Reflections
on a Recent Visit
By Dr. Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
As the plane came in to land
from the western skies at an early morning hour
in late December, Karachi below presented a spectacular
show of glistening lights, a city tranquil and
seemingly at peace with itself. The Jinnah International
Airport, showcasing the face of Pakistan to the
arriving passengers, comes as a pleasant surprise.
It is meticulously maintained and in respect to
its cleanliness and appearance is superior to
London’s Heathrow and a number of American
airports.
In contrast, the scene at the immigration lobby
was of chaos and confusion, exacerbated, we were
told, by the simultaneous arrival of two flights
from the United States that had completely overwhelmed
the system. The wait for completion of immigration
paperwork proved interminable, but once these
were over, other formalities, such as customs
and baggage retrieval, which used to be a nightmarish
experience in the past, proceeded smoothly.
How quickly a person coming from outside gets
adjusted to the pace and tune of life in Karachi
seems almost surreal. Since my last visit there
three years ago, the city has changed in some
measure and not necessarily all for the worse.
Today, the streets are crowded with expensive,
gleaming foreign cars, while sights of quaint
donkey or camel carts, redolent of a bygone era,
are vanishing. Pakistan has been undergoing an
economic boom, with the stock market surging,
and some evidence of this prosperity can be seen
right on the city streets.
The city now has countless high-quality restaurants
and cafes, offering a variety of local and international
cuisine, that are always overflowing with customers.
Pakistan overall has done well economically, and
the country’s GDP, a rough measure of its
prosperity, was an impressive 6.4 percent during
2003-2004. Unfortunately, the income gap between
the rich and the poor has also widened, and the
benefits of a strong economy are yet to filter
down to the common man. This income disparity
is not unique to Pakistan, however, and the experience
is shared by a number of developed countries.
A just-released report from Washington’s
Policy Institute indicates that the richest families
in the US capital earn 12-times more money than
the poorest, and while the income of high earners
doubled during the past two decades, those of
the poor remained static.
My two-week stay in Karachi this January coincided
with the city’s annual wedding season. The
weather was sunny and balmy, ideal for visitors
from overseas. A whole generation of Pakistanis
has settled in North America or Europe and, in
a yearly ritual, return at this time to visit
family and attend weddings. The marriage ceremonies
over the years have morphed into elaborate, luxurious
affairs and even though the serving of meals on
these occasions is officially banned, the law
is widely ignored. Interestingly, in some respects,
Karachi and the whole country seems to have adopted
the practices of some Mediterranean countries,
such as Italy and Spain — where celebrations
traditionally continue late into the night. A
Karachi feast these days typically starts at midnight,
ending sometime several hours later. It mystifies
me how the guests who get home so late manage
to function the following day. Apart from any
social and work-related considerations, staying
up frequently so late at night is not a wholesome
practice as it disrupts the body’s natural
circadian rhythm, its sleeping and waking patterns.
Not all contemporary social trends are unhealthy,
however. Many Karachi residents have come to appreciate
the benefits of regular exercise. While on early
morning walks in the Defense Society neighborhood,
I occasionally noticed other men, also walking
or even jogging. Their effort is especially commendable,
since there are so few proper pavements even in
affluent areas and the unruly traffic makes walking
a hazardous activity. Interestingly, on more than
one occasion, seeing me walking prompted some
kind-hearted motorists to stop and offer a ride,
which I declined with thanks. Such random offers
to strangers would be inconceivable in most of
our cities in America.
The city is rapidly expanding, with new sectors
of the Housing Societies in either planning or
construction stages. Many of the new houses being
built are grandiose. Some in Defense Housing Society
can only be characterized as sumptuous palaces
that can compare favorably with historic mansions
built in America in the early twentieth century
by the superrich, the robber barons. Today, in
this country, it is difficult to maintain large
houses as it needs employing an army of servants.
In Pakistan, however, the problem is resolved
by the ready availability and low wages of servants.
Walking by some of the glamorous houses, one unexpectedly
comes across strange paradoxes: an empty plot
sitting in between two expensive houses, covered
with trash and rotting garbage. The city has no
trash collection system in place and the neighbors
don’t seem to care enough to pay for the
cleanup.
Many of the city’s teaching institutions
are making a major contribution towards training
young students in technical professions, preparing
them for careers in Pakistan. The increased visibility
of women in particular in many professions today
is a very reassuring sign and bodes well for the
future. I had a very enjoyable visit to the Sir
Syed University of Science and Technology where
the Chancellor, Mr. Nizami, a distinguished member
of the Aligarh Old Boy’s Association and
an Aligarian like myself, invited me to their
function and provided me with the opportunity
to meet other members of the staff. I was impressed
with the quality of their training facilities
in biomedicine. Mr. Zakir Ali Khan, who has authored
several books on the traditions and history of
Aligarh University and who embodies many finer
qualities of old Aligarh culture, graciously gave
me autographed copies of his books.
During my visits to Karachi, I have always enjoyed
spending sometime browsing in the myriad bookshops
of Old Urdu Bazaar. The traffic lately has gotten
much worse, and it has become virtually impossible
for motorized vehicles to negotiate the narrow,
congested lanes of the Bazaar. But anyone willing
to brave the traffic woes will be amply rewarded.
The collection of books is now richer and more
diverse. One can readily find books by Indian
authors, besides recent western best sellers.
Although the prices have escalated sharply from
previous years, the major problem remains the
transportation of books from Pakistan to overseas.
After many years, I cherished the opportunity
this time to celebrate Eid-ul-Adha with my extended
family in Pakistan. However, it was sad to observe
that the obligation of sacrifice had in many cases
become an ostentatious ritual, an exhibition of
riches. In the days preceding the Eid, some houses
put on display a veritable collection of cattle
-- goats, cows and an occasional camel —
attracting a host of curious onlookers. This profligacy
seemed out of place, especially at this time when
many in the northern regions of the country were
suffering from the terrible consequences of a
natural catastrophe. I was especially dismayed
that there were no voices from among the spectrum
of political or religious leaders suggesting that,
perhaps, just once, part of the money could be
donated to help the earthquake victims.
Finally, those of us who have lived in western
countries for long periods appreciate only during
our brief, periodic visits home the strength of
the emotional, cultural and family bonds that
continue to tie us to Pakistan. And that the comforts
of life, efficiency and better career prospects
offered by the developed countries do not come
without a significant cost.
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