karachi.
Karachi is the financial capital of Pakistan. It accounts for the lion's share of Pakistan's GDP and generates about 65% percent of the national revenue providing a Gross Metropolitan Product of PKR. 1.607 trillion or $265 Billion at PPP and a GMP per capita of $21,917 rivaling Western European and American cities. Most of Pakistan's public and private banks have their head offices in Karachi. Besides banking and finance, Karachi also hosts the offices of foreign multinational corporations as well as corporations based in Pakistan. It is home to the largest stock exchange of Pakistan: the Karachi Stock Exchange. This financial boom helped Pakistan to achieve its ambitious goal of exceeding a seven per cent growth in GDP for the fiscal year 2004-05.
Business Districts
I.I. Chundrigar Road (formerly McLeod Road) was once the main business district of Karachi, but in recent years many businesses have moved to other areas such as Sharah-e-Faisal, Clifton and Defence. The traffic congestion in I.I. Chundrigarh Road has made it difficult to travel to the center of the city in a timely manner.
Sharah-e-Faisal has seen a spate of building with high rises, show rooms and institutions. Its proximity to Karachi Airport has been a significant factor. Dozens of new manufacturing units are also being built near the Pakistan Steel Mill. Farm businesses line the SuperHighway route. SITE Manghopir is the biggest industrial area of Pakistan with more than 4000 factories. New Industrial zones have come in the past like Landhi, Korangi, FB Area, North Karachi, Dhabeji and Port Qasim.
Business Districts
I.I. Chundrigar Road (formerly McLeod Road) was once the main business district of Karachi, but in recent years many businesses have moved to other areas such as Sharah-e-Faisal, Clifton and Defence. The traffic congestion in I.I. Chundrigarh Road has made it difficult to travel to the center of the city in a timely manner.
Sharah-e-Faisal has seen a spate of building with high rises, show rooms and institutions. Its proximity to Karachi Airport has been a significant factor. Dozens of new manufacturing units are also being built near the Pakistan Steel Mill. Farm businesses line the SuperHighway route. SITE Manghopir is the biggest industrial area of Pakistan with more than 4000 factories. New Industrial zones have come in the past like Landhi, Korangi, FB Area, North Karachi, Dhabeji and Port Qasim.
Industrial Revolution
Karachi has a huge industrial base. There are large industrial estates on most of the fringes of the main city. The main industries are Textiles, Pharmaceuticals, Steel, and Automobiles. Apart from these, there are many cottage industries in the city as well. Karachi is also known as software outsourcing hub of Pakistan. It also has a rapidly flourishing Free Zone with an annual growth rate of nearly 6.5 per cent. An expo center has also been set up in Karachi and is now available to host many regional and International exhibitions.
Karachi is also home of major automobile manufacturing companies. Toyota is in the process of increasing production capacity to over 120,000 units per annum. Suzuki Motor Company is also located in Karachi. The manufacturing plant located in Bin Qasim has a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles per year. Among others Millat Tractors, Adam motors, HinoPak Buses and Trucks manufacturing plants are also located in Karachi.
Banking Sector
The Sector which has reaped the benefits of industrialization in the real sense is the Banking and Insurance Sector in Karachi. One may see new branches of local and international banks all over Karachi. From bank to credit cards, paper money is becoming the order of the day in this city.
Transportation
Despite the growth and development of transport infrastructure elsewhere in the country Karachi remains the country's transport hub. Currently the city's 2 ports, Port of Karachi which is Pakistan's largest and Port Qasim, are central to nearly all shipping in Pakistan. The airport of Karachi, Jinnah International Airport, also known as Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, is the largest & busiest airport in Pakistan and handles 10 million passengers a year. The airport also receives the largest number of foreign airlines, a total of 27 airlines fly to Jinnah International predominantly from the Middle East and South East Asia. All of Pakistan's airlines use Karachi as their Primary hub including Pakistan International Airlines, Aero Asia International, Airblue and Shaheen Air.
Fisheries
Karachi is the biggest fisheries hub in Pakistan. Fishery plays an important role in the Karachi's economy. It provides employment to about 300,000 fishermen directly. In addition, another 400,000 people are employed in ancillary industries. It is also a major source of export earning. The Karachi Fish Harbour and Korangi Fish Harbour are two major fish harbours in Karachi.
DEVELOPMENT
There are many development projects proposed, approved and under construction in Karachi city. Among projects of note, Emaar Properties is proposing to invest $43bn (£22.8bn) in Karachi to develop Bundal Island, which is a 12,000 acre (49 km²) island just off the coast of Karachi. The Karachi Port Trust is envisioning another Rs. 20 billion project, the Port Tower Complex, which will be 1,947 feet high, the height indicating the Independence of Pakistan (14 August 1947), and is slated for completion within six years.[7][8] It is expected to comprise a hotel, a shopping centre, and an exhibition centre. The main feature of the venture is supposed to be a revolving restaurant, which will also contain a viewing gallery offering a panoramic view of the coastline and the city. The tower is planned to be located at the Clifton shoreline.
Some other mega projects that are proposed or under construction include: MCB Tower (completed), Port tower complex (proposed), Crescent Bay, Karachi (under construction), Karachi Waterfront (approved), Karachi Creek Marina (under construction), Dolmen Towers (under construction), I.T Tower (approved), Bundal Island (under construction), Buddo Island (approved), Square One Towers (under construction), Sign Tower (approved), Karachi Mass Transit System, Enshaa Towers (approved), Karachi FPCCI Tower (proposed) and, IT Tower (approved), Dolmen Mall (Hyderi) (under construction), City Centre (proposed), Malir Expressway, Northern Bypass Industrial Area (under construction), Ama Tower (under construction).
CULTURE
The everyday lifestyle of Karachi differs substantially from that of other Pakistani towns. The culture of Karachi is characterized by the blending of Middle Eastern, South Asian and Western influences, as well as the status of the city as a major international business centre. As a whole, there is considerable diversity in culture, and this diversity has produced unique cultural amalgam of its own type. Karachi also hosts the largest middle class stratum of the country.
CULTURE
The everyday lifestyle of Karachi differs substantially from that of other Pakistani towns. The culture of Karachi is characterized by the blending of Middle Eastern, South Asian and Western influences, as well as the status of the city as a major international business centre. As a whole, there is considerable diversity in culture, and this diversity has produced unique cultural amalgam of its own type. Karachi also hosts the largest middle class stratum of the country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
