I love to come to Karachi as often as possible because my mother and my siblings are here. So is my husband’s family. I do keep in touch with friends and family members here from my home base in Toronto and when I am in the "City of Lights", I make it a point to meet as many persons as I can. I love to savor the new food offerings, I make the mandatory rounds of the boutiques, and I shop around for practical gifts to take back to Bloor Street. But, whenever I come to Karachi, I do have reasons to gripe. Look, I don’t want to complain but . . . . . . .

A week ago, the nephews and nieces in our abode in KDA Scheme 1, wanted their Toronto Aunt to accompany them to Sandspit to witness the turtles laying eggs in the moonlit night. Sandspit has changed. There are palatial huts with power generators, exquisite furniture, uniformed guards, catered food, and the gup-shup of the hoi-polloi. We walked in the soothing sand to the place where the turtles were busy doing their bit to increase their population. However, I was less excited about the ritual and more aghast at the way the onlookers were getting sadistic pleasure out of the whole event.

The scions of well-to-do families had come all prepared with portable fluorescent lights, red laser pointers, and all kinds of gadgetry like still cameras, video cameras, and tape recorders. They were making so much noise that the decibel counter would have gone burst if there was one there. Kids were enjoying the free ride on top of the turtles, flashing lights in the eyes of the poor animals, and singing incoherent ditties. One mature (?) gentleman was standing in the middle of the hole, that the turtles had made to lay the eggs, and was emulating a pygmy politician. He was going on ad nauseam about how important he was, how he knew all the people who mattered, and how everyone was overawed by his personality. The poor security guard who was posted there to protect the turtles and the hatchery, was trying his best to bring about discipline there, but as is always the case with the "elite", the people there seemed to consider him a nuisance and someone who was a designated party-pooper. My kin are surely not of this type, I can honestly vouch for that. Thanx God. Alas, like everything else, the upper class really does not respect authority and are really bent upon destroying everything for their perverted indulgence.

Let me talk about the ambulances. Karachi is grateful to the bearded man in the Malitia dress for providing ambulances on demand, cause the government has surely failed in providing this essential service to the denizens of this troubled metropolis. There is one complaint I have against the motorists who have no idea what to do if there is an Edhi ambulance blaring horns behind them. "No way Jose, I ain’t gonna yield and I don’t care none ‘bout nothin’ cause I am in a hurry too" is the common attitude. For crying out loud, why don’t the people move out and let the ambulance pass? The patient may be dying and a few seconds can make the difference between life and death. How callous can one get? Is there no value for Allah’s creation?

I know I will be talking about the "plastic bags" that are now an integral part of the city. Please bear with me. I think it is pathetic that people have no civic sense nor do they give a hoot about pollution, about dirtiness, and about keeping the city clean. O.K. I agree the KMC sweepers are actually "ghost" sweepers, I agree that there are no funds because the allocation was misappropriated by the influential, and I also agree that it is corrupting the beautiful city. But pray tell me, who throws these plastic bags into the Arabian Sea, into the sewers, into the open fields, and onto the streets, lanes, and highways. Surely not the Chief Secretary, Salik Nazir Ahmed? Surely not the KMC Administrator, Syed Arshad Ali? Surely not the Editor of SHE, Zohra Karim? The citizens are the culprits because they D-O-N-T C-A-R-E. It is that plain and it is that sad.

The country is earning US$ 183 million from the fish exports. The European Community is out to put curbs on Pakistan because we are lacking in cleaner seas, cleaner fish, and cleaner infrastructure. The Prime Minister wants the export figures to jump to US$ 16 billion before the new millenium emerges. The energetic Chairman of Sindh Trawler Owners Fishermen Society, Tahir Dada, is crying hoarse trying to bring about sanity in this field so that the exports can zoom high and the Taiwanese and other aliens do not come to fish in our waters. Alas, the fish are perishing cause the plastic bags are not being incinerated but they are allowed to pollute the seas. The fish get choked, the fish die, and the dead fish translates into zero American greenbacks.

My dear friends, you know the foreign investors are getting out and taking their money with them. They want to make their dough in a friendlier place, maybe in Bharat, cause the American head honcho got the sanctions removed. The Premier’s spin doctors might holler on PTV that the Mian did an excellent job on his Washington yatra, but the bare fact is that the American investors have billions at stake in India and they want the Man in the White House to provide protection for their money. In our country, like the foreigners who want to leave our shores, the endangered turtles may be constrained to do the same. Karachi Beach is one of three such places where the turtles come to lay their eggs. Our so-called chic class is out to ensure that the turtles just do not visit our shores again. No foreign investment. No foreign loans. Soon, no foreign turtles.

My appeal to all the 12 million citizens of Karachi is pure and simple. Please put in your 110% to change this city from being a nightmare, from being a disaster, from being a tragedy into a City of Hope, into a City of Humanitarianism, into a City of Peace. The environment should be as clean as a Good Samaritan’s heart. The sea should be as blue as the sky on a clear day. The citizens should obey the laws, follow the rules, and be epitomes of excellence. How about if every Karachiitte plants one tree each. I wanna come home, to the green, green, grass of home.

110, Bloor Street W A/25, KDA Scheme No. 1
Apt. 501 Balagamwala Village
Toronto, Ontario, M2W5S7 Karachi, Sindh. 75350
CANADA PAKISTAN
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