Dear Karachi - a letter to the city I live in
Dear Karachi,
I love you. Everyday, they tell me how terrible you are, with your overpopulated neighbourhoods and filthy streets flowing with sewage, they tell me tales of your unreliable, almost nonexistent transport system, of poverty and power outages. Till not so long ago, I used to read in the paper; stories about corruption, robberies and the government’s lack of attention thereof.
I don’t read the newspaper anymore. I know there’s more to you than what the news reports say. There’s good in you, good which I see everyday when I step outside. I love you for all your sincere people, people who care and are willing to make a difference. I love you for the fact that despite all your industrial growth, traditional values thrive anyway; you still have not transformed completely into a modern capitalist society. I love your diversity; your people which originate from different parts of the subcontinent creating a wonderful distinct culture, each with their own set of ideas and beliefs. I know that here, there’s adversity, but it doesn’t prevent people from dreaming big and working hard. I love your long summers and delicious mangoes, I love your cuisine - everything from biryani to chaat and kulfi and all that comes in between.
But that isn’t why I love you so much, it has almost nothing to do with it. I would love you, even if your summers would be without the delightful chaunsas, even if you were without all your cultures. Because love and loyalty don’t depend upon rationality. You helped sustain me, you gave me the resources and space I needed. You are a blessing, no matter the fact that you are a megacity in a third world country, or that you don’t have all the facilities or luxuries we would have wanted.
To ignore the good in you and pay attention to only the bad would be an ungrateful thing to do.
Yours sincerely,
Zainab Salman
Perhaps this sounds over-optimistic to some (if there can be such a thing) and that's because I'm an optimistic person. I also want to make it clear that I'm not saying that Karachi doesn't needs to improve or change, it definitely does. But I believe we can only impact what we love; and we can not influence anyone or anything by simply hating it/ them.
ReplyDeletePlease feel free to disagree with me - I respect different opinions - and tell us what you think in the comments. :)
I love you my daughter for the loving and loyal self that you are blessed with. May Allah make you successful in this life and the life hereafter. Keep writing and smiling.
ReplyDeleteAmeen. :)
DeleteI love the optimistic spirit flowing in this letter and also that you chose to write this letter to your home city. You've addressed the issues in an honest way and yet given a positive outlook on each, always pointing out the good things that come with the bad, as they always do. When you think about it, a lot of people always have something negative to say about their hometown (I suppose I do too, admittedly), and it's often very disappointing when you're visiting the place for the first time and someone who lives there rants about the lifestyle. For example, I often moan about Britain's constant rainy weather and dull grey atmosphere, completely forgetting that we also have lush grass and parks which is a luxury to some... or that I live in a much less polluted area than other towns in the country, which my friend pointed out. The same could be said about you appreciating the traditional values rather than being negative about the industrial growth. It's interesting too, because as I'm sure you've noticed, people often only start appreciating their hometown when they've actually left it! All in all, this is a very lovely letter to Karachi - and I myself, coming from outside, always thought of Karachi positively! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the positive aspects about the place where we live are easily ignored, and that's probably because we know the place too closely and interact with it so often. You're right, people often come to value their city/ town of origin only when they no longer live in it, unfortunately...I guess all of us need to be more appreciative of our own country and it's culture! :)
DeleteVery true! Your letter is a excellent example of learning to appreciate one's home town/city. :)
Deletemashallah a very true messege
ReplyDeletekarachi for me is the best city in the world
ReplyDelete